Page 4 of Nomad

Mason shoved his boots on and grabbed his bike keys from where he’d apparently put them on the nightstand. Leaning over me, he gripped Joke’s mouth and pressed a hot, quick kiss to his lips. My breath hitched in my throat, and warmth pooled in my belly. They were just as perfect together as I’d envisioned them to be.

“Be careful,” Joke told him, all the teasing gone from his voice.

“Always,” Mason responded.

When he opened the door, I winced at the frigid air that immediately swept into the room. He muttered a curse before he stepped outside, quickly shutting the door behind him. I looked at Joke, chewing on my bottom lip as I tugged the blankets tighter around me, trying to combat the cold that had swept into the room. “Will he be alright?”

Joke looked away from the door and nodded at me, his dark eyes meeting mine. “He’ll be fine, princess. A snow storm won’t take that man out. I promise.” Reaching up, he tucked my hair behind my ear, and my cheeks flamed once again. “Why don’t you lay back down for now? I’ll turn on a TV show, and we can chill until he gets back with medicine and food.”

Nodding, I laid back down on the bed. Getting up, Joke grabbed the remote from beside the TV, then slid into bed behind me again, casually wrapping an arm around me as if it wasnormal.

My breath shuddered out of my lungs. Dalton had been soft everywhere, though not overweight. It was just clear he neverworked out. But Joke was all hard, lean muscles andman. It was intoxicating.

“How long have you and Mason been together?” I asked Joke as he scrolled through the television channels.

“Three years,” he told me. “We got together while we were prospecting for the Savage Crows, and once we were patched in, we went nomad.”

I swallowed thickly, wondering if I should even voice my next question. But my curiosity always won out over my sense of right and wrong.

“Do you two share women?”

He hummed, and my breath hitched in my throat when he nuzzled the back of my neck for a moment. When he inhaled the scent of my hair, my belly swooped.

“Sometimes,” he rumbled.

My mouth went dry.

He settled onMartin, which was playing on BET, and the sound of Gina scolding Martin filled the room. I settled, relaxing into the mattress and back against Joke as I lost myself in the show and Joke’s warm embrace.

I must have dozedoff at some point because suddenly, I was waking up to cold air washing over my face. My eyes snapped open, only to find Mason quickly hurrying into the room, his arms weighed down with bags. Once he kicked the door shut, hedeposited the plain black plastic bags on the small table in the corner of the room.

“What’d you get?” Joke asked, leaning up on his elbow to watch as Mason pulled medicine out of the bag, along with ramen noodle cups, hot dogs, napkins, plasticware, sodas, water, SPAM, and Vienna’s. My stomach rumbled at the sight of all the food, and Joke looked down at me with a smirk. “Hungry, princess?”

“A bit,” I croaked as I reached up to rub the sleep from my eyes.

“Also found this little thing,” Mason said, reaching into his hoodie to pull?—

Oh, my God, a kitten!

I screeched and then fell into a coughing fit as I abruptly sat up, reaching for the adorable, gray furball nestled in his arms. Chuckling, Mason stepped forward and handed it to me. It gave a little meow before snuggling into my chest, purring louder than I thought was possible for its small body. I giggled, then sniffled as I ran my hand delicately over his soft fur.

“It was out in the parking lot crying for help,” Mason said to Joke, exasperation lacing his tone. Joke just stared him down in annoyance. “I couldn’t just leave the damn thing.”

“And what do you suggest we do with it when we leave here?” Joke asked as he took a bottle of water and began to pour some into one of the ramen noodle cups.

“I’ll keep it,” I blurted. The kitten nudged its head beneath my chin, and I laughed a little. “Yes, I’m going to keep you,” I murmured. Lifting it up, I smiled. “Oh, you’re a girl kitty. Look how precious you are.”

Mason shook his head at me, but a soft smile was tilting his lips that made a blush spread from my cheeks all the way down to my chest.

“Don’t know where the little thing is going to piss or shit at, but I guess she can stay,” Joke sighed as he started the microwave to cook the noodles.

I beamed at him. “Really?”

He nodded, a small smile tilting his lips as he sighed through his nose. “Yeah, princess, really.”

4

Mason

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