After sex, a shower, and more sex, Kit disentangled himself. The clock had ticked past midnight, and the master bedroom loomed cavernous and dim. James stopped him at the edge of the bed, with a firm hand on Kit’s thigh.
“What’s up?” James asked, dark eyes searching. Behind him, Darius sat up.
Fair question. Normally Kit would stay to cuddle.
“Today’s just been a lot,” Kit answered, slipping from James’s grasp. “I need like six hours asleep in my own bed, before someone else drags me off to meet their family.”
“I think you’re safe for the week,” Darius said, low and amused.
Kit cast around for clothes. James and Darius had undressed him as hastily as ever. “How can I be sure? You have cousins, right?”
“They’re annoying.” Darius settled back on the pillow. “They also live in Maryland, so chances of a surprise meetup are slim.”
“I’ll hold you to that,” Kit said, and the joke-warning shake of his finger came naturally. His body remembered how to mesh comfortably with his men, even though his heart felt so terribly distant.
He shimmied back into his short shorts and sweatshirt. Then he crawled back into bed for a flurry of goodnight kisses, because that was what he would do if he wasn’t shattered.
Then he retreated upstairs through the dark. Kit was already familiar with the shape of this house, and his attention caught on a deeper shadow—right in front of his attic bedroom. His hand twitched, looking for a gun he hadn’t retrieved yet.
Vision adjusting to the darkness, Kit recognized Holden leaning next to the door.
“You could have joined us,” Kit said, walking closer.
Holden shrugged. “Didn’t feel like sharing tonight.”
Usually, Kit would have stayed to cuddle. How long would Holden have waited in the hallway, just in case Kit wandered out?
Sweet. Creepy. Typical Holden.
For a moment, Kit considered telling Holden about the text. He had already told Holden so much, and it hadn’t changed anything between them. Except Kit had gotten careless. Bishop ran his fucking DNA. Kit needed to stop being so trusting.
Instead, Kit stepped into Holden’s grasp and surrendered to a kiss. Hot and intrusive, and normally Kit would melt, but his heart couldn’t follow his body’s desires.
That was good. That was safe.
Just like a question he already knew the answer to. “If I ever wanted to run away,” Kit murmured, “would you come with me?”
Holden tilted his head. Not curious, just concerned. “Should I pack my bags?”
“No.” Kit kissed him again. “I just needed to hear that.”
“Did something happen?” Holden asked, preventing another kiss with a hand to Kit’s bare chest.
“Nothing happened.” Kit shrugged. “I’m just fucked in the head.”
“That makes two of us, darling.” Holden caressed Kit’s throat far too gently. “Get some sleep.”
Inside his bedroom, Kit pressed against the closed door. He waited, listening, until six minutes later, Holden walked away.
Mechanically, barely feeling the echoes of touch, Kit packed his backpack and shoved it under his bed.
He wasn’t running. He just needed to be ready.
Just in case.
Holden closed the office door, cutting off the noisy employees. The glass walls currently had the blue tint that meant nobody else could see in.
This was the first time in weeks James had called Holden into the San Corvo Security office. Things had been settling back to normal since cleaning up the Lemon Beach house. Darius and Bishop were busy with that. Holden had finals and graduation next month, which should be a cakewalk but required some focus.
