AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“That wasn’t who I meant when I said your wolf. ”
“Oh. ”
Holden sat on the edge of my bed once the last article of clothing had been properly assigned its order and my closet looked amazing. I sat next to him, and he looped a chummy arm around my shoulder. “I know you’re worried, but remember, Desmond can say no. ”
I shook my head and nestled into the crook of his neck. “Desmond can say no to Lucas about as much as you can say no to Sig. ”
His chuckle vibrated against my cheek. “I can say no to Sig. I just choose not to because I’m fond of the current arrangement of my limbs. ”
“Exactly. ”
“Then I suppose we had better find the girl. ”
“Is that you offering to help?”
Holden kissed my forehead. “I think we both know if I didn’t offer, you’d just force me to do it anyway. I’ve gotten wise to you, love. ”
“Since you’re being so helpful, do you want to do my laundry too?”
“Are you sure you want me hand washing these?” He brought an extended forefinger into my line of sight, and dangling from it was a pair of violet-colored lace panties. I snatched them away from him. “Now don’t be modest, I’ve seen you wearing far less. ”
When he reached to grab them back, I wriggled free of his arm and ended up facedown on the mattress, trying to squirm away from his attack. He retaliated by climbing over me so he was straddling my lower back and keeping me pinned to the mattress. I managed to turn underneath him, so at least I was looking up at him instead of away.
I’d thought it was a game, but now I was wondering what kind of game we were playing.
He retrieved the underwear from my outstretched hand, his chest against mine and his face so close I could have licked his smooth jaw. Once he’d won the game of keep away, he let my nice La Perla undies slip onto the floor but remained pressed to me. My heart was hammering, and there was no way it was escaping his notice.
He sniffed my throat, and a shiver thrilled through me. “Holden…”
With him on top of me, I didn’t have to question whether or not he wanted me. I knew.
His thumb traced my lower lip, bringing back a reminder of the kiss we’d recently shared. One more time he lowered his mouth towards mine, but this kiss was soft and delicate. Too sweet to suggest anything else. He withdrew, placing one last kiss at the corner of my lips, then rolled off me.
“Sunrise,” he whispered huskily.
Had he really been cleaning that long? I let out a wobbly breath I hadn’t known I was holding. Who knew the sun would be the ultimate cock-blocker?
I awoke with something hard digging into my ribs.
When I rolled over to lessen the pressure, my head smacked against Holden’s with a comical hollow thonk. I don’t know which of us had the empty brain basket, but the noise was loud enough to imply it was probably both.
“Guh,” Holden said, jerking awake.
Meanwhile I had discovered the culprit behind the pain in my ribs, and unfortunately there were no Is that a gun poking in my ribs or are you just happy to see me jokes to be made. It was my gun. I’d worn my holster to bed. As often as I’d cursed myself for going somewhere unarmed, perhaps sleeping with a loaded weapon was a bit much.
My alarm clock said it was pushing nine, meaning we’d slept through sunset and right into night. It meant Friday was almost spent, and I was running out of time to live up to Lucas’s selfish, one-sided threat.
“I have to see Desmond,” I announced.
It wasn’t necessarily meant for Holden, but he was the only other person in bed with me, so he took it as an invitation to respond. “And tell him what, exactly? ‘Even though you broke up with me, my other ex is using your life to leverage threats against me’?”
“You make it sound like Lucas is threatening to kill him. ”
“He’s making threats about the future of someone he once claimed to be best mates with. How far off can a death threat be?”
That made a chilly lump form in my belly. Surely Lucas wouldn’t put Desmond’s life in danger.
Oh, fuck it. What did I really know about what Lucas would and wouldn’t do? I’d thought he was a good man making hard choices. Maybe he had been, once. Now? They say heavy is the head that wears the crown. Lucas’s head was plenty heavy, and it had turned his spine into Jell-O. His big, bloated, ego-saturated head.
