He pressed his lips to mine, kissed me gently, a precursor to so much more to come. “Clyde’ll just have to forgive me for leaving him out of our first trip outside. No way do I not wanna be at your side for this.”
I smiled against his lips, loving the taste of him. “That’s nice of you.”
“Cleo needs to feel the long stretch of road under her. She’s brand-new. We’ll go in Clyde next time.”
“Deal,” I murmured, my agreement vibrating between our mouths.
I kissed him.
In moments, his tongue was sliding along mine, my fingers clawing through his hair. His hands were gripping my thighs, guiding the one closest to him to bend onto the seat, opening me up to him.
We were dressed, but it was instinctive now. Our bodies were constantly finding ways to be closer to one another, more deeply connected. Our hands were on each other more than not. Since we’d survived Magnum, we’d slept together every night, entangled together.
My body was already flushed, wanting more of the sensations only he delivered. Already I’d half forgotten we were supposed to be heading out of town on a grand adventure.
Griffin’s hands skimmed under my shirt, roving my skin. They slid upward, dipped under my bra, and caressed the bottom swell of my breasts.
He moaned and withdrew from our kiss just to smack his lips and stare at me. “My fucking dream girl… How’d I ever get so lucky?”
“You fought for me.”
“Fuck yeah I did, baby. I always will. You fought for me too.”
I leaned into his touch. Dropped my forehead to his. Closed my eyes.
“Yeah, my love, I did, and I always will too.”
Bobo barked. I jumped.
“Shit, I forgot he was here,” Griffin said.
Bobo said with a wag of his tail.
I laughed.
Our phones buzzed again.
Layla:F U, Brady
Layla:How dare U even think of leaving without me?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Layla:Almost there. Hold ur fucking horses. Talk Yoli into givin u road head or somethin while u wait. Make the most of it
Layla:Can’t blame a girl for gettin the best sex of her life, now can u?
Laughing softly, I shook my head at the twins’ antics. So much had changed in such a short time. But some things, it seemed, never would.
Griffin settled back against his seat. Clasped our hands together so our newest ink lined up along our inner forearms:familyscrawled in a lowercase script, and immediately below it,FOREVER, in all caps, each letter a combination of pointy-sharp blades and thorns, dripping blood. And below that, from the biggest drop of blood emerge five rays as of the sun, shooting down from the sky—the rays were the Aquoia’s representation of Sky People; the number five symbolized us.
Layla had made each stroke of art. She, Griffin, Hunt, Brady, and I all wore the same tats, forever linking us together—not that we needed ink for that. Turned out, our preternatural healing aligned with our intentions. We didn’t want to erase our ink, so our bodies didn’t.
Brady’s voice said into my mind from Bonnie.
Layla’s voice said.
she trilled giddily into our telepathic channel.
