Page 47 of Samhain

That got my attention. I pulled my leggings up to my waist and yanked an old T-shirt over my head before turning to face him. “Nightmares?”

He nodded, putting his phone and a pack of smokes into his pockets. “Sometimes. They were bad right after we got home from Ireland. it’s been quiet for a while. Until…well…until this.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Right.”

“I don’t know what to make of it.” Lex sighed, staring out the window to the DC skyline beyond it. “There’s no reason we should still feel like this. There’s no reason for this to happen. Unless?—”

“Unless she was right,” I said.

“Yeah.” It came out like a sigh, and I let the topic drop because I was exhausted. Tomorrow, we’d talk. Tomorrow, we’d ask the hard questions and spill all our secrets. But tonight, I wanted to disappear into the abyss of being with them again, of being complete. Because certainly, I’d never known wholeness like I did standing in that room with him, knowing Ivy and Carter were on the other side of the house. We were together again, perfect in a way we hadn’t been in two years.

I traced a finger over a black binder on his desk, touching a photo that stuck out at an odd angle. I flipped it open and turned it so I could see another picture of Ivy. This time, she was looking at the camera with that haunting mix of vulnerability and malice. She had a lit cigarette hanging out of her mouth, holding up a hand to give the camera…Lex…the middle finger.

“Wow,” I said, flipping to the next page. This one was a boudoir shot on her giant bed. Naked, she arched her back and bent her knees, the curves of her body dark against the white sheet behind her. My lower stomach clenched, and a shiver of arousal went straight down my center at how amazing she looked.

“Ohhh, no, no, no.” Lex rushed over and flipped the binder closed, scooting his body in between me and the desk. “Uh-uh. You’re not supposed to see those.”

“What?” I balked, half amused, half surprised. “Why?”

“Because I promised,” he said. “I pinky swore no one else would ever see them except for the two of us.”

The cut stung. “Certainly, I don’t count. I’ve seen both of you naked a million times.”

Lex pulled his lips into a devil-may-care grin and put his hands on my neck, pulling me in for a kiss to distract me. “I promised, Princess.” Another kiss. “You know I always keep my promises. Even to stuck-up gingers like X.”

I rolled my eyes and huffed, going for them again.

“Don’t be a spoiled brat,” he teased, biting my lower lip as he circled his fingers around my wrist to stop me. “You don’t own everything.”

“Why can’t I see, darling?” I asked. “She’s my best friend.”

“She’s my best friend, too,” Lex said. “I needed help with a project, and she offered. But this was just for us. For her.”

I narrowed my eyes at him and relented, pleased by his respect for her and surprised that he had called her his best friend. Until two years ago, that title had been reserved for Carter. It had taken all their lives, but Lex finally saw what I had in our American sweetheart. I wrapped my arms around his neck and pressed my body against his, all the way from our chests to our knees.

“You know I think it’s sexy when you tell me no,” I murmured.

“I remember.” He slid his palms along my biceps and down my torso to my waist, sending chills over my skin. “And if I wasn’t so fucking wrung out, I’d deny you. All.” A kiss. “Fucking.” Another. “Night.”

How I’d missed him.

“You think they’re sufficiently reacquainted?” He nodded toward Ivy’s room.

“The moaning stopped a few minutes ago, so I’d say we’re in the clear.”

He chuckled and guided me into the hallway. As I took one last look at that solemn picture of Ivy on the wall, I told myself I’d get my paws on one of those prints somehow, no matter what favors I had to promise in return.

He didn’t knock on Ivy’s door, just twisted the handle and went inside, where we found Carter and Ivy huddled together in her massive Alaskan king-size bed. It dwarfed them, swallowed them whole in a poof of blankets and pillows.

“Are we all caught up?” Lex crawled onto the mattress and sat back on his haunches, while I walked on my knees across the bedding so I could slip under the covers next to my wife.

“We’re good.” Carter hauled Ivy in closer to him. I smiled and kissed her before I went to Carter and kissed him, too. They both tasted like sex and each other, but that didn’t bother me. It felt right. All of this just felt so right.

I grabbed Ivy’s hands and cuddled closer to her while Lex scooted in behind me. We teased and prodded each other for a few minutes, but peace eventually fell on our achy bodies. We drifted off to an easy slumber, once again in the safety of each other’s embrace.

14

Miri

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