In a flash, I was scooped against him. The world tilted, my body slid down a bit, and then we were lying down. His arms wrapped around my waist as he held me close. His nose buried itself into my hair. The full belly I had took hold, pulling me back down into a haze of laziness on a Monday morning when I should’ve been scrambling to get out the door for work.
“Maybe just lying down isn’t so bad,” he muttered into the back of my head.
I scooted back against him a bit, until my ass bumped up against his pelvis. “Maybe not.”
And within minutes, I was back out like a light.
24
GHOST
The instant she relaxed in my arms, I realized that the plea for me to be in bed wasn’t for me, but for her. How I denied myself her in my arms last night while I watched her sleep was beyond me. But now that I had my arms around her, I never wanted to let go.
My brothers were right.
This woman crawled right under my skin and made a home.
When I knew she was asleep, I took a chance. I wove an arm from around her and pulled my mask down a bit, just until my nose was free. Then I buried it into the soft locks of her wavy brown hair. I inhaled her scent, lavender and jasmine, of all things. It made me smile.
My little firefly.
I wasn’t sure how long I laid there like that with my nose tangled up with her hair, but every breath I took, she infiltrated my lungs. My arms felt magnetized to her body. Every time she shifted in her sleep, she pressed back against me a little more.
My cock liked that a lot.
But when I heard footsteps out in the hallway, coming for the room, I quickly tugged my mask back up my face.
Ranger whipped my door open.
“Sh,” I hissed the instant he stuck his head in.
His eyebrows rose as his gaze darted to Jaz, and then back to me. “Sorry, man. Need you for a sec.”
I quirked an eyebrow. “It can’t wait?”
Jasmine shifted a bit, and the two of us froze until she settled. But then, Ranger said something that caught my attention.
“It’s her laptop.”
Shit.
Against my better judgment, and against my aching dick’s wishes, I unraveled myself from her. She rolled toward me, her hand reaching out mindlessly, even in her sleep. I picked it up and pressed a masked kiss to the top of her hand.
“I’ll be back soon,” I whispered, wondering if her dreamy thoughts would communicate the message from me to her.
I slid off the bed and marched out of my room.
“Show me,” I demanded.
“Come with me,” he said.
We made our way into Ranger’s room and a small whimpering sound came from somewhere in it. My eyes darted around until I found that his closet doors were closed. Ranger never closed his closet doors. Hell, he never closed any doors. Drove us all fucking mad in the clubhouse. If a door was ever left open, we knew exactly who it was. Bathroom door. Cabinet doors. The fucking fridge door, you name it.
The whimpering sound happened again while I stared at the closet.
“Ghost,” Ranger barked.
It whipped my gaze to him. “What?”
