Page 74 of Wrong Squad, Right Mess

It had me looking around and wondering how this had all happened…

“Oh no, her brain’s on a loop,” Carter said, his arms crossed as he stared at me, his lips pulled into a smirk.

“It feels like a life I didn’t think we could have.” The words flew from my mouth so fast I couldn’t stop them.

We’d moved along so far from one task to the next, from one important detail to the next, never stopping, never slowing down.

We’d had land to buy, a house to build and furnish, all of it while not letting the world know we weren’t nearly as dead as they’d reported.

Thankfully, that was far easier to do in this small forest town in Norway, a place far away from the drama of the North American Guild. Getting thrown here from the dungeon as it closed had been a blessing. No one looked twice at us here, and that worked fine by me.

A hand rested on my cheek. It woke me from my musings so I found Kenyon there, his gaze soft. “Are you regretting it? Maybe you don’t like being isolated like this? We can go to a more populated place, move to a city?”

I shook my head, chest tight. This was so Kenyon. He would help even if he didn’t understand the problem. “I don’t mean it like that. I’m not saying I regret it, or that I don’t like it here. I’m just saying that I didn’t think it was possible. It wasn’t that long ago we were all just trying to survive…well…everything. The Guild, Obsidian, The Pitt, Corsa. It’s hard to believe that we can have this sort of life now.”

Kenyon’s worry drifted away, and he pulled me closer, pressing an almost chaste kiss to my lips. “Well, they thought we were dead, anyway. Why not get the life we really wanted?”

“Besides,” Carter chimed in, “we were spat out from The Pitt in Norway of all places! That had to mean something, right? Like the universe telling us to get on with it and live the life we wanted.”

“You don’t believe in fate,” I pointed out. “You’re too much of a control freak for that.”

He snicked and caught my wrist, pulling me over to him. “Maybe, but that doesn’t mean I’m not right. I get it, because this wasn’t the life I thought we could have, either. Never even fucking occurred to me it was possible. Do I love the whole hauling wood and fucking moose right outside our windows? Nah, not really, but it turns out that so long as I get to have you, I can put up with wildlife.” He kissed me and it was less chaste, less sweet. Then again, Carter didn’t tend to be sweet.

Before I knew it, his tongue had delved into my mouth, his lips still chilled from outside, and I clung tightly to him. My guiding happened without any effort, as though my powers knew right away what to do.

It had become like that, the more time we spent together, the easier it got. I’d had no idea that guides and espers could bond this closely, could be so compatible, so connected. To me, espers had always presented danger. They’d been an uncontrollable force that I’d thought would crush me. I’d spent ten years trying to avoid them as best I could, keeping my defenses up, never letting them get closer than absolutely necessary.

But that wasn’t the case anymore. I’d realized that it wasn’t about trusting anyone. It was about finding the right people to trust.

Fingers caught my chin, breaking the kiss, turning my face to the side.

“Wait your turn, perv,” Carter muttered, but didn’t try to keep hold of me. That was so Carter, though. He complained about the others, but in the end, he always took care of all of us, putting us before himself. He’d never admit it, never let on, but it was still true.

Ingram grabbed my hips and set my ass on the table—thankfully, Shear hadn’t moved the food off the stove yet. Ingram didn’t wait for permission, didn’t tease. That wasn’t his style. Instead, he dove in, immediately offering a kiss that didn’t even pretend to be innocent. He kissed me as though starved, like we hadn’t stayed up late wrapped together in bed. Then again, Ingram was forever like that, always hungry for me.

It used to be that the hunger inside him would take anything, but now? It focused on what mattered, on me, on Shear, on the bond we held.

Besides, it wasn’t like I didn’t enjoy it every damn time, like I wasn’t boneless and satiated and happy by the end. If anything, he always ensured I came far more than he did.

Ingram was no one’s charity case in bed, and he proved it each time.

This kiss was no different, and my brain already sprinted half-way to orgasm like he’d trained it well. He pulled his lips away just long enough to whisper, his breath warm and coaxing. “At least out here, you can scream just as loud as you want and no one’s gonna call the cops.”

“Is that supposed to be a declaration of love?” Kenyon scoffed.

“You know Ingram doesn’t understand love,” Carter said. “He’s just an erection machine.”

Ingram turned his head, eyes narrowed, but I found myself answering first. “That’s not true. He’s also got a tongue and fingers.”

“That’s right!” Ingram froze, then frowned. “Hey…”

I cut off his pouting with another kiss, then chuckled. “I wasn’t complaining about it, was I?”

His lips pursed as though he hadn’t fully forgiven me. “You know it’s more than, that, right?”

I had pity on him, so I nodded and cupped his cheeks, forcing his gaze to stay on me. “Of course I know it.”

“Good. Because sure, I love you with my dick, but my dick doesn’t work for anyone else, so that makes you special.”