“Oh,” Lou mutters.
“They think tonight matters,” I continue. “Full moon. Same timing. Same pattern.”
The road dips. The Pit’s close now.
“And,” I add, glancing at Sisk, “they think history might repeat itself.”
Sisk looks at me, her eyes wide.
Dean snorts from the front seat. “Real smooth, asshole. Scare the girls before we even park.”
“Oh, I see what you’re doing,” Lou says from beside me. “Spook her so she’ll be clinging to you all night. Classic Jax.”
Fiona laughs, leaning back against her seat. “Don’t worry, Sisk. If anything comes for you, we’ll use Lou as bait, then Dean here…” She reaches over and squeezes his bicep. “…he’ll just have to use these muscles to save us, won’t you, babe?”
All jokes aside, I got a feeling bringing everyone here tonight might’ve been a mistake, but I don’t tell them that.
Forty-Four
NOW | SISK
When I wake up, it takes me a full minute to figure out where I am. The mystery of how I got here is a puzzle with half the pieces missing, and the biggest piece is the warm, solid body currently taking up most of the bed. Jax.
I squint at him. He’s actually asleep. Not the fake I’m resting my eyes sleep he does when he wants to avoid a conversation, but the real, dead-to-the-world deal. From the next room, a foghorn-like snore confirms O is also out cold.
I shift to move, but a hand shoots out, clamping onto my forearm like a bear trap. Jax pulls me back against him without opening his eyes. I have no idea if he’s doing this on autopilot or if he’s secretly awake and just being a possessive bastard. Either way, a smile I can’t stop spreads across my face. I wriggle closer, burrowing into the space under his arm and resting my head on his solid chest.
Yep. Still it. My favorite place in the entire world: tucked in under all that muscle.Okay, okay… reality check. We both stink like we wrestled a mob and lost. He, specifically, could use a fire hose and an industrial-sized stick of deodorant. But as I lean in, I take a deep, shameless whiff. It’s just… him. And my stupid, traitorous body is into it. A low, insistent clench between mylegs tells me so.Fuck, I’m the monster—the man just killed and fought for me hours ago, and he needs the rest, and all I can think about is using his body.
Still, my hand starts its own exploration, tracing the hard lines of his abs, each ridge a testament to the power hidden in his body. My fingers drift higher, through the light trail of hair on his chest, soft and springy against my skin. I follow it down, over the sharp plane of his stomach, my fingers catching on the deep V of muscle at his hips and then the tantalizing trail of hair that points south like a roadmap to exactly where I want to go. My fingers pause there, just above the waistband of his boxers, feeling the heat radiating from him.
He’s just lying here so perfectly and it’ssoooo unfair.He barely stirs as my mind starts drafting a very dirty to-do list. Things I could do to him right now. Things he might sleep through entirely…Yeah, that’s a line.A big, bright, don’t-cross-it line.
“Hey,” I whisper. “Is it bad if I start sucking your dick while you’re asleep?”
His voice is thick with sleep, “Only if I catch you.”
Before I can even process the mortification, he turns. In one smooth, powerful move, he rolls, pinning me beneath him. “I’m awake now.” He dips his head, his lips brushing over my neck, and my back arches off the bed on a gasp.
“And it’s my turn.”
“To what?”
“My turn to lick and suck. I want you soaking my face.”
“What if…” I start half protesting.
“O wakes up?” He asks. “He’ll live.”
“I was gonna say… what if you lose control?”
He stills. The heat in his eyes flickers and I immediately want to staple my mouth shut.Stupid, stupid, Sisk.Why did I haveto say anything? I just broke the perfect, filthy moment with a bucket of reality.
I reach up and turn his face toward me, forcing him to look at me. “One hundred percent honesty from now on, okay? No more running.”
He takes a deep breath. “I’m good now. It resets after… you know…” He struggles to say it.
“Hurting people?” I ask.
