Page 16 of Facet

“Keep your lips off her,” Facet rumbled with a scowl directed at Squirrel.

Squirrel abruptly ended whatever he was saying to Sage and slowly spun to face his brother. One dark brow arched, and he grinned. “It’s like that, is it?”

“Hey! Facet! That’s enough. Down boy,” Sage called out from the phone. Her melodic laughter followed.

That seemed to shake him out of whatever was going through his head. He blinked and his stormy eyes cleared. He ran a hand through his unruly hair, leaving it looking much like it had after we’d spent a whole lotta time in his bed. It was very possible that I just fell even more in love with him than I already was.

“Hey,” I murmured, clearing my throat and biting my lip when it came out a little huskier than normal. Realizing I held the spatula in my hand, I immediately spun back to my task. Thankfully, I hadn’t burned the pancakes. I quickly stacked them with the others and Squirrel grabbed half of them and slapped them on a plate.

After the way Facet had acted after the second time, I’d gone back to my room, despite what he’d said in the heat of the moment the first time. People didn’t always mean what they said during sex, so I wasn’t holding him to saying I was his. Especially if he was full of shit or having second thoughts.

If he thought he needed to say those things to get me to fuck him again, he didn’t. The man had played my body like a violin. He made me feel things no one had ever made me feel. A chill shot over my cheeks and down my body to my legs, but I had no words for how to describe what he’d done to me.

“Yoo-hoo! Willow!” Sage called out with laughter in her tone, reminding me I still had her waiting on my phone.

“Oh, shit. I’m sorry. How about if I call you later today?”

“Sure thing, sweetheart. You working tonight?” Sage asked from my propped up phone.

“Yeah,” I replied—right as Facet barked, “No!”

“And on that note, we’ll chat later, chickadee.” Sage ended the call, but not before I saw her wide eyes and her lips pressed flat as she fought the smile I could still detect.

Then I spun to face Squirrel and gave him a tight smile as I blinked pointedly. “Do you mind taking your plate out to the common area to eat?”

His dark eyes darted from me to Facet and back before he piled his plate high with the remaining pancakes and grabbed the butter and syrup. As Facet stubbornly stared at me, Squirrel high-tailed it out of the kitchen, pausing once in the doorway to shoot me an exaggerated cringe.

“What the hell was that?” I asked, my fists propped on my hips, my head tilted as I waited for his reply.

“I don’t like another man’s mouth on what’s mine. And I sure as fuck don’t want random dudes salivating over your naked body,” he replied as he gritted his teeth.

My eyes popped wide as steam built up in my tolerance meter. “I don’t even know how to respond to that.”

I squeezed my bugging eyes shut and pressed my lips flat before I inhaled deeply, held it, then let it out slowly. But before I could snap at him, his hand wrapped around my neck. When I lifted my lids, he was so close his breath fanned over my lips. His nearness sent my heart into overdrive.

“We may not know the exact how and why of this,” he said as his hand slipped under my sleep tank and his fingertips feathered over my side. It had to be my imagination that it seemed to heat at his touch. Then he dragged his soft lips up my jaw to rest by my ear. “But what I do know, is that it makes you mine. And I will fucking kill anyone who touches what’s mine—brother or not.”

“You can’t be serious. So I can’t work at Royal Heaven because you’re fucking me?” I demanded, hating how breathy my voice went as a shiver of desire rippled through me.

“Oh baby, I’m more than fucking you. You pushed until you got me to give in and take what I always knew would be trouble. So it’s too late because now that I have, I’m not letting go. You better get used to that.” He pulled back and stared down at me with his storm cloud gaze. It had to be a trick of the light because a flicker of silver appeared to light them up but was quickly extinguished.

“I can’t support myself without my job, Damien,” I bit out.

The corner of his mouth kicked up at the use of his given name. “I love it when you call me that.”

“Don’t try to change the subject,” I snarled as I crossed my arms.

The scent of something burning tickled my nostrils and Facet reached around me to slide the griddle off the burner, then turn it off.

Shit. “I’m supposed to make breakfast,” I argued.

“Well, in case you didn’t notice, almost everyone is already gone. They had a run that had a KSU at about three in the morning. And I really like this feisty side of you, though I didn’t know you had it in you.” He was up in my space, and I had a hard time staying mad when my body wanted to melt into his.

“Fine. But I’m not quitting my job.” I ground the words like crushed rock sat in my throat.

His nostrils flared, and his lips twisted to the side. Finally, he sighed. “How about we make a compromise?”

“Such as?” I warily asked.

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