I didn’t feel like I was feeding off anyone, so that hypothesis didn’t quite make sense. My men calmed me when they were near. There was the possibility I was siphoning something from them, though.
I finished brushing my hair and let it hang loose to dry. I’d been hoping Nico would come back, even though he’d told me to lock the door behind him. He should have been done checking the perimeter by now.
I tightened the sash of the robe that had been hanging in the bathroom before I opened the bedroom door. Two neat piles of clothes sat on the floor, along with two covered plates and a carafe of wine. I moved the items into the roombefore going across the hall, where the water was running in the bathroom.
I knocked lightly, but there was no answer. There was a click as the door unlocked, and then someone brushed past me.
Kage.
I slipped inside and found Nico sitting naked on the floor against the cabinets with his head in his hands.
“Hey.” I shut the door and flipped the lock. I wanted to blurt out everything Kage had shared but stopped myself. “Are you okay?”
“Fucking Kage.” He didn’t look up as I sank to the floor next to him and pulled on his arms. He was crying.
“Nico…”
“Why did it have to be her?” I didn’t need to ask him who he was referring to. I pulled him into my arms and smoothed his hair.
“I don’t know, hon.” He hooked one of his arms around my leg, pulling me closer. “She wouldn’t want to see you like this.”
He made a noise that was part laugh, part cry. “She would have kicked my ass.”
“Then told you to pull your head out of it.” I sighed and let my hand settle on the side of his head. “She wouldn’t want you to wake up one day and realize your entire life passed you by while it was stuck up there.”
“I know she wouldn’t. It’s so fucking hard, Peanut.” His voice cracked, raw and broken in a way I’d only heard a few times before. “Valentino told me you were dead. Do you have any idea…”
The words dissolved into something between a sob and a gasp. He shifted closer, pressing his face harder against my chest like he was trying to hide from the memory. His shoulderstrembled, and I felt his unsteady breath through the thin fabric of my robe.
My throat tightened. “I’m still here.”
His arm tightened around my leg, fingers digging in like I might evaporate if he loosened his grip. He put his head on my shoulder, and we sat on the floor in silence. As much as I wanted more with him, I wouldn’t trade moments where we enjoyed each other’s presence for anything.
That was difficult to find with another person.
“I’ve pulled it out,” he whispered.
“What?” Confusion washed over me.
“My head. I pulled it out of my ass.” He lifted his head and cupped my cheek, searching my eyes.
“If you’re?—”
He didn’t let me finish, and his lips met mine in a hungry kiss.
Was it actually happening? Was he finally letting himself live again? I pushed at his chest and broke the kiss before I let myself fall into it.
“I don’t want you to do this because you feel you have to.” My thumb danced across his bottom lip. “I want you to be sure. There’s no going back from this, Nico.”
“I want to.” He put his hand over mine. “No going back, Sammy.”
I took one more second to look at him, and then I grabbed a handful of his hair and brought our lips back together. Kissing him was everything I had imagined. We melted into each other as if we had been kissing for years.
He ran his fingers through my hair, the gentle scrape of his nails against my scalp sending sparks down my spine. Then he angled my head and deepened the kiss. His tongue broke through my lips, sliding against mine with an urgency that made my entire body hum. I met him halfway, swirlingmy tongue around his before drawing it into my mouth and sucking gently.
The low and desperate sound he made vibrated through me, settling somewhere deep in my chest. His fingers dug into the fabric of the robe as he pulled me forward. I went willingly, letting him guide me until I was straddling him, my knees bracketing his hips.
Each kiss bled into the next until I couldn’t tell where one ended and another began. After what felt like an eternity, his lips slid across my neck to the spot under my ear.
