“You said it, Gaz,” Sadie giggles quietly.
I sit on the arm of her sofa and let her rest against me for a few moments. And this is the time I notice what she’s actually listening to. Some guy named Remy has a happy trail and looks all sweaty, and that definitely seems to be doing it for the female narrator. In fact, it sounds like he’s on a one way ticket to getting profoundly laid, from the desire tingeing this woman’s voice.
“Are you listening to smut?” I ask, my mind zinging with thrills at the thought of her reading good romance and getting all worked up. And they intensify when I think about myself getting involved with that…Fuck yeah, times a thousand.
She gives a little laugh. “Wood You Marry Me,” she says.
“Absolutely. Just name the date and time.”
She laughs and gives me a playful little shove with her fingertips. “No, you assbutt. It’s the title of the book.Wood You Marry Meby Daphne Elliot. Lumberjacks are my jam.”
“Assbutt?” I laugh. “Well, if that floats your boat, I’m gonna order a box of flannel shirts and some Timberlands. I think I could do the lumberjack thing.” I stand in front of her and give her my best guess of a lumberjack style pose, which appears to be standing up straight, shoulders back, crotch out, with my thumbs in my belt loops. “Seriously, any lumbersexy scenes you want to act out, I am one hundred percent down.”
She laughs and reaches for my hands, squeezing them both. Her smile fades, and she actually looks rather serious for a moment. What’s coming? I wait as she visibly gathers her thoughts. “Hey, listen,” she says finally, her voice a little stronger now, but still not normal volume. “I want to thank you for this morning. You really helped me out a lot when I needed you.”
“Anytime, Pumpkin,” I say, kissing the back of her hand.
She sighs. “I know. Literally any time I’ve ever needed you, you've been there. You’ve always been there, straight away. And I appreciated it every time, but…I feel like I’ve never really properly thanked you for it all. The many,manytimes you’ve gone above and beyond for me. I’ve thought about them all afternoon, and I’ve said the word ‘thanks’, but neverreallytold you how much you mean to me, and how incredible you are for doing it all.”
I melt like hot wax.
Reaching forward to lift her chin with a couple of fingers, I kiss her, a little firmer than before, but still not pushing my luck. The last thing I want is to make her head hurt again. “I said ‘anytime’, and I mean it. You can rely on me being there whenever, for whatever, whether that’s picking up a prescription or hiding bodies and giving you an alibi.”
She looks me in the eye, her lids heavy but her gaze sharp and keen. “You mean that.” It’s not a question.
“One hundred percent. I’llalwaysbe there for you.” One more kiss, this time on her cheek.
I spend the night with her, not doing anything except holding her while she sleeps. My body wants her, but my heart is happy she’s getting some rest and wants her to sleep undisturbed so she feels better tomorrow. She curls into me in the crook of my arm that’s always been reserved for her. When I shift my body at one point, needing to stretch because my shoulders are getting stiff, she frowns, mumbling a little as she unconsciously tries to pull me back to her. I chuckle quietly. “Alright, woman,” I whisper. “I’m not going anywhere.”
“Mmhmm,” she replies without waking.
“And I’ll love you until I die,” I whisper, just so the message gets planted into her subconscious like sleep hypnosis.
“Mmmhmm.”
CHAPTER TWELVE
Sadie
“So,” Liaden says as she shoves my face into the mat while holding my arm behind me in a submission manoeuvre, “can we all stop pretending that you and Leo aren’t secretly rutting away on the quiet like a couple of tasered cats yet?”
Em bursts out laughing. “Yes,pleasecan we get all the shiny details now?! I’m dying here!”
I grumble. “So am I, if you don’t ease up on my arm,” I bitch to Liaden.
“Actually,” our krav maga instructor says, “in a real situation, you don’t want to ease up at all. Pull all the way back, ideally until you hear a snap, and then run to safety while they writhe in pain.” Omar is ludicrously hot, especially in his t-shirt with the sleeves ripped off and the bandana holding his dreadlocks back, but right now I could poke him in the eye for making Liaden keep me locked into this hold.
Still, at least we know the manoeuvre works. Like I said when we signed up after Em got attacked, anything that’s good enough for Mossad is good enough for us.
“Yes, thank you,” I say through gritted teeth, “can I be let up now, please?”
“What’s the magic word?” Liaden teases.
I growl. “Seriously? Fine.Please.”
“Nope. Remember my first question?” Shit. “Say yes, and I’ll let you up.”
“Cheeky cow.” I sigh. “Yes, fine, Leo and I are ‘rutting’, as you put it, you friggin’ weirdo.” My arm muscles sing with relief as she lets go.
