Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 79263 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 396(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79263 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 396(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
"You're safe."
"I'm safe," I repeat and squeeze her back. An hour or so ago, I was sure I'd never see her again. Now I've got her in my arms and I don't want to let go. That we were arguing just a few days ago just feels like the dumbest thing ever. Maybe I just need to get kidnapped every once in a while so that we manage to get things back in perspective. I'd rather not, though.
Something bumps against my leg. Looking down, I find Junkyard, her tail wagging all over the place and obviously eager for attention. I press a kiss into Nat's hair, then disengage so I can crouch down and give Junkyard a hug too. I get a faceful of tongue for my effort. Nat laughs at me. "I suppose everyone deserves their turn at showing they've missed you."
Between my first time around, and then this week, I've seen enough death to last me a lifetime. I'm not going to mourn Kozlov's death, obviously, but I hope that's the last killing I'm going to have to witness… well, ever. I just know that life around here can get kind of crazy, so there's never a guarantee. The important thing is grabbing opportunity when it comes. Or let opportunity grab me so I come. Or something. I glance over at the guys who are waiting for me, surprisingly patient, with how I suggested that I might need another distraction when we get back.
What can I say, my men being fiercely protective and aggressively heroic is growing on me.
Nat looks at me, looks at the guys, then back at me. Then she sighs. "I was going to invite you over for cake and other goodies, but I've seen that look on my guys before, and assuming yours are roughly the same breed, I think I know exactly what it means.
"What? We're just—"
"Stop!" She holds a hand out with her fingers up and her palm facing me, like a school crossing guard. "I love you more than anything, but there are things about my little sister I do not ever want to see, hear about, even consider the possibility of, and I've already heard enough on the grapevine to know that it might be best we don't attend club parties together from now on. Just in case."
Oh. Oh no. Based on the heat radiating from my face right now, I could probably be used as one of the beacons on top of the Blackworth skyscrapers to warn planes off at night. How did I never… "Right. Sounds uh… good."
"Exactly. Call me when you're up for coming over. I have no plans tonight." She glances over at the guys again. "No plans for the next couple of days." She gives me another tight hug that says more than a few moments of awkwardness ever will. "Love you, Sandra."
"Love you too."
Based on Zero's count, which I suspect is very accurate, it takes roughly forty-nine seconds before we're back in Beast's room. He does have the biggest bed, after all, though if this is going to last, maybe it's time we find somewhere where we can live together.
Just maybe in a different neighborhood than Nat's.
The door slams shut behind us, kind of frantically. "Bedroom?" I ask, adrenaline spiking at the thought of getting… distracted.
"Nope." Beast pulls me into a bear hug that has me pressed up against his broad chest, smelling that by now familiar body wash he keeps in the shower. He squeezes me like he's going to break me. "Fuck, baby, we coulda lost you." He presses a hard kiss onto the top of my head and runs his big hands up and down my back like he has to make sure that I'm still alive, still in one piece. "Fuck," he whispers.
When he finally lets me take a step back up, I find him with my eyes, craning my neck to look up at him, losing myself in his mossy green gaze as he leans in to kiss me. The kind of kiss that makes me tingle all the way out to my toes and has my belly roiling like a volcano preparing to erupt. His soft lips are pressed so hard against me, I think I might bruise.
Eventually, I have to breathe. I get roughly a microsecond to do so, before Piston takes his turn, yanking me close and taking possession of my mouth. He captures the back of my head in his hand and holds us close together while our tongues play tag and we're breathing each other's air. God, he's so good at that. My insides are going to be mush before we even make it to the bed.
The moment Piston lets go, Zero buries his fingers in my hair and makes a fist for a grip strong enough to turn me towards him. "Don't you ever fucking scare us like that again. Got it? Never again." His grip is so tight it makes my scalp ache, but it only adds to his intensity. He gives me a moment to absorb his words, and then we're together, kissing like we need the other to breathe. He doesn't relax his grip for a moment, not until we finally separate.