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“That was just wrong,” she accused, shaking her finger up at him. “I did nothing to deserve that.”
“Of course you did,” he retorted softly, lowering his lips to brush against hers. “Laughing at our weakness. We were in pain.”
“’Bastian, you and Shane stayed aroused,” she reminded him, her tone assuring him it still amazed her. “If your pants were off then you were hard.”
“I thought that was how it was supposed to be.” He smirked. “Would you have had it any differently?”
As she cast him a look from the corners of her eyes a little smile barely tempted her lips. “Well, probably not,” she admitted. “I was afraid the two of you were going to strain something, though, as often as you made use of those hard-ons you were sporting. Hell, I thought I was going to strain something.”
“Ah now, that we would have never allowed.” Not even in a million years. “Straining you was something we would have never done, sweets. We needed you far too desperately.”
Tucking her closer to him, he let his lips whisper over her shoulder, feeling her fingers stroking absently at his arm as she lay comfortably against him now.
“When I woke that morning, and you and Shane were gone, I knew something was wrong,” she whispered. “I felt you leave the bed, but I was so tired, I fell back asleep. About two hours later, I woke again. I swore I heard you and Shane fighting and I couldn’t imagine why.”
Sebastian closed his eyes, remembering that meeting with Fernando, the black rage that had filled him, and the overwhelming grief.
He tightened his arms around her. “Our sweet ’Lyssa, we conquered the evil dragon and came for the innocent princess. Did we not?”
“You did.” A smile tugged at her lips again before easing away.
“Smile for me, ’Lyssa,” he whispered against her ear. “Give me just a moment to bring you joy once again, to warm you as Shane and I used to.”
“You two were crazy,” she said softly, staring up at him, her hand lifting to cup his cheek. “The two of you are still crazy.”
“We are?” His brow arched. “I remember stepping into our bedroom to see you perched rather unsteadily on the back of a chair, preparing to crash to the floor. You terrified me.”
“I knew what I was doing,” she assured him archly, her nose lifting. “I rarely fall.”
He snorted at that. “You lie.”
“I don’t— ’Bastian, no.…” She giggled as his fingers ran up her ribs again, tickling the little spurts of laughter from her smiling lips, and the warmth of her happiness wrapped around him.
God, he needed this. Needed to hear this, to hold her, to feel her against him, to hear her pleasure and her joy.
They both needed it. Needed to feel her, to remember that time with her, to reaffirm what they had fought for all these years. And in the darkness, with him wrapped around her, her laughter drifted around him like silken threads, warming him in her pleasure. In the heart and soul of the woman he’d never been able to forget.
His sweets. His ’Lyssa.
22
Alyssa heard Shane enter the living area of the suite the next night. Sebastian had warned her he would be spending the night consulting with Khalid over the file they were still trying to decrypt at the Sinclair Club offices, which meant Shane had finally come in from dealing with the various investigators who had arrived concerning the explosion.
It was nearly midnight and the work that day on her office repairs had gone much slower than she’d liked.
Moving from the bed, not bothering with the slippers next to her bed, or her robe, and opening the door, she leaned against the frame, crossing one ankle behind the other as she stared at him.
He’d showered, and he looked tired. It still amused her that he and Sebastian were making use of the suite her father had given them upstairs rather than just using hers.
“Sebastian’s at the club?” she asked, watching him closely.
“Khalid needed help tracking that program Ian found on the computers,” he snorted. “It’s driving them crazy.”
She nodded slowly, swallowed with a tight movement, and remained quiet.
“Everything okay?” he asked.
She frowned back at him. There were days men were just too damned complicated. She’d always known that.
