Page 79 of More Tricks

Silently, I walked over and ran the edge of my nail up his foot, knowing how ticklish he was. “Motherfucker,” he roared, shooting up into a sitting position but flailed and landed on the floor in a heap. “Dax.”

I grinned at him sheepishly. “Damn, I didn’t think you’d freak out that bad,” I commented as I reached down to help him up. “Just figured I would startle you, not send you into cardiac arrest.”

“Well, shortcake, it might not have been so dramatic if we hadn’t just been fighting for our lives all day,” Wes muttered as he sat back on the couch, hauling me into his lap.

He nuzzled his face into my neck, trailing little kisses down to my shoulder, then back up behind my ear. I yelped as he bit the tip of my ear with a grunt of pleasure. “Serves you right after all the shit you pulled today. I ought to do what I did in the beginning days of the Empire when you got out of hand.”

“Don’t you even think about it,” I gasped, looking at him in horror.

“Sounds like this is something we should know if it makes her that worried,” Sprocket interjected. “Nothing we’ve come up with so far has made her bat an eyelash, yet a simple implied threat from you, and she’s panicking.”

Wes grinned at me, tightening his hold as I tried to squirm out of his grasp. “Should I tell him?”

“You do, and I’ll chop off your balls,” I snapped. “There are some things that should stay just between the two of us.”

He tilted his head, considering me for a moment, then looked over at Sprocket. “I’ll keep it to myself for now, but if she doesn’t take this grounding seriously, I’ll play whatever cards I need to.” Then he looked back at me. “No matter how mad it makes you at me. You’ve been warned, shortcake, we’re serious about this.”

I opened my mouth to rip him a new one, but when I saw the determination in his gaze, I knew nothing was going to change his mind. “Fine, I’ve been warned and am fully aware of the fallout if I don’t play nice.”

A hand slid up to cup the back of my head, and he caught me in a demanding kiss. He wasn’t as aggressive as Cam had been, but that wasn’t Weston’s style. No, he was dominant and liked to be in control in the bedroom, but he gave as much as he took. Our tongues tangled together as we lost ourselves in the moment. Since Cam had already gotten my engine running, this wasn’t helping the situation in the least.

When a throat cleared, we broke apart to see the rest of the guys showered with matching expressions of exhaustion and heat. They wanted me, but it would seem none of us had the energy to do much about it.

“Someone said dinner was ready? I didn’t realize you were talking about loba,” Cognac teased, giving me a flirtatious wink.

Wes gave me a quick kiss, then pushed us both to our feet. “While I’m sure none of us would argue she’s rather tasty, I do have actual food made. Hope you don’t mind a simple meal. It's all the energy I had in me. There are noodles and you can choose between meat sauce or alfredo to put over it.”

Like ducks following their mother, we trailed after him into the kitchen with a chorus of rumbling bellies. “Fuck, man, anything sounds good right now,” Void said as he grabbed a plate and dumped a massive pile of noodles on it.

“Ah, did you want to leave some for the rest of us, big guy?” I asked with a chuckle.

He paused and looked at his plate, then me with a wicked grin. “Then I guess you’re just going to have to sit on my lap and share this with me, little demon.”

“Guys, I made plenty of pasta for everyone. I know you’re all bottomless pits,” Wes cut in, opening the lid to another pot full of pasta. Void glared at Wes, but to his credit, my best friend didn’t flinch, just handed him a ladle for the sauce. “You might want that to make sure you have enough to cover all those noodles.”

I snorted, turning away so they couldn’t see me laughing. Never did I think a group of alpha males like this could become this hodgepodge family we’ve seemed to have created. While they came from all different walks of life, somehow, they each felt it was worth putting up with the others to be with me. It blew my mind, and I tried not to dwell on it too much, but the facts remained the same. I was dating and in love with seven men and they were in love with me— go figure.

“What are you laughing at, spitfire?” Picasso whispered, coming up behind me.

I shook my head and wrapped an arm around his waist, to which he automatically pulled me closer. “That you’re all friends. Seriously, how crazy is that?”

“Yeah, about that, I’m still not sure about this guy,” Cognac said, jerking his thumb at Cam. “He still seems a little too assholish for my liking.”

“You met his dad. There’s no way that wouldn’t have happened,” Sprocket remarked. “That man is drama and a half. Speaking of the shifty bastard, where is he?”

“He’s still showering,” Picasso muttered. “Thank God, Cam warned me to shower before he did. I’m not sure we’re going to have enough hot water for him at this point.”

“Oh, he’s out of the shower. It’s his skincare routine that takes a million years,” Cam explained. “As for the asshole comment, one can only do so much with the personality the Lord has blessed me with.” This caused all of us to give him a baleful look that caused him to toss up his hands in surrender. “Message received. I’ll work on it.”

“Leave the black knight alone. He’s exactly who we needed in this group,” Void scolded the others. “He is the only one who can keep up with the devious nature of my little demon. With him around, we might be able to keep her alive a little longer.”

My jaw dropped at his words. “What does that mean?”

“Really, little demon, do you think we’re all mad at you for no reason?” Void asked, giving me a deadpan look. “You are smarter than that. Take a moment to think it over and let me know when you’ve managed to see our point of view.”

Fuck, if Void was upset with me too about what happened earlier, then maybe I did go too far.

Wes seemed to follow my train of thought as he snapped out an arm to block the giant man. “Hold up. How are you mad at her when you were right on her heels, running into battle?”