Tristan straightened, his gaze tingling against her lips. His breath fell around her as he undid the buttons on his shirt. Nessa watched his large, strong hands as they parted the fabric and then worked it off and over his wings. His delicious, muscular chest was exposed to her, and while she didn’t want anything sexual, she couldn’t help but reach out to slide her palm across his washboard stomach.
He tugged at his jeans, and the material gave way from around the button. The rest followed shortly after, and he bent to push the denim down his muscular thighs. He stepped free of shoes, socks, and pants, and his large bulge strained at his boxer briefs.
“Tristan,” she said with uncertainty, a thrill speeding up her heart. If she’d been in a different mood, she would’ve gotten off on his taking control. Doing what he wanted, her wishes be damned. She hadn’t realized she’d be into that.
She had a feeling, with this monster, that she’d be into a whole lot she didn’t realize. She suspected he’d open up a new world to her, but she worried he’d also open her heart, something she wasn’t ready for yet. Maybe ever.
“Shh,” he said again, his fingers gliding across her cheeks, dry now, and up to her hair. He ran his touch over her to the ponytail holder before tugging it free. Her hair fell down around her face in messy waves.
He bent to her, his lips inches away from hers. His breath smelled like chocolate, and his body surely tasted like sin. She closed her eyes again, waiting for his kiss.
But the air felt disturbed, and she sensed movement. Fabric rustled. His hand touched low on her hip. With a nudge, she stepped to the side, backing up to the bed. She frowned, opening her eyes.
He pulled back the covers before crawling in and pulling her down with him. She complied, conflicted: hot and shivering in anticipation, core begging for him, head not wanting this but liking the treatment all the same.
“Come here,” he commanded, settling her back on the bed. She was helpless to say no.
He turned her away from him, settled his wings, and then curled around her body protectively. One arm pushed under her and wrapped around her torso. With the other, he pulled the covers over them before bending to envelop her. She was wrapped in his big body.
“What…” She sighed in satisfaction within his warmth. “But I thought…”
“I can see your energy, little deathwatch angel. I know what you need. Sleep, now. I’ve got you. I won’t let anything get to you.”
Emotion bubbled over, and she cried within his arms, needing the release. After a moment, as her breathing slowed, she blurted, “But why do you always smell like chocolate?” then laughed through her tears.
“Chocolate is one of my two great weaknesses and greatest pleasures.”
“What’s the other?”
He didn’t respond, and she was too tired to ask again. It took no time at all to fall into a comfortable, deep, dreamless sleep.
TWENTY-SIX
Jessie
The knock at the interior door was a little more forceful than was absolutely necessary. Austin moaned and snuggled into me, breathing in my scent before settling again.
“Miss, we’ve been requested to attend the other alphas,” Mr. Tom called in. “Kingsley is out here, giving me an impatient sort of scowl while refusing the coffee I’m happy to provide him.”
“Is it too late to quit?” Austin mumbled against my hair.
“Come in,” I called.
The door swung open to admit Mr. Tom with two steaming mugs in his hand. “Good morning, miss, sir. It’s a lovely day if you don’t mind the horrible chill and boring hotel landscaping. I trust you’re not at all rested after the amount of exertion we’ve been forced to do with very little rest in between. Alas, Kingsley seems to think his schedule is the only one that matters.”
He set my coffee on the nightstand before walking around the bed to deposit Austin’s.
“This is why I try to get out of the room by the time he comes in,” Austin grumbled, still not rolling away.
Mr. Tom wasn’t wrong. After staying up all night and well into the morning, we’d talked with Nessa and Sebastian on the way back and continued once we’d returned here. By the time we’d eaten, showered, and gotten to bed, it was late afternoon, and we’d been up for an obscene number of hours.
The red letters on the clock radio read 9:58. That was a normal time for getting up, assuming one night of sleep was enough. It hadn’t been. I’d have to heal the whole team.
“He doesn’t have any other chores for us, I hope.” I pulled the bedsheet with me as I sat up and reached for the coffee.
“Even if he does, we’re not doing them.” Austin rolled to his back and scrubbed his hands down his face.
“Can I bring you breakfast in bed, miss, or would you rather get up and face the surly alpha darkening the living room?” Mr. Tom waited patiently for an answer. I knew Kingsley could hear all of this. Mr. Tom’s comments had probably been what soured his mood in the first place.
