When he finally pulled back, we were both breathing hard. His thumb traced my bottom lip, now swollen from his kisses.
“Tomorrow,” he said again, his voice rough with promise. “Don’t make plans.”
Then he released me before I could respond. Before I could argue or question or overthink.
I got out of the car on shaking legs and somehow made it to my door. Turned back to see him still watching me. Waiting to make sure I got inside safe even though his sister was falling apart and needed him.
The look in his eyes promised that next time, there would be no interruptions.
Next time, he was taking everything.
And I wasn’t sure I had the strength to stop him.
Or if I even wanted to.
24
PRIME
I didn’t know what it was about Zahara that had me hooked like this.
I’d been with women before. Beautiful women. Women who didn’t come with secrets and kids and complications stacked so high you couldn’t see over them. Women who made sense. Who fit into my life without requiring me to rearrange everything.
But none of them had ever made me feel like this. Like I was starving, and she was the only thing that could satisfy the hunger. Like I’d been walking through life half-asleep until she showed up and shocked me awake.
The taste of her was still on my lips as I pulled up to Serenity’s house in Chevy Chase. The feel of her body against mine. The sound of that little moan she’d made when I bit her neck.
Fuck.
I needed to focus. My sister was falling apart and I was sitting here thinking about how badly I wanted to go back and finish what we’d started.
I killed the engine and headed to the door. Let myself in with the key she’d given me years ago.
The sound hit me before I even made it to the living room.
Serenity. Crying. No, not crying. Wailing. The kind of gut-deep sobs that came from betrayal so profound it broke something inside you.
And underneath it, voices. My brothers.
I walked into the living room and took in the scene.
Justice was posted up by the window, joint dangling from his fingers, looking completely unbothered by the chaos. He took a long drag, blowing smoke out into the night air, his expression bored. Like our sister having a breakdown was just background noise.
Quest was sprawled on the couch, one arm draped over the back, fighting a smile even while he tried to look sympathetic. “Ren, come on. You gotta calm down.”
“Calm down?” Serenity whirled on him, her face streaked with tears and mascara. “You cut off his finger! You cut off my husband’s finger!”
“Ex-husband,” Justice corrected from the window, not even looking at her. “Technically.”
“Shut up, Justice!”
He shrugged, taking another hit.
I leaned against the doorframe, watching. Waiting to see if she’d notice me.
She didn’t. Too wrapped up in her rage and pain.
“How could you?” She turned back to Quest, her voice cracking. “How could you do that without talking to me first? Without even telling me?”
