Page 16 of Overexposed

“Sure, I should probably say thank you too, but it’s getting hard to focus.”

“Close your eyes, Snow, I’ll have you somewhere safe soon.” I was half out of it, but I swore he also said, “And Gem better be home when I get there or I have no idea what I’m going to do.”

chapter

seven

Gemini

Leaning forward against the counter, I shifted my grip on my cock. The strokes weren’t quite what she’d done to me, but staring down at the blurry images, I could almost picture the sass in her green eyes. They sparkled when she smiled, and there was so much goddamn humor in her smile.

But no lie, all that gorgeous, black hair spilling over the pillows while I drilled into her? That was an image that could make me come. I’d wanked to it a few times this week. My dick stiffened and that slow, rolling burn began to ascend my spine when a chirp came from the security system.

The fuck?

The relief I chased evaporated as I pivoted to glare into the bedroom. We had intercoms in the whole damn house. It just made it easier to find each other when we were in a hurry. Another chirp…

Goddammit. Someone had left the button on downstairs again. The chirps were the security system disarming downstairs. The thump of a door closing and then Ollie said, “That’s it Snow, one foot in front of the other.”

“Hmm.” Whatever she said in response was muffled, but the factOlliewas bringing home a girl had me stuffing my dick backinto my pants and zipping up. It would take too long to get back to the edge.

I snagged my phone off the bathroom counter before I headed out of the bedroom and diverted toward the stairs. I hadn’t been sleeping that well this week anyway. When I wasn’t haunting the Cactus, I’d gone to the gym. The tabloids were having a fucking field day at Seven’s expense, and it didn’t matter that we knew it wasn’t him in the photos.

The only thing I really hated was the fact my girl couldn’t miss the damn picture or the circus they generated. The chances of her giving me a call were slim to none. Course, I hadn’t exactly given her my phone number and she had been gone when I woke up.

Best fucking night’s sleep I’d had in a year.

“Okay, that’s it,” Ollie said.

“Hey!” The husky, feminine voice promised all kinds of dirty things and my dick stiffened immediately. Right, so it got off to my girl and apparently Ollie’s bedroom piece. “I can walk.”

“Just stay there,” Ollie said, and I followed his voice to the sunken living room. Weird place to take a date. We rarely brought women home. Clara? Yeah, because Seven had dated her for years, but random hookups?

The last thing I expected was to findmy girlwith Ollie when I walked into the room. He shot a look at me, relief written all over his face.

“What the actual fuck?” I demanded. Ollie had a hand on her leg and was on one knee in front of her like he was about to go down on her. The black-haired siren of my wet dreams groaned.

“Shit,” she muttered as our gazes locked.

“The name is Gem, Slick. You knew that, remember?” I reminded her, and I shook my head. What were the chances I’d be jerking off to the thought of her and she showed up here?

Wait—whatwerethe chances? Dismissing that for the moment, I focused on where Ollie’s hand was.

“You two know each other?” Ollie swung his relieved gaze from me to Slick, then back again.

“You could say that, and you want to get your hands off my girl?” It wasn’t really a suggestion but the sudden urge to pop the guy who was practically a second brother and was definitely a best friend burned through me. I had to consciously force my hand to uncurl.

“I’m trying to keep her from getting back up,” Ollie protested. “She took a hell of a hit. Some jackass attacked her behind the hotel.”

The words had me really focusing on her. The lights were all on dim here, so I hit the switch on the wall to turn them up to full brightness. Slick jerked her face to the side, grimacing. A ring of red marks encircled her throat.

“I brought her back here because she refused a hospital,” Ollie was saying. “I beat the shit out of the guy and got him off her, but there were paps everywhere tonight, and the last thing I needed was my photo taken standing over the dude.”

Crossing the room, I nudged Ollie out of the way as I cupped Slick’s chin and tilted her head.

“I’m fine,” she argued with me even though she was still squinting badly. The husky voice must be a byproduct of the attack. She had a far smoother voice, like whiskey going down slow and sweet.

“Easy, Slick,” I said, shuttling aside the dozens of questions springing to mind. Yeah, the red marks were definitely going to bruise and there were four—no five half-moon marks, probably from nails digging into her skin. “You kicked the shit out of this asshole?”

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