CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
Kol
IWOKE UP WRAPPED AROUND NOVA, DROWNING IN CHERRY and vanilla—the best way to start the day. But I wasn’t just spooning her. I’d somehow curled my entire body around hers. She was tucked almost into a ball, and I was her armor.
A part of me wished it could always be this way: me standing between Nova and the world. Only I knew that wasn’t what she wanted.
Still, I’d soak it in for now. I’d let myself revel in every single second.
My mouth curved against her hair as I realized my hand had slipped beneath the T-shirt of mine she was wearing and was cupping her breast. Apparently, I was even a horny bastard in my sleep.
Nova let out a soft moan, arching into me.
“You make sounds like that, and my dick is going to take them as an invitation.”
“Is that a bad thing?” she mumbled.
“Baby, you’ve gotta be sore.”
“Maybe,” she admitted, a slight pout to her tone.
A chuckle slid out of me, easier than maybe ever before. She made it easier: the smiles, the laughs. “How about we make breakfast instead?”
“I like breakfast,” Nova mumbled, still half-asleep.
She flipped onto her back, and I lifted onto one arm, needing to see her better. That long, raven hair spilled out in waves around her as she studied my face.
“How does the rest of you feel?” I asked quietly.
Nova’s mouth curved, those plush lips still a little swollen from last night. “I feel good. You?”
“Better than I have in years,” I admitted, spilling secrets I should’ve held tight.
Light sparked in those gray eyes as she lifted her hand, tracing the faint indentations on my wrists still left behind from last night. “Thank you. For giving me that.”
My body tightened, my dick springing to life. Never in a million years did I think I’d be able to hand over the reins—the control—to someone else. But for Nova, I could. Because she needed it.
I brushed my knuckles over her cheekbone. “I think it was good for me, too—an exercise in letting go.”
“My favorite kind of exercise,” Nova said, grinning.
“My little demon.”
She tossed the covers off, sending me a wink as she rose. “Come on. I need a shower.”
Nova had music on, and for the first time in a long time, it didn’t bother me. It was an oldies station that played a mix of songs I didn’t care about one way or the other. But what I did care about was the way Nova’s hips swept back and forth as she moved across the kitchen.
She wore a pale-purple workout set: leggings and some sort of top that stopped just above her belly button, exposing a strip of creamy skin I had a burning desire to lick.
She’d thrown on my flannel shirt from last night for warmth, and her wearing something of mine had sent a surprising reaction coursing through me.
Chest-beating pride. Completely ridiculous. It wasn’t like Nova wearing my shirt was some kind of trophy. But it felt like a claiming. Me of her. And her right back.
I liked it. Way too much.
A knock sounded on the front door, and I frowned. I wasn’t expecting anyone, and I didn’t need to leave to pick up Skylar for another hour.
Pushing off the counter where I’d been watching Nova assemble breakfast, I headed for the door. I opened it, and Skylar instantly leapt into my arms.
“We had the best slumber party ever!” she yelled. “We had a pizza-making competition and then ice cream sundaes, and we made a fort in the living room to watch a movie. We got to stay up an hour past bedtime.”
I shifted her onto my hip, my gaze flicking to Waylon, who had obviously picked her up. “Sounds pretty awesome, Little Princess.”
Waylon’s eyebrows waggled. “Thought you might like to sleep in this morning.”
“Hi, guys,” Nova greeted, walking up behind me, a huge smile on her face. There were no nerves there, only easy acceptance of my family’s presence. And I loved that, too. “You want breakfast? I made breakfast potato pie.”
“I love pie,” Sky offered helpfully.
“I could eat,” Waylon agreed.
And it was as easy as that. They set the kitchen table while I pulled out drinks, and Nova plated her breakfast creation.
“You got any hot sauce around here?” Waylon asked.
I rolled my eyes. “You give each of us a set of hot sauces for Christmas every year so you’re never without.”
He grinned as he rested a hand on his rounded belly. “Always be prepared.”
One corner of Nova’s mouth kicked up as she lowered herself into an empty chair. “Were you a Boy Scout?”
Waylon frowned. “It was the Bigfooters’ motto first.”
“Bigfooters?” Nova asked, trying to fight off a laugh.
I slid the hot sauces in front of Waylon. “Do not get him started.”
“The Bigfooters have been around for centuries,” Skylar mumbled around a bite of the egg-and-potato dish. “I’m a junior Bigfooter.”
“One of the best I’ve ever seen,” Waylon praised.
Nova lifted her glass of orange juice. “And what is a Bigfooter?”
“Those who revere and respect Bigfoot,” Waylon said proudly.
Nova mulled that over for a moment. “I want to go with you when you go Bigfoot hunting next time.”
“Yes!” Sky cheered. “But we need to work on your outfit. You need some camo. And Grampa Way Way says they don’t mind a little glitter, so you can still sparkle.”
Nova’s mouth curved as she beamed at my daughter. “You always have all the best info. How’d you get so smart?”
Skylar practically glowed under Nova’s praise. “I just like to learn a lot of things.”
“Me, too,” Nova agreed.
My hand slid over her thigh, and Nova’s gaze swung to me. There was warmth there. Acceptance. She fit. At this table. Next to me. Next to Sky.
But I couldn’t help the frisson of fear that swept through me at that. Because life could change in a split second. Someone could get stolen away. Someone could betray you.
Skylar began chatting about a project from school that had Nova rapt, but I could feel Waylon’s eyes on me. Worried eyes.
I tried to stay in the present moment as we finished breakfast and started cleaning up. A phone rang, and Nova swiped up her cell from the counter. “Hey.”
A pause, then Nova glanced at the clock on the wall. “Yup. I’m ready.”
A muffled response on the other end. “See you in a sec.”
“Brae?” I asked. It seemed like the two were doing better, now that they weren’t living under the same roof.
Nova shook her head. “Mav. We’re going mountain biking.”
A foreign feeling slid through me. It took a second for me to recognize it as jealousy. Of my own damn brother. But hot on its heels was worry, then crippling fear.
“You sure that’s a good idea?” I asked.
It was the wrong thing to say.
Nova bristled. “Why wouldn’t it be?”
I sent Skylar a quick glance, but she was already slipping out the back door to see Tink and Pepper, who’d appeared on the back deck, missing their girl.
“Are you forgetting the note that got left on your car? The necklace?” I left out the blood part, but my words packed a punch just the same.
Nova’s face paled, but she recovered quickly. “I’ll never forget. But that doesn’t mean I’ll let myself live like I’m still in captivity. I’m out, Kol. I’m free. I can’t stop living because there are bad people in the world.”
“I’m not saying you shouldn’t live. I’m just saying that maybe you shouldn’t be taking off with Mav to take on whatever hairbrained scheme he’s come up with. Are you really so desperate for an adrenaline high?”
Nova’s gray eyes flashed—not with the kind of heat from last night but from anger. “You know it’s about more than that.”
And with that, she took off out the front door, the wood slamming in her wake.
Waylon let out a low whistle. “Well, you fucked that one up good and proper.”
I glared back at my great-uncle, but I really wanted to kick myself. Because he was exactly right.