As he retreats, his broad back expands within that jacket of his as he sucks in a deep breath. I’ll find him later. See where the fuck his head is at. Finishing the last knot, I pull it tight, then circle around to face Delilah.
She’s a fucking vision, the moonlight highlighting the curves of her body and dancing across her skin. I swallow hard, recalling every second of what I’d witnessed transpire between her and Malakai, and let out a breath. “You are a complete fucking contradiction, you know that?”
I step closer, then closer still, and she cautiously peers up at me from under her lashes. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I try and I try,” I grit out with a shake of my head, “but I still can’t figure you out.”
“Maybe you’re not supposed to.” Her voice holds the barest amount of uncertainty.
In response, my head bobs slowly, taking her thought under advisement. “Yeah. Maybe not.” And as I glance downward, something catches my attention. The soft light of the moon glints off her inner thigh. It doesn’t take more than a second for knowledge of what it is to slam into me. I shift my gaze to find her eyes, and my breath teases her jawline as I softly murmur, “He helped you clean up, huh?” Her shuddery exhale hits my neck, nearly sending me to my knees, and my heart thrums, the beat of my blood sounding in my ears. I can’t help myself. I really can’t. I whisper, continuing on with my observation like a man possessed. “And then… youlethim mess you up again.” Wild, wanton thoughts spin through my head. I swallow hard, skimming my lips along her skin, stopping just shy of her earlobe.
The breath she draws in is audibly unsteady, and she angles her head so that her glittering eyes scan my face. When she doesn’t respond, I rest my hand on the bark just above her head, the front of my chest brushing faintly over her taut nipples. I wet my lips. “Is that right, Lilah?”
As if it costs her everything to admit that she allowed him to touch her, that she was a participant, not a victim, she finally murmurs, “Yes.”
“Did you know I told him what you said earlier? About how you felt with our seed all over you?” She doesn’t answer. But maybe she doesn’t need to. With a half-smile working its way onto my lips, I ease back justfar enough that I have room to bring my hands between us to my shirt.
“What are you doing?” Her brows furrow as she watches me swiftly unbutton and shrug out of it. Reaching back, I drag the undershirt beneath over my head, too late realizing that she won’t be able to do this herself.
My jaw clenches and my teeth grind. “May I?” I gesture to her legs with the cloth.
She hesitates a beat, blinking in confusion, but then understanding coasts over her features. “Please,” she whispers, and with that approval, I clean one slim thigh, then repeat the process with the other, wiping away the tracks of cum that had been slipping down her legs.
The sudden urge I have can’t be denied. I bring the shirt to my face and slowly inhale the musky scent of the two of them together. My reaction is instantaneous, a jolt of lust spearing through me that makes my balls ache. Lips parting, I ease the fabric between her legs where his release still drips from her.
She blinks slowly, then our eyes lock. It isn’t that I’ve never touched her before, because I have. But this time… it’s different. It isn’t forced. She’s allowing me to help her, and there’s nothing I want more than anything to stay right here.I shouldn’t.Dropping my head back, I stare up into the night sky as I finish cleaning her as best I can, then lower the balled-up shirt I continue to clutch, letting out an aggrieved sigh as I glance back toward the building.
“You have to go.” She nods, almost as if she’s reassuring herself that everything will be okay.
My eyes crash shut for a moment before reopening to search hers. “Yes.”
“Will you… will you tell him I’m not really mad at him?”
I press my lips into a tight line, slipping back into my button-down, but not bothering to button it back up before lifting my free hand to catch her trembling chin with a few fingers. “I will.”
NINETEEN
CROSS
As I hurryback to the building, my chest clenches, squeezing my lungs uncomfortably. Before I can reach the heavy wood door at the side entrance, it flies open.
Malakai stands there, looking disheveled, like he’s been scrubbing his hands through his hair. “What took you so long?” he bites out bitterly as we stare at each other. “Is she okay?”
I give a sharp nod. “Yeah. And she wanted me to relay to you that she’s just upset with the situation. At least, that’s the way I took her to mean what she said.” My fist tightens around the soiled undershirt—the one that smells of sex—and his eyes dart down to it, brow furrowing. He takes in my heaving bare chest, lips parting. That’s all it fucking takes before something inside me snaps, and I grasp his arm, yanking him toward me.
The longer we stare, I can’t stop the muscle in my jaw from contracting. Inside the volatile seconds that pass with no other movement from either of us, I listenfor any sign that we aren’t alone. Finally, brows pinching, I give in and drag him with me to the closet where we keep cleaning supplies, open the door, and shove him inside.
He stumbles backward into the small three-foot-by-three-foot area, throwing out a hand to steady himself. When I enter behind him and pull the door shut, it’s as if all the air is sucked out right along with my fucking common sense. Our world shrinks to nothing more than the two of us and these four walls, and as I step closer, I grab hold of his shirt and yank him flush with my body. I blink until I can see his faint outline. The closet is practically void of light. His jaw tightens. Dark eyes glint as they narrow. “What the fuck are you?—”
I don’t even let him get the question out. WhatamI doing?Fucking dying here, that’s what.“Do you know what this is?” I grit out, my voice coated in a layer of gravel.
His brows flick upward as he catches sight of the undershirt in my fist, and his forehead creases for a second before his gaze shifts to my chest. A small huffing noise exits his mouth, and I drag in a ragged breath, overcome by the thoughts in my head. Thoughts of what I witnessed in that barn. Desire that torches my fucking soul.
From the way his jaw clenches, I think understanding has finally dawned. I drop the undershirt to the floor, and as soon as both hands are free, grasp the worn leather jacket he loves so much. Yanking his bodyflush with mine, I pivot, shoving him up against the wall so I can feel the thunder of his heart under my palms.
Every single movement he makes, I track in the dark. Consume. Devour. I can’t help myself; I would eat up every last bit of him if he were to offer, then ask for a second helping. The storm whipping through my mind heightens, until I finally spit, “Do you know what it did to me to see you with her?”
Something close to a smirk tugs at his full lips. “I think so. Maybe.” He tilts his head to one side, studying me. There’s a curiosity in his gaze that I’ve always fucking known was there, even when he denied it. Those dark eyes of his keep dipping down to my chest before searching for my fucking lips.
