Page 38 of Nest Of Lies

They murmur goodbyes and go back to the club rooms. But this time, I’m not alone.

Chapter thirteen

Lia

A week passes inthe strangest manner. It’s odd to have people in the house. Even though Ranger insists on staying in my panic room, he’s mostly been sleeping. His bruises have bloomed from huge black and purple swellings and have started to fade into yellow, green, and other motley colours.

I sit with him for most of the day, reading from my favourite romance book. At first, I’d stuttered over the words, but Ranger seemed to relax and sleep better, so I decided not to be embarrassed and just read. I spent hours and hours in the kitchen learning to make soup, and then fed Ranger just a couple of spoonfuls before he fell asleep.

It’s strange. He’s here, but he’s not.

Ianto, too. He’s a ghost in my house, disappearing for hours, and then appearing when I’m distracted, standing in a doorway, staring at me with an intense expression. He keeps finding me when I’m having an emotional moment. I’m starting to think he’s got some kind of psychic link with me. It’s creepy.

And comforting.

I check the biscuits I’m baking and absently twirl around the kitchen. Fate’s Choice sings into the room, lamenting a lost love.

I hum along and pour a fresh orange juice, only to whirl and let out a shriek. Ianto grips my upper arms and his lips twitch in what is, for him, a grin.

“I like whatever this is,” he says in a deep rumble as he stares down at me.

I glance around the kitchen? “Me being me?”

“Yes. You should do it more often.”

“I doit all the time, it's just no one gets to see,” I protest and wrap my arms around myself. Self-consciousness. I had no idea it was so crippling a condition.

I pause, inhaling deeply. There is a subtle scent around Ianto that I’ve never noticed before. Something like he’s just snuffed out candles. I adore that smell and want to bottle it. I inhale again, dragging that scent into my lungs. It fills my mind, and it’s all I can think about.

“You smell good.”

Ianto’s eyebrows raise. He steps towards me, and I have to arch my neck backwards.

“Ianto?” I murmur on a sigh.

He bends down suddenly, and his lips touch mine. I instantly open, my arms curling around him. I pull myself up against his body. In the back of my mind, I’m wondering who this beta is, but I’m unable to help myself, even knowing they won’t be mine. I just want to be touched by him. Kissed by him. Every stolen kiss in the last week is better than the last.

He lifts me up and sets me on the island and steps in between my legs, all without breaking our kiss. I moan and wiggle towards him until we’re as close as close can get.

Ianto tears his mouth from mine, breathing hard.

“I’m glad you’ve decided to stop giving this away to boys who don’t deserve it.”

“No one got it but you,” I protest incoherently.

“Good!” Ianto snarls.

I whine as he slides his hand up my ribs. I arch like a cat into his hands, but his fingers stop after just grazing the underside of my breast. My nipples are aching, they are so hard. I just want him to touch me. I’ll die if he doesn’t, I just know it.

“Ianto, please.”

“Please, what?”

“Touch me,” I beg.

He stares at me, his eyes dark and enigmatic. I’ve fantasised about these eyes. Staring at me in the dark, rescuing me, saving me.

He slides his hands up under my t-shirt and up over my sensitive skin. I groan, unable to believe this is really happening. Have I died? Am I asleep?

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