Chapter 11
eleven
SULLY
Is sex supposed to always be deeply intense?
I had a dream of a more playful sort last night.
I was waiting for the man in the mask, lying on my bed.
I only had my briefs on—as he instructed me— and a bunny mask that covered my eyes and nose.
I kept giggling, feeling silly and excited.
Would he let me act like a rabbit as well?
Hopping around, fucking all night. I looked down and saw a fluffy, round tail sticking out from the high curve of my butt.
Where did that come from? The door suddenly opened, and he was finally there but blood was running down his white mask and then covering my hands. I screamed, but it was too late.
We woke up early this morning. I couldn’t sleep much, too shaken by what happened yesterday.
We took a shower, and then Ezra started breakfast. He was washing some strawberries to add to the pancakes when he suddenly stopped and then started making phone calls to the brotherhood.
It sounded like he had found a lead on Nine.
He didn’t want to leave me alone on campus—Ren, Ash and Dare were too busy with the explosion aftermath to babysit me—so we hopped into his car and drove all the way to Michael and Raph’s penthouse in Downtown Chicago.
I’ve been here a few times, but I always forget how amazing it is. The elevator that opens inside the penthouse, the incredible view of the city, and the luxurious but comfortable atmosphere of every room. I love Ezra’s cottage, but I wouldn’t hate living here.
“We need to go,” Raph states, hanging up his call with Rami.
“Already?” Michael pouts, earning an X-rated kiss from his husband.
“Need some privacy,” Ezra says, not caring about breaking their moment.
Raph points at the bedroom door, and my boyfriend doesn’t waste time. He lifts me in his arms and carries me there. I feel like a fucking damsel again, but the sensation of his hard and warm body against mine suppresses my complaint.
He closes the door, and I find myself pinned to the wall, plastered to his chest.
“Stay in until I come back. I’ll go crazy if someone even brushes against you, today.
” His hands find my butt and squeeze, making my insides tingle.
My ass aches after the hot all-nighter we had.
His lips are on my neck until he parts them over my shoulder, pushing the hoodie fabric away with his nose, sucking on the bite mark, nipping.
His teeth release their clamp on my skin, and he kisses behind my ear with a growly, horny sound.
“If we were at the cottage, I would have told you to wait for me in bed. Only briefs on because I was going to be the one taking them off with my teeth,” he whispers erotically.
Heat rises up my neck, and butterflies awaken inside my stomach, twirling and fluttering. I must look dumb only staring, but the sudden zap of desire short-circuited the wiring in my brain. Still, I’m worried about this new lead on Nine.
Ezra lifts me with his hands under my thighs and sits back on the bed, setting me on his lap. My legs wrap around his waist, my arms around his neck.
His lips brush against mine softly for the first time, and I feel like a piece of my heart is transmigrating into his. Never to come back.
I look at his beautiful face for a long moment.
“Fuck it,” he cusses roughly, before his lips crash against my mouth. His tongue slides against mine, twirls and battles. And like every single kiss we share, it changes my fucking life. Those passionate, insatiable lips make me feel like he’d die without the taste of me.
My dick would normally be hard at this point, but the fear I’m feeling for him holds my lust down. I break the kiss and drop my forehead over his mouth.
“Why can’t I come with you?” I breathlessly ask.
He reaches up and wraps a warm hand around the back of my neck.
“Stay right here. I’ll be back soon.” He sounds final, and so frustrating.
I nod again, feeling his mouth leaving a last kiss on my forehead, before he stands up and lets me down on the bed again. His hand lingers in mine before our fingers part, and he leaves.
A few minutes pass. I bite my lower lip nervously, my hands clutching the duvet. I’ve never prayed in my life. I believe in science, not in an omnipotent god. But I feel tempted to do it now. For Ezra. For his safe return…to me.
“Are you decent?” I hear Lori’s voice before the bedroom door opens wide and he enters. “Oof, this place reeks with pheromones,” he jokes, waving his hand in the air.
A laugh bubbles through the off-kilter preoccupation.
Pink jumps on the bed. Raguel left her here since they don’t know when they’ll be back. The cat’s eyes glow in the light, as she curls up near my hip and then stares at me. I haven’t seen her in weeks. I missed her. Lori drops next to me, shaking the bed and making Pink meow with annoyance.
“If cats could text you back…they would not!” Lori jokes, giving her the stink eye. I pat her gently. She had a hard life, which made her…difficult and a little rough around the edges.
