Lawrence nods his head. “That’s a good plan. Our schedules are opposite of each other right now. I can only leave the house at night,” Lawrence explains.
“Right. I don’t know how we’ll adjust to that but maybe we can meet somewhere in the middle,” I tell him with a small, barely there smile.
“It might be nice to have people awake all around the clock, just in case of emergencies,” Devin says with a shrug.
“It’ll be nice to be able to sleep knowing someone else has our backs,” Briggs adds before yawning again.
“Come on, let’s get you to bed,” I say softly, turning Briggs back towards the street. “Thank you again. For everything.”
“Don’t mention it,” Lawrence says, giving us a little wave as we go.
Briggs and I make our way into the house we’re staying in. It’s hard to wrap my head around all of this. I still feel hypervigilant, like this is all going to come crashing down at any moment. I’m waiting for the inevitable to happen.
“This feels too good to be true,” I murmur as we make our way back into the bedroom. I toss a log into the fireplace and close the door, wanting this room to stay nice and warm.
“I know what you mean,” Briggs says softly, getting into bed. “But for right now, I have to believe this is the real deal. Maybe we finally caught a lucky break.”
“You keep being our voice of hope, I’ll keep being our pessimist.”
Briggs smiles, the sight doing funny things to my insides. I crawl into bed with him, turning on my side so I can face him. His hand comes up, cupping my cheek.
“Hey,” he says softly before moving closer and kissing me. I sink into the kiss, allowing it to wash over me, sweeping me away in warmth that has nothing to do with the fire in the fireplace.
Briggs pushes his tongue into my mouth and I scoot even closer, wanting to feel his body pressed against mine. It takes all of my self-control not to roll over and pin him to the bed, to rut against him until we’re both coming in our boxers.
“Briggs,” I gasp out against his lips, pulling back enough to properly look at his face which is flickering golden hues from the fire.
“Yeah?” Briggs asks, breathlessly.
“We should stop. You’re tired.”
“Not too tired for this. Not too tired for you.”
I can’t help but smile, my insides feeling like molten lava. I am so thoroughly in love with this man it drives me wild. I feel so goddamn lucky that he’s the one who found me, he’s the one who saved me. I can’t imagine dealing with all of this with anyone other than him.
“Sleep now. I promise you can have as much of me as you want when we wake up.”
“You promise? What if I want you to fuck me? Actually, properly fucked.”
I suck in a sharp breath, my cockthrobbingin my boxers with how desperately I want that, how desperately I wanthim.
“We can arrange that,” I say, just barely above a whisper.
“I’ll hold you to that,” he says, his words cut off by another big yawn that makes us both laugh. I hold open my arms and Briggs tucks himself against my chest, holding onto me tight. “I love you, Wade.”
I kiss the top of his head. “I love you too,” I murmur before finally falling asleep, holding the man I love, and feeling safe.
Chapter Thirteen
Briggs
I wake up pressedagainst Wade’s strong back, my forehead between his shoulder blades. The room has grown cold as we slept, my nose feeling rosy against Wade’s hot skin.
“Wade?”
There’s a groan as I wrap my hand around Wade’s middle, touching his stomach. I let my hand wander, unable to think of anything other than the promise he made me last night. I want to fuck Wade so badly my stomach hurts. I want to feel him inside of me. I want to connect with him in a way I’ve never done with anyone before.
My hand sweeps higher, brushing against his pec. I feel his nipple harden and I can’t help but tease it, listening as Wade makes the most adorable noise, still not fully awake.
