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The few fumbling experiments I’ve done with boyfriends in the past did not prepare me for this.
His breath hitches, and I've never pulled my hand back as quickly as I do just now.
Oh.
My.
God.
I just touched…
“Well, that's one way to say good morning,” comes Thunder’s voice from behind me, rough with sleepiness.
Oh no. I squeeze my eyes shut and try to turn back time. He's going to think that… that I… “I didn't mean to!”
“Didn't realize what?” Lightning asks from across the room. He shines his phone flashlight our way.
“Some of us are fucking sleeping,” groans Outlaw.
It’s a good thing we’re going our separate ways today, because I don’t know if I can look any of them in the eyes after this. Especially Thunder.
He laughs behind me, a low sleepy chuckle that makes me flutter in places it probably shouldn’t. His hand comes to rest on my hip, but outside the covers. “As flattered as I am that you can't keep your hands off me, I don’t think we have time for that kind of shit. What time is it?”
“I didn’t do it on purpose!”
“Keep telling yourself that, sweetheart.”
My face burns like it's on fire. A little hotter, and maybe it'll just melt me away so I don't have to face him. The bed next to us creaks and the overhead light flickers on.
“Time to move,” Shadow says, voice still rough. “According to the girl at the desk last night, their laundry service should show up in about a half an hour.”
“Why would she tell you that?”
He looks at me with the kind of smirk that tells me the answer without words. All he’s wearing are boxer briefs, and the view has me swallowing hard. These guys might be bad news, but that doesn’t change the fact that he looks sculpted for pleasure. His broad chest tapering to a tight V, covered in scars and tattoos, with long, strong legs. “I’m going to take a quick shower.” It’s impossible not to watch as he pads with panther-like grace to the bathroom.
Lightning laughs out loud. “Guess one cock’s not enough.”
Thunder chuckles, and even Outlaw snorts in spite of clearly hating me.
“Don’t be gross,” I grumble.
“Nothing gross about being human,” says Thunder, not hiding the amusement in his tone. “Look all you want. Shit, I’d let you do more than that if we had the fucking time. I gotta ask, Harper. Tell me to fuck off if it’s none of my business, but we gotta wait for Shadow to get outta the shower and you don’t seem like the kind of pushover that would just do whatever the fuck she was told. What the fuck is going on?”
Ugh. I sit up, running my finger through my hair to comb out the tangles from letting it dry overnight. Last night, I couldn't imagine spilling all of this to my kidnappers. Maybe it’s having gotten some sleep, or just wanting someone to listen, but today I suddenly have a hard time keeping it in. “It's a long story. I never knew my father. Vincent. No matter how many times I asked, Mom wouldn’t say a word. All she ever told me was that it was another life, best forgotten. We didn’t have any other family that I knew about, so I figured she must’ve been disowned when she got pregnant with me. She was young. I never wanted her to feel sad about it, so I stopped asking eventually.”
“So Mesner was the one that tracked you down?” Lightning asks.
I shake my head. “No. A couple years ago Mom had a stroke. The doctors thought it was a random thing, but she kept having these episodes, and they couldn’t figure out what was going on. She… she kept getting worse and the doctors ran out of ideas that our crappy insurance would cover.” Even knowing she has a good chance at recovering now, it’s hard to talk about it. About dropping out of school to take care of her and work longer hours when she couldn’t anymore. About knowing there were potential treatments available but a computer somewhere didn’t think my mother was worth it. “A couple months ago, she was in the hospital. I was scared she wasn’t going to make it, so I started going through her things and found an old box full of stuff from when she was a teenager. There was a picture of her with this guy…”
“Mesner?”
“Yeah, but I had no idea who he was. There was just a V with a heart on the back, and an email. I wasn’t really expecting anything, but I was sad and alone, and this was someone who—even if he wasn’t my father—was a part of Mom’s past. Maybe it would at least be someone who could mourn with me after she was gone, you know?”