“To you, maybe. What you write is insane ninety percent of the time,” I joke back, shifting my body to the left and almost falling off the bed.
Michael stops on the room threshold. “Hungry? I’m making some crudités.”
We both shake our heads, and he deflates. Don’t want a stomachache today, but seeing his disappointed face makes me feel a little guilty.
“I finished the essay on your lecture and sent it to you,” I tell him, trying to lift his mood.
“Already? The deadline is in two weeks.”
I shrug. “I had time.” Needed to distract myself, so I did it on the drive over here.
Maybe I can keep myself busy with more studying.
Because the more time that passes, the more anxious I get.
Noodle suddenly jumps on my shoulder and kisses me, my sweet little cutie.
This morning, we left the hamsters at Ren’s.
He’ll take them to another pet shelter with the two runaway dogs, which thankfully were found.
I was supposed to leave Noodle too, but Ezra told me to keep him.
He said it was pointless to think about.
I wanted Noodle, so I should take him. Just like he took me. His words made perfect sense.
My cat doesn’t seem to see it the same way. She hisses at the ferret and leaps off the bed.
“Come sit on the sofa.” A smiling Michael encourages us with an arm gesture.
My elbow hits the door handle on the way out, it hurts but I don’t care.
My head is elsewhere—in worry land. That’s why I’m more clumsy than usual.
I feel a pang of discontent as I pad barefoot into the living room.
The hoodie I’m wearing is Ezra’s. I push the cuff to my nose and breathe his scent in, trying to placate my turbulent emotions.
It’s because I miss him even though he left only ten minutes ago, and yet my skin prickles with the need for his touch, while coldness has taken his place near me. Gods, I’m crazy for him.
“Did you hear from Ren?” Michael asks from the kitchen where he’s plating raw vegetables and dips.
Lori nods, landing his round ass on the cushioned sofa. “We contacted the insurance company, and since the fire marshals attribute the cause of the explosion to an accident, equipment failure, or a malfunction, whatever, he should get the money to rebuild in a couple of months.”
“He’s really pissed,” I declare, matching his anger. His brothers as well.
“Royally,” Lori agrees. “He was very proud of the shelter.”
“Of course! It took him months to build it. That bitch destroyed it in a few seconds.” Michael is fighting with the kitchen towel, yanking it right and left as he dries his hands. I feel the same way.
“Carrots and celery are your lunch? What are you, a chipmunk?” Lori snorts.
“This is the only thing I can actually make without cooking!” Michael snarls.
“Bones, how about margaritas?” Lori claps his hands with enthusiasm. “Some alcohol could help with the restlessness we are sharing.”
We are all concerned about our men. It’s normal to feel a little on edge.
Michael sighs. “I can do that.”
“This sucks!” I say, falling near Lori, a small cushion pokes my side, so I pull it out or attempt to.
I give it a sharp yank on the third try and finally dislodge it from under my butt, but it makes a 360-degree spin and comes back at me right in the face.
Noodle hisses on my shoulder, ready to attack, and I growl, tossing the damn thing at the end of the sofa.
The ferret follows the cushion and starts clawing at it.
Michael doesn’t seem to care, so I let him be.
Lori snorts and teases me, “Yep, you really look livid.” Then he proceeds to munch on a carrot.
“Oliver and Hunter could go, but not us? And why didn’t you go?” I ask him.
He takes his phone out of his Prada clutch. “Someone needed to stay behind to protect you.”
“And you bought it?” It’s Michael’s turn to snort. There’s like a wall of bodyguards downstairs, hired by Raph.
“What about you then, Bones? Why aren’t you cooped up in the lab with Angel Sari?”
“I helped him recreate the poison. Now he’s working on the antidote. I didn’t want to be in the way since I have no experience with that, so I came back home.”
“Let’s see what the angel has to say.” He lifts his phone and points it at our faces.
“Hey, guys!” Sari’s tired face appears on the screen after a couple of seconds.
“Sully is worried about his boo, we all are.” Lori turns a scrutinizing gaze on me. “Do you love him that much already?”
I nod. “It was fast, but I really do.”
“You know it’s love when the sex is so amazing that you start walking like a bull rider and are in need of a donut cushion to sit while your brain needs an ice pack to stop the continuous melting.”
“I wouldn’t have put it like that, but Lori sounds about right. Time is relative,” Sari says.
“Would you die for him?” Lori keeps pestering me.
“Yes.”
“How about me?” He looks at me expectantly.