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Her bottom lip poked out in a little pout, and he grinned. “No,” she said. “What now?”
He wasn’t sure if she was asking about Collin or their relationship, but he didn’t have answers for either one at the moment.
“Right now I’m going to take you to bed.”
She tilted her head. “We’re already in bed.”
“Yes, but we’re going to sleep.” He reached to pull the covers back and shifted with her in his lap so he was leaning back against the pillows and she was splayed on top of him.
She wrapped her arm around his waist and hooked her leg over his thigh in the way he liked, sighing when his fingers moved to comb through her hair.
“I’m not sure I like that you discovered that about my nipples,” she said, and he could tell she was getting sleepy.
“Why? Afraid I’ll use it against you?”
“Absolutely.”
He laughed, giving her ass a gentle smack. “I wonder if you’d like nipple clamps. The kind with the little chain so I can pull on them while I fuck you in every position.”
He squeezed her ass when she rocked her hips against his thigh, his fingers digging into the skin.
“I’m going to have to find something that makes you come undone. Level the playing field.”
He reached up to turn off the light and listened to her stifle a yawn before speaking again. “Princess, I already have something that makes me come undone.”
“What?" she asked, voice heavy with sleep.
He felt her fall by degrees until she was completely relaxed against him, her breath cool against his chest. “You,” he whispered into the dark. “Just you.”
Trailing his fingertips up and down her arm, he followed her into sleep, praying he wouldn’t fuck this up and lose what he was quickly coming to believe was the best thing that had ever happened to him.
ChapterTwenty-Six
Viv stared out the window as they drove into Center City. It was the first time she’d been out of the house in days, and even though she knew having someone with her was smart, that Collin only tried to get to her when she was alone, it still felt stifling.
The syndicate was hundreds of men strong, but she imagined they were drawing straws to see who got stuck following her around at this point. When the traffic snarled the closer they got to the restaurant, she sighed and twisted in her seat.
“Everything okay?”
“Yeah. I’m sorry you got stuck with me today.”
“I volunteered, actually,” James said, honking at a driver who cut them off.
“Really? Why?”
“Because it made Aidan feel better to know someone he trusted was with you.”
Viv’s eyebrows lifted. “He doesn’t trust the other guys who have been driving me around?”
James chuckled at her tone. “Any syndicate man would lay down his life for you if it came to it simply because Declan or Aidan asked it of them. But I know what it's like to lose the thing you cherish most in the world and not see it coming. I wouldn’t wish that on anyone, so he knows you’re extra safe with me.”
“It must have been an impossible loss. I’m sorry,” she said immediately. “I shouldn’t have—”
“Every time I think it's getting easier, another milestone hits me. We would’ve been married six months this month.”
“I can’t even imagine.” The words sounded hollow, but she didn’t know what else to say.
“I woke up last week, and she wasn’t the first thing I thought of. And then I spent the rest of the day feeling guilty about that.” His fingers flexed on the steering wheel. “I knew her my whole life, but I didn’t really see her until a few years ago. She was just my cousin’s girlfriend’s friend. Sometimes I wish I’d noticed her sooner so we could have had longer together.”
