Page 95 of They Break Beauty

He was on his side over on my side of the bed—well what I considered my side considering the whole bed was really mine, although I only kept to the left side and slept in a cocoon-like way, something that helped to ease my anxiety a little bit so I could fall asleep. Some nights. Others, I wasn’t so lucky, and I couldn’t do it on my own.

But last night I’d been able to.

I’d slept really hard, really deeply.

Because of him.

He was shirtless, the covers down to the waistband of his crimson boxers. His curls were all sexy and wild, a few strands flopping down over his eye. With the way he was sleeping, I couldn’t see either of the two things that had drawn us together—his all-seeing eye tattoo and the scar along the left side of his throat.

But the other scar I’d seen last night during the whirlwind that had been the two of us was visible.

I found myself reaching out and tracing my fingers carefully over the small cross-like shape. Unfortunately, I knew my wounds. It was definitely a gunshot wound.

“Mmm, already back for more, baby?” his sleep infused voice sounded, making me jerk my hand away and choke out a gasp of surprise.

“Crap.”

A smile tugged at his lips as he opened his eyes and fixed them on me. “Thought I wore you out last night?”

“Never,” I said, smiling back at him.

He arched an eyebrow, not buying it.

“Maybe a little,” I actually found myself admitting, my tough front melting a little.

He wrapped his arm tighter around me and pulled me into him, until his big biceps were engulfing me with my looking up at him from his hard torso. “Morning.”

“Morning,” I returned, grinning up at him. “Last night was…”

“Incredible? Earth shattering? The best night of my fucking life?”

“Wow, that’s high praise.”

“And?”

I took in the light blazing in his pale-blue eyes that were most often dancing with a heady combination of determination, ruthlessness and malice. This time, it was wholly different. There was a light there so freaking bright it hit me right in the gut. Light and excitement. He looked so happy, so content and at ease.

It had me stroking his chest and confessing, “All of the above. It was amazing.”

“I’m glad,” he said, nuzzling my hair and breathing me in.

We’d only just sank into the intimacy of it when his phone buzzed yet again.

He grunted.

“It keeps doing that.”

“It can wait.”

“The persistence suggests it could be urgent.”

He groaned, then very reluctantly released me to reach over to the nightstand.

I watched him swipe open the screen and I saw there were four missed calls from Colton. There were some text message notifications too.

“Christ,” Levi muttered. He eyed me over his shoulder. “One second.”

In the next, he was dialing Colton, and putting it on speakerphone mode.

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