She tipped her head back, her fingers toying with the ends of my hair. The abundance of bubbles hid most of her body, and I contemplated blowing them out of the way so I could see the crest of her breasts trying to peek through. “Are you ever going to kiss me?”
I blinked, surprised by her boldness. I hadn’t expected her to want me to touch her. I hadn’t asked the question that darkened my mind. I wanted to give her time, but I needed to know, and at somepoint, I would ask. “Eventually, but once my lips touch yours, I won’t be able to stop, little raven. And right now, I don’t want to overwhelm you. We’ll get there, just not tonight.”
She pouted, and I nearly lost my resolve to do the right thing.
I ducked my head under the water and came up with bubbles on top of my head. It hadn’t helped at all to reinforce my discipline.
“Great. That’s worse,” she said, staring at me.
My lips twitched, and I shook my head, drops of water flying everywhere.
“No one should look as good as you do. I nearly convinced myself you weren’t as gorgeous as I remembered. The annoying thing is you’re actually hotter.” She touched the scars just under my eye.
“You’re not going to make this easy for me, are you?”
“I told you I don’t want things to be weird between us. I know we need to talk about what happened before I left?—”
I pressed a finger to her lips, silencing her. “It can wait.” I dragged my thumb down her lip. “I think you’re clean enough.” Taking her hand, I turned it over, examining her wrinkling fingers. “I can’t have you turning into a raisin on me.”
“You have no idea how much I needed this.”
After getting out of the tub and securing a towel around my waist, I helped her out of the tub and wrapped her up. She stood for a moment in steam and terry cloth, looking like something ethereal that might disappear if I blinked too hard. Her wet hair waterfalled around her face.
Once she was dried off, I slipped one of my tees over her head and followed it with the hoodie I’d worn the other day. The sweatshirt swallowed her frame, dark gray fabric hanging loose around her shoulders and sleeves extending well past her fingertips, but somehow it looked exactly right on her, as if she’d been meant to wear my clothes, and the sight of her made my chest stir with possessiveness and tenderness. Her fingers ran up and down the sleeves before she lifted her hands to her nose and inhaled the material.
I set her down gently on the king-sized bed, my hands lingering ather waist as I tucked her beneath the thick comforter. The mattress dipped under her slight weight, and she immediately burrowed deeper into the pillows, seeking warmth and softness after days of… I shook my head, not wanting to ruin this moment with the past and what my twisted mind imagined she went through; we’d been tormented enough.
Her hand reached for mine as I started to turn away, interlocking our fingers. “I need another minute to just look at you?—”
Grayson appeared in the doorway, a wooden tray balanced expertly on one hand while the other gripped a steaming ceramic mug. The Elite always seemed to have the worst timing or the perfect timing, depending on whose side you were on. Grayson eyed me from the doorway, and it was a familiar look. Kaylor was home, and the truce between the Elite and the Crew was coming to an end.
For the Elite, things might stop here, but for my brothers and me, our fight wasn’t over. Not by a long shot. Kaylor might be home, but she wasn’t out of the woods yet. Her life was still in danger, and I wouldn’t relax until I extinguished the threat myself. If that meant tearing apart Rusty’s ring piece by piece, so be it.
I was more than up for the fucking challenge.
I just wanted a day or two with Kaylor to make sure she was okay before I got started. Hopefully, we’d hurt Rusty and his guys enough to buy us a few days.
Kaylor’s fingers fell from mine as her big, light-blue eyes landed on Grayson. “Brock?” she immediately asked. Worry furrowed into her features.
“He’s okay,” Grayson said without preamble, setting the tray down on the bedside table. “Fynn and Raine found him about twenty minutes ago. They’re on their way back to the house now.”
Relief flooded her features so completely she melted into the mattress. “Thank God.” She exhaled loudly. “And Josie? Does she know he’s okay? She must be worried sick.”
Grayson’s expression shifted. “She doesn’t know about tonight. None of the girls do.”
Her eyes snapped wider. “Are you completely insane?”
“Well, as long as everyone here keeps their mouths closed, it won’t be a problem,” Grayson said pointedly, his eyes holding hers. He was expecting her to keep their secret, and I didn’t know how I felt about that.
“You know these things always have a way of revealing themselves,” she shot back, pushing herself up on her elbows despite the obvious effort it cost her. “Secrets like this don’t stay buried. They’re going to be absolutely pissed when they find out.”
“Probably,” Grayson admitted with a grimace. “But they’re safe, and in Josie’s condition, there was no way Brock was letting her anywhere near that place.”
Kaylor’s eyes narrowed, and I could practically see the gears turning in her head as she processed the implications. “Condition? What’s wrong with her? Is she sick? Injured? What happened?”
“Eat,” Grayson said, deflecting smoothly, his gaze flicking to me in a silent plea for backup. “You need food in you before we worry about anything else.”
Whatever was going on with his sister, it was clear he didn’t want Kaylor to know about it, at least not right now, not when she was still fragile from her own trauma.
