I stared at him, and he stared back. “You really can’t take a hint, can you?”
He shook his head. “Nope. I’m a dog with a bone. Ready to get out? I want to cuddle.”
I leaned my head back on the edge of the tub. “I tell you that I have what is essentially a mobster loan shark after me, threatening to burn down this very building, and your thought is, oh this chick seems like a catch, let’s go cuddle?”
He let out a laugh. “Not quite. It’s your hot ass that I’m oh so eager to fuck.”
My mouth dropped open. “I can’t believe you just said that.”
He shrugged, standing up and letting the water from the tub. “Okay, let’s go. Cuddle time.”
31
NEFARIOUS ACTIVITIES
Wyatt
Blinkingcaramel eyes were the first thing I saw when I opened my own eyes this morning. She was there, but not truly there.
“He came into the building,” she whispered.
“I know, little flame,” I replied.
She rolled over, pulling the blankets up to her chin as she curled up closer to me. “I wish you’d leave already.”
I smirked because her actions didn’t match her words one bit. Pulling her back tight against my chest, my arm snaked around her waist, and I kissed the top of her head. “You say that all you want, see if it changes anything.”
“Ugh, out of all the guys on that stupid app, I had to get stuck with the good guy?” she whined, her face buried in her pillow.
I snorted. “Oh, little flame. If only you knew how untruethat really was. After that first night? You couldn’t have gotten rid of me if you tried.”
She rolled onto her back and stared up at me, her eyebrows furrowed. “Explain.”
I knew I needed to open up more. I needed her to know this was serious for me, that it was a two-way street. That her opening up meant I would do the same.
“You showed up in a Poison Ivy mask, Ember. Did you do so because that was the only available mask you could find, or because you love Poison Ivy?” I asked softly.
She bit her bottom lip. “It was my Halloween costume for this year already. I saw it online and had to have it. As far as deciding to wear it that night? I am vengeance? The ‘vengecock’ was a play on the famous Batman quote, right?”
I nodded. “Yeah, it was.” I kissed her forehead before letting out a deep breath. “My dad had small things with all of his kids. Small things that were just for us. Oliver had the ranch as a whole—taking care of the animals and shit with Dad. He never viewed it as a job. It was a time for the two of them to spend time together. Rowan had barrel racing and training the bulls for rodeos, Theo had martial arts, Payton had horseback riding and her dance classes, but me? I never wanted any of that. So, Dad and I shared comic books. He never cared what they were; he just loved the art and the worlds. The way they conveyed real-world issues in a way that came across as…magic.”
I rolled onto my back, my eyes on the ceiling. “Batman was our favorite. I loved knowing that he was a regular guy. No superpowers other than his intellect.”
“Helped that he was super fucking loaded,” she said, and I looked over to see her smiling, a knowing spark in her eyes.
“Yeah, that helped. But he used that to try to make the world a better place. Make his own bit of magic in a placethat only held darkness.” I ran my hand along her jaw. “You, Ember, are my bit of magic in this world. My bit of flame in a sea of darkness that I’ve seen, and even though I told myself I didn’t want to, I couldn’t let that spark out of my sight once I had a small taste.”
She sat up, only to climb on top of me, her thighs straddling my hips as her hands ran up my bare chest.
“Are you capable of darkness, Carragan?” she asked, her voice low.
I swallowed, my throat thick as I stared up at her. Her chest bare, her hair wild and untamed from a thorough night’s sleep. Her hands stopped at my collarbones, and she leaned down pressing her lips just above my nipple. The long strands of her hair pooled against my skin, and as she moved, her lips and tongue made their way around my nipples—going everywhere but where I wanted her right now.
My eyes closed as I tried to focus on the question and not her teeth being added to the mix of torture she was enacting.
“Fuck, Em,” I muttered. “More darkness than you could imagine.”
I felt her smile against my skin. “Let me guess, Carragan. It was you behind all the chaos that fixed Aspen’s life?”
