Page 34 of Pack Baines

“No rush, Angel,” he assures, grabbing the front of my apron and kissing me once I’m close enough.

Laughing against his mouth, thoroughly enjoying the affection and soaking it in like it might disappear at any second, I kiss him back, humming against his mouth for a long moment before I finally pull back and mutter, “Keep doing that and we’ll be here way longer than either of us want to be.”

“Fine. Go ahead and make sense. Just say you hate me next time,” he mumbles, and I’m laughing loudly as I take off my apron and fold it under the counter after clearing away the last coffee cup.

By the time I’m done, Lowie already has my purse over his shoulder and my jacket in hand, and he ushers me out of the door as soon as I’m near. I switch the lights off and lock up the door before slipping into my jacket. Instead of offering me my purse, Lowie claims my hand in his, our fingers entwining together as he begins to lead me to my truck in the lot.

And, despite having him close and feeling safe as can be, I can’t help but search my surroundings as we go. I’m searching every shadow, every corner, and my hand in Lowie’s tightens.

Distracting myself from the paranoia, I sigh and mutter, “My feet are killing me.”

Lowie snorts and peers down at my heels. “Why’d you wear those things? Not that I’m complaining, because they sure do make your ass look superior and your legs a mile long, but why wear ‘em if they’re hurting?”

I shrug. “I don’t know, they make me feel good, I guess? Kind of like a shield of armor or something. I feel confident in them, so I wear them.”

A hum from him answers me, and I smile even as I shake my head. Only to almost stumble in my heels when the bastard lowly quips, “Well, if you’re a good girl, I might help with the aches and pains.”

He knows exactly how that sounds, there’s no doubt about it, and my body flushes while a new ache forms between my thighs. It’s what has me muttering under my breath, “Which ache?”

Of course, I don’t mutter quietly enough, because the shithead leans in and whispers, “Both, if you play your cards right.”

And I’ll be damned if I don’t find a new love of playing cards, because I will win however many hands it takes to win whatever he’s offering.

Chapter 14

Lowie

The moment we reach Juno’s beat up truck, I climb into the passenger’s side, lips twitching at the funny look she gives me. I only catch it from the corner of my eye, but it’s no less amusing. In fact, I’ve been more amused in the last forty-eight hours than I have been in the past eight years. Of course, it’s all down to my Angel, because nothing has been right without her.

“Did you lose your car? Or bike? Or whichever of the fancy transportation machines you all have tucked away on that fancy driveway of yours?” she asks as soon as she’s seated behind the wheel, the engine running with a spluttering sound that has me frowning in concern. One Juno catches, too. “You can wipe that look off your face. This truck is more reliable than the weather forecast on Google. She’s just a little old.”

I give her a look that screams ‘way to state the obvious’ but keep my mouth sealed. It’s clear the thing means something to her, and I’ll be damned if I disrespect that just after she agreed to let me stay with her. Instead, I give her the answer to her question. “I took a ride share here, so my bike is safely tucked away in the garage at home.”

“Oh, so you were banking on getting lucky?” she teases, pulling out of the lot with a cheeky grin I love.

Snorting, I scoot over on the bench and drop my hand to her thigh, simply wanting to hold her. To touch her and reassure myself, not for the first time, that she’s real. That she’s here, with me. “No, you shit. I hoped you’d say yes, obviously, but the intention was to make sure you got home safe and then I’d get a ride share home if you decided you didn’t want my company.”

“I always want your company,” she mutters, running a hand through her dark-purple hair that suits her just as much as the dirty blonde did. More so, actually. It’s very Juniper, and I like to see her being her. “Never doubt that.”

My chest tightens and I smile over at her, even if she doesn’t see it while she focuses on the road ahead. Just knowing that she’s as desperate to be around me as I am her, soothes a whole lot of somethings inside me, that she’s easily accepting us already has hope filling me from head to toe. This is going to work. We’re together now, and there’s no way I’m going to let go of her again. I already did that once, and I suffered for eight years for it. I’m not going to suffer any longer when she’s right here and extending an open invitation to be around her always. An invitation I will accept at every turn.

“Good, because you’re never getting rid of me,” I inform her, squeezing her thigh and getting comfortable in my seat while Juno navigates the roads flawlessly. It makes me wonder who taught her to drive, when she passed her test, and a whole boatload of other questions that I’d love the answers to if it means knowing my girl that bit better. Knowing what she went through.

“Bold of you to assume that’s what the plan was,” she counters, flicking her gaze in my direction for a split second to catch my smile before she focuses back on the road with a pleased little smirk that does things to me.

My hand slides a little further up her leg, fingers squeezing her lush thigh once more, and I hear the slight hitch in her breath that has a sudden rumble vibrating through my chest. My purr is a little rattled and raspy, unused and unpracticed, but it seems to have an effect on Juno. She sighs and her whole body relaxes under mytouch, a faint whine crawling free from her plump lips, and my purr seems to grow in volume while my pants tighten at the sound of her. They only tighten further when the scent of pineapple, coconut, and vanilla thickens in the air around us, filling the cabin of the truck with her mouth-watering, addictive scent that I’d love nothing more than to roll around in like a cat finding a mound of catnip.

The rest of the drive is torture on my self-control. I only allow myself to helpings of Juno’s thigh, relishing in the feel of her beneath my palm and every gasp or bottled whine that she tries and fails to hide from me. We remain silent, but there’s an intensity in the truck, a charge that thrums through my veins, like we’re both fully aware of the yearning and want that spans between us both. Her scent is thick and heady around us, want and desire filling every space around us, and I’m practically lapping it up like a dehydrated man in the desert who has just found his first drop of water.

By the time she parks, leads me to her dorm building, and has her keys ready to unlock her door, I find that my control snaps the moment I hear the latch unlock and she swings the door open.

I have Juniper in my arms quicker than a blink, her toned legs wrangling my waist, while her arms find a home wrapped around my shoulders. One of my hands finds the beautiful curve of her ass, and I hold her close to my body while the other sinks into her plum-colored hair then tug her into a desperate kiss that I pour everything into. Desire, longing, desperation, and everything in between. With that kiss, I tell her how much I’ve missed her, how much I’ve needed her, and how fucking happy I am to have her back.

Sure enough, I receive the same level of energy, her hands suddenly sinking into my hair and gripping tight while she kisses me back, nipping at my lip and moaning when I deepen it to better consume her. I’m like an addict taking a hit of my drug of choice, welcoming the tug of my hair, the way her thighs tighten around me, and swallowing the needy moans and whines that begin to break free before we’ve even crossed the threshold to her room.

The possibility of anyone hearing the sounds that would unman me if I wasn’t so focused on Juno has me marching into her room, my foot kicking the door shut with a muted thud. Then I’m tearing her jacket away like it’s offended my ancestors, dying to feel her skin on mine, wanting her heat and scent all over me.

Juno breathlessly laughs against my mouth, helping me shed the leather from her body before moaning when I tighten my hold on her ass and stroke my tongue against hers, needing her taste and scent to fill every single one of my senses.

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