I strained to look down and watch his throat bob with a hard swallow.
“I told her the truth about why we’re here. Why we have to stay.”
My arm tensed around his waist as anger flared in my chest. Of all the times he could have told someone the truth of our intentions, now had to be the worst. Merrick was actively out for blood. Anyone else who knew the details of what Penny and I were planning was at as great a risk as we were. Telling Rosie may well have made her a target, too.
I took a measured breath and kept quiet as Penny continued.
“She said we can’t do it alone. That we need help. And she knows who to ask.”
My anger abruptly sputtered out because there was no denying Rosie’s logic. Even if it meant more people to look after,more allies also meant more people todothe looking after. It would give Penny back some of the freedom he’d enjoyed here before we found out Merrick was trying to kill us.
If there were others I could trust to keep him safe in town, we could go about our lives at least giving the impression that nothing had changed. It had been just Penny and me against the Bone Men for months but, with more help, maybe we could find some relative safety in numbers. With enough allies, we could be a force too big to crush.
When Penny first showed up at my door, I never would have imagined there would be more than a handful of people in Ashpoint who would be on our side, but I was grateful for whatever help we could get.
Scooting back toward the head of the bed pulled me away from Penny and gave me a fuller view of his face. “I wish you’d talked to me before telling Rosie all of this,” I said, and Penny's brows pinched. “It wasn’t just your secret to tell, but it may also be the best turn of events we could have asked for. If we can get enough people together, it’ll be harder to silence us. It will make it riskier to come after us if there are more people around and more eyes on us.”
Another comfort was the knowledge that our mission wasn’t over if the two of us failed. The pressure of being the only ones standing in the way of widespread suffering was crushing, and I could feel some of it lifting already.
Penny leaned up on his arm again and met my eyes. “Are you mad at me?”
I smiled softly and shook my head. “I’m learning to trust that sometimes your intuition is better than mine, especially where the people here are concerned. I think this is one of those moments.”
I tugged him back down so we were laying chest to chest and I could rest my forehead against his. “Honestly, I’m tired ofthis burden just being mine. Beingours. I’m looking forward to sharing the load for once.”
Penny exhaled relief and relaxed against me. “You should talk to Thoma. Tell him everything, too. Get him on board. I think he’d be eager to help.”
I nodded. “I will, just not yet. He’s been through a lot. He might still need some time.”
Penny hummed acknowledgement and pushed onto all fours. Creeping forward, he worked a knee between my legs in a move that was not as casual as he tried to make it. Nor was it nearly enough contact after all the touches and kisses he’d been lavishing me with for the last ten minutes.
If I didn’t know better, I’d have thought it had all been an attempt to put me in a better mood for this conversation. But Penny wasn’t that devious.
Curling my other arm around him, I rolled us so I could pin him beneath me. His eyes flashed in the firelight.
“Now,” I murmured against his lips, “are you ever going to go to sleep, or do you plan on teasing me the rest of the night?”
His swallow was audible. “Not tired,” he rasped.
I freed a hand to slide between us and cup his groin. The hitch in his breath fueled my desire, and suddenly even trousers seemed like too much clothing for us to both be wearing.
“Guess I should have worked harder to wear you out then.” I sealed my mouth to his in the kind of kiss that always made me hungry for more. My heart pounded, and heat pooled in my gut, rapidly spreading.
With a bit of further finagling, I worked my hand under Penny's waistband to curl my fingers around him.
“Kit,” he breathed, then stuttered a gasp when I ground my own erection against his thigh. “Kit, we already took a bath.” There was no conviction in his protest, and he pushed my trousers off my hips before I could respond.
It was a poor attempt at playing hard to get. He was too transparent for that.
I trailed slow kisses along his jaw and kept up a lazy rhythm with my hand. Penny whimpered and squirmed beneath me when I puffed a hot breath over his ear.
“Two baths in one night never hurt anyone.” I smirked against his neck. “Now, are you going to have me, or do I have to do it myself?”
Penny growled and rolled us back over. His eyes were dark with lust when they met mine.
“Darling, I’ll never leave you wanting.”
10
