Page 99 of A Bloom in Winter

Later she would replay the electric moment, over and over, when he grabbed a towel off the counter and put it over the head of his erection. Meanwhile, her eyes squeezed shut as she orgasmed at the same time he did—who was first? Did that matter?

Hell, no, it didn’t.

All she cared about was them getting to her safe house, and having some proper alone time—so they could do this a couple more times, fully naked, in bed.

When she finally returned to herself, her lids lifted. She was in a different position altogether on the mattress, her feet tucked under, her knees locked together, one hand pushing into the juncture of her thighs. Across the way, Hemmy was collapsed back against the bathroom sink, that towel still held in place.

His hooded eyes sought hers. “I am going to work faster than I have in my entire life.”

Mahrci flushed and smiled. “Good.”

CHAPTER THIRTY–FOUR

Hours passed. Apex knew this because his back was getting stiff, and his feet were cold. But he didn’t care. He and Callum had stayed where they were as the fire had died out, and he had been the one to mentally dim the lights when the wolven had fallen asleep. He’d even risked a hand on the male’s shoulder, the closest he was going to get to giving in and wrapping his arms around the body that lay so solidly against his own.

Fucking hell, he was back on the rocky shore of “Maybe They Had A Chance After All.”

Even though he knew better than to believe the optimism would last.

Just because you wanted something didn’t mean it was yours. And he still believed the male had a much better shot without him—

His phone went off with abing.

Instantly, he stiffened. The last thing he wanted was this moment to be interrupted by—

Bing! came another text.

Locking his molars, he willed the cell to STFU. Why the hell hadn’t he turned the ringer off? It wasn’t like he wanted to talk to anybody—

Bing!

Callum’s head lifted and the wolven’s half-mast, husky-eyes were the most beautiful thing Apex had ever seen.

“You should get that?”

“FYI, no one ever calls or texts me. Unless I’m with you, evi-fucking-dently.”

Whatever it was, he didn’t want it. But because he needed to keep what peace there was for twenty-four more hours, he shifted his hips, shoved a hand into his ass pocket, and took out the cell.

“It’s just Mayhem,” he said with relief. “He can wait—”

Bing!

Cursing under his breath, he put in his code with one hand—because he’d never trusted facial ID; someone could just kill you and put the screen in front of your dead puss—and then navigated to the text section.

When he started reading, he frowned—which caused Callum to sit up. And it was amazing—the separation was, in terms of inches, so minor, but the center of his chest locked down like a vise. But really, did he think the wolven was going to run off, never to be seen or heard from again?

As if Callum was answering that question, his eyes went to the cold hearth and his face tightened.

“Hey,” Apex said, to derail himself from a mental spiral that was likely inevitable, “how about I make us something to eat?”

Not that he was hungry.

“I’m good. But help yourself.”

“Okay.”

“What was the text?” Callum said, even though it was unclear whether he was aware that he was speaking. He was still staring off into space.

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