Chapter 24 #3
"Of course! But no funny business," he said, internally acknowledging the sadness. "The last thing we want is for you to get a UTI from too much sex." Maybe in the morning, he thought. Perhaps he could persuade her to skip the running in favor of other more horizontal workouts.
“Obviously.” She giggled. “I was just thinking sleeping and waking up with you would be a fantasy. Been a really, really long time since I slept through the night with anyone...though usually it was with the girls when we were scared of the thunder.”
He would bear that in mind. The next time there was a storm in this area, he'd be in her bed come hell or high water.
"I'm not going anywhere," he promised her.
"Why don't you go do whatever it is girls do to get ready for bed?
I'll text one of the others to drop off my running kit for the morning. "
She leaned up and kissed him, sweet and chaste and perfect. “Okay, back in a flash.”
He texted Carter to ask for his running kit and to let the others know where he was and that he was staying, and then used the rest of the time to clean up the kitchen.
He'd brought dinner, and he didn't want to leave a mess behind for her to clean up.
When she reappeared, he grinned and hung up the dish towel he was using.
"You mind if I have a shower?" he asked.
“Of course,” she said as she stood there in short frilly shorts, and a tank top that said sleep like you own it. “I’m going to finish my hot cocoa and then slip into bed...and wait for you to join me.” She grinned. “Towels are in the cupboard.”
"I was going to ask if you wanted to watch," he laughed. "I'm not averse to putting on a bit of a show."
She licked her lips and nodded. “Dinner and a show...I like it.”
"I'm no Magic Mike," he admitted, figuring it was better to manage her expectations now, "but I've got moves."
“Seeing you wet and soapy is more than enough, though I want a slow dance for Emerson’s birthday weekend.”
"You got it," he promised. "I'll practice and everything.
" He loved that they could joke around like this.
He knew he had a good body and that she was really into his piercings, but sex should be funny and silly as often as it was serious and intense.
It was a good sign for the future that they could play around.
“Good. Now go get soapy in the rain locker. I wanna see that water running down your sexy body.” She walked forward and slapped his ass in his slacks. “Be a good boy for Petra.” She giggled.
Her sassiness aggravated him as much as it turned him on. "Don't treat me like a dog," he told her. "You won't like the consequences."
She grinned. “Never, my love,” she said softly. “I was just teasing you.”
"I worry sometimes that you forget who we are," he admitted, simmering the mood down a little.
"We're cold-blooded killers. All of us. And we can be cutesy and sweet and whatever the fuck they call it in romance books these days, but each of us is only a hair’s breadth away from the kind of violence you have nightmares about.”
“I don’t forget who you are, Leo. I know you all have a hair trigger, but I also know that I can tease you and you know it’s just teasing...and sometimes I tease to get spanked. Sue me. I like your hands on me.”
"And what if I don't want to spank you?" he asked curiously. "What if the only thing that's going to soothe the violence is piercing or tattooing you? The rules about permanently marking and maiming went moot the moment you decided you wanted us outside the pact."
She turned and wrapped her arms around his waist. “Then I take what soothes you, Leo. You want to pierce me, suspend me? Tattoo my skin with your name, or other things? I’m okay with that.
I’m yours. I’m all of yours, and I signed on for all of it, Leo.
I know you don’t really believe it but..
.” She smiled. “I want this. Being with you seven, it’s the only thing that’s ever felt right, truly right in my life.
If I’m destined to bleed, to endure for you? I will.”
"We're going to break you," he said with a certain sense of savage satisfaction. It might be a while coming and she definitely wanted it, but they would break her on the blades of their desires and she'd come for them while they did it. It was so fucked up and glorious all at once.
“Then you break me,” she said softly. “That feels right, too.”
How did they get so lucky? She was so perfect for them in every way. "Maybe one day we'll bring you over to our side," he joked. "Teach you how to inflict pain and go out and kill someone."
“Maybe,” she agreed. “Though don’t get me wrong, I could take a life if I had to...might not be clean, but I could.” She snuggled close to him. “You need that shower, love. Come on...”
"Are you saying I stink?" He laughed, following her down the hall. "So fucking rude..."
“No, I am saying I wanna see this sexy body wet.” She grinned over her shoulder. “And then I want you to hold me in the bed, and that’s only going to get done if you shower.”
"So demanding," he teased. "I'm here for it.
Show me the water and find me a towel and I'll make all your wet dreams come true.
" He waggled his eyebrows, loving the way she creased with laughter, even as he started stripping to get in the shower and her cheeks heated with lust. This had definitely been the right choice.