Page 92 of Skin Deep

I nodded slowly, finally understanding. “I’ll talk to them, but you know that works both ways. I killed a man for this family already.”

“We haven’t forgotten that,” Nikita said, inclining his head slightly. “Before this is over, there is likely to be more blood on your hands. That is what it means to be with Warrick. Be his shield, and he will be your sword.” He passed a shot to Yuri and lifted the final glass himself. “To the scars we bear so that others may be free of them. And to young, stupid love. May yours be less troublesome than ours, but no less enduring.”

“Za lyubof,” Yuri said. “To love,” and we emptied our glasses together.

It was as close to a blessing as I was ever going to get from them.

The vodka was still burning in the back of my throat as I made my way slowly up the stairs. Warrick had warned me about bringing my girls into his life, and I’d accepted that they’d be exposed to some of it. Hell, even if I’d never met War, they might eventually find out what I was doing on the side. They’d already been exposed through what happened to their mother. The world was a dangerous, violent place, especially for little girls who grew into women. They were sure to see their fair share of it along the way, but it was important that they have family to come back to. Shoulders to cry on. Strong men and women to protect them, and God forbid, avenge them if the worst happened. Yes, I was bringing them into a dangerous world, but they were already in that dangerous world. By making them part of the Laskin family, I was protecting them the only way I knew how.

It wasn’t just that. More than anything, I wanted my girls to grow up in a house full of love. The Laskins were rowdy, potentially violent, and all kinds of fucked up, but for all that, they had the one thing that mattered. They loved each other, and it showed in everything they did. Even when they were arguing, there was affection behind their bickering. They looked out for one another. Maybe they didn’t express their love in the typical way, but that didn’t make it any less valid. Love was love, and no one would love my girls like the Laskins.

No one would love War like I did, and no one would ever love me the way he did.

As far as that went, we were a match made in… Well, maybe not Heaven, since none of us were going there. But one of the milder levels of Hell.

I checked the bathroom, but it was empty, and the bedroom door was shut, so he must’ve made it in for his nap. I cracked open the door as quietly as possible. The lights were out, but it was still early enough that there was sunlight coming through the blinds. It fell in sharp lines over where Warrick was laying, face down and naked on top of the blankets, his pale ass on display in all its glory.

Jesus Christ, that boy was beautiful.

And he was all mine.

Forever.

I stood by the door for a minute, watching him sleep. It was such a rare treat to get to see him completely relaxed and not putting on a show for someone else. This was him at his most honest. Unburdened by the compulsions, the obsessions, the worry. I hated to see him struggle with that side of himself, but I loved those parts too. They were a part of him. How could I not?

I stripped off my clothes and closed in on the bed, creeping silently. War didn’t stir, so he must’ve already fallen into a deep sleep. He didn’t even move when I crawled onto the bed. He did when I grabbed two big handfuls of his ass and squeezed.

He inhaled sharply and shifted, asking sleepily, “Pax?”

“Shh. It’s me. You relax. Let me take care of you like I promised.”

War relaxed as I kneaded his ass and kissed his lower back. Letting out a quiet sigh, he hugged my pillow tighter to his chest and closed his eyes again. He didn’t move a muscle, letting me run my fingers over the perfect curve in his back, letting me kiss all the way up his spine. I pushed aside that wavy hair and kissed the back of his neck, making him shiver. He wasn’t asleep anymore, but he was acting like he was so he didn’t have to participate. That was fine with me. He could just lay there and let me do whatever I wanted with him, and I wasn’t going to complain one bit.

I touched his chin, running my fingers through the stubble there. He’d shave it off later because he couldn’t stand to have it, but I loved it on him. I kissed along his jaw, savoring the prickly feel of those little beard hairs scraping against my skin like sandpaper. My fingers slid over the still healing cuts on his thigh while I seized his lips in a searing kiss that he returned, the only willing sign that he was truly awake. His tongue slid against mine in a slow, sensual tease, practically begging me to put it to better use. He probably was. If there was one thing War was always up for, it was putting those pretty lips around my cock. Even when he was pissed at me, he loved it.

But there was one thing he loved more, something I knew he hadn’t got from anyone else. Knowing that made me want to give it to him every chance I got.

He made a small noise of protest when I stopped kissing him and stuck his bottom lip out all pouty.

“Enough of that,” I said and gave his pale ass a good slap. “You better bury your face in that pillow unless you want to have some real awkward dinner conversations later.”

He shot me an irritated glance like he didn’t know what I was up to, but every trace of annoyance vanished when I pushed his ass cheeks apart and buried my face between them.

“Fuck!” he shouted, fisting the sheets. His shout morphed into a full-on porn-worthy moan before he muffled the sound by shoving his head face down in the pillow.

I smirked and adjusted his ass up at a better angle. He accommodated by getting up on his knees, but he left his head buried in the pillow. Even so, I could still hear him moaning into it as I flicked my tongue over his tight, puckered hole until he was nice and relaxed and soft.

He reached back, threading his fingers through my hair to hold me in place. “Don’t stop,” he panted.

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” I said, and dove back in, pushing my tongue inside him, licking and fucking him with it like he was my last meal and the best thing I’d ever had.

Other than his muffled cries of pleasure, War didn’t move, staying beautifully passive like the pillow princess I knew he was.

I loved him like that, and he loved it when I ate him out like there was no tomorrow. Sometimes, it seemed like he enjoyed that more than sex, which was why it was mind boggling that he’d never done it with anyone but me.

He started to squirm, his hole flexing and clenching around my tongue as I pushed it deeper. I slid a hand between his legs to grab his cock like I was going to jerk him, but we both knew I was being a tease. I’d never let him get off that easy before, and that wasn’t about to change. I liked to make him work for it. He moaned loudly as I slid my thumb over the steady flow of precum dripping onto the sheet. I spread it in slow, slick circles over the pink head of his cock, wishing I could be in two places at once so I could suck him too.

“Pax… Oh fuck…” From the way he was breathing and his hole was twitching, he had to be close. I pulled away and he let out a frustrated sob, clutching the sheet. “Fuck you!”

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