“Yep.” He surged in and kissed me until I couldn’t breathe. “AndIrefuse to apologize for that.”
“So long as you don’t dislike me for it.”
He knocked our foreheads together and smiled through the next kiss. “Never.”
I wanted to tell him I was going to hold him to that, but I didn’t have the right. At least, not yet. But it was starting to feellike—if things kept going in the direction they were—maybe I would soon.
Thirteen
ATLAS
As exhausted as I was,I didn’t sleep, which meant my body was less than cooperative in the morning when I tried to roll out of bed. All of my joints were stiff, and my legs were heavy and on the verge of numb. Tension always made it worse, and the cluster anxiety attacks I had after Tollin and Tarik fucked off to their rooms were telling.
I knew the talk with my brother wasn’t going to be good, and that pissed me off even more.
“You look upset,” Ryan said as he sat up and scrubbed his hands down his face.
I sighed. “I don’t want to deal with my brother today.”
There was a tiny look of mischief in his eyes when he leaned down and said, “Want to run away from home? Pack lunch boxes and go live in a tunnel somewhere?”
I stared, then burst into laughter and dragged him on top of me, kissing him soundly. His mouth tasted like ass, and mine wasn’t much better. But the kiss was still perfect. “Okay. Do you know any tunnels around here?”
“There are a couple rock formations that have some caves. But they tend to flood during high tide.”
I dragged a touch up his thigh. “We could go be mermaids.”
“You would look so hot with a tail and two dicks.”
My tongue felt like it was trying to choke me as Ryan rolled on top of me and straddled my thighs. “Two dicks?”
“Yeah. I’m guessing you don’t do a lot of shifter porn when you jerk off.”
“Uh…no. But we’re definitely putting that on the list of things to show me when we aren’t being invaded by my family.”
Ryan grinned down at me sharply, rocking his hips over me. His smile didn’t last. “Am I…is this bad?”
“Bad? What do you—oh.” Shame hit me. “I, uh…I don’t think I can get hard today. I have some Viagra,” I told him quickly. “I have it for struggle days. But by the time it kicks in, my brother will be expecting us.”
He looked down at me, eyes half-lidded. “Was it from yesterday? Were we too enthusiastic?”
I snorted and tugged him down into another kiss. “Not even a little bit. It’s the stress and tension. I have walking paraplegia, so there are going to be days when my body doesn’t do what I want it to.”
He dragged a touch over my chest. “What would you like from me on days like this?”
“Let me make you feel good,” I told him.
His eyes darted to the side. “Oh—uh. Well…” He gasped when I cupped his dick. He was almost all the way hard and thrust against me when I palmed him. “Are you sure? I—uhg. I don’t…I mean…fuck, I can’t think.”
I stopped playing with him. “Sorry.”
His eyes narrowed. “You so aren’t.”
I couldn’t help a small laugh. “What did you want to say?”
He let out a slightly shaky breath, and I could tell he was trying not to squirm. “I want it to be fair between us.”
I felt white-hot desire rushing through me. Fuck, he was so…much. But in the best way. “Being able to make you feel goodseems pretty fair to me. And you can return the favor,” I added when he sucked in a breath to argue with me, “as soon as I’m feeling better.”
