Page 46 of Act of Brotherhood
He eased his cock from her and the action created a wet slurping sound that was anything but sexy. “Um, I work for the government. It’s classified.”
She knew he wasn’t telling her the whole truth of the matter, but then again, he wouldn’t if it was classified. “Are you leaving now?”
“I’m starting to think you want me gone,” he said with a laugh.
“No.” She touched his cheek. “That’s not it. It’s just…this…this is intense.”
“It is,” he agreed, but didn’t seem worried about it at all. “I’m going to call work and check in on a friend of mine who’s in the hospital.”
“Oh no. What happened?” she asked.
“He was involved in an accident and gravely injured.” Garth was quiet a moment. “I need to see how he’s doing.”
She touched his lips. “I’m sorry he was hurt. I hope he’s okay.”
“Me too.”
He caught her hand and held it to his chest. “The men I work with sent me down here on what I think was a fool’s mission, just to get me to leave Gram’s side for a while. I was pissed at first. Meeting you has changed all of that.”
“Gram is your friend who’s hurt?”
“Yes. He’s the closest thing to a best friend I’ve ever had.”
Nicolette ran her foot up his leg partly, liking lying in bed with him. “I’d think your brother would be.”
“You’d think wrong,” he said, kissing her hand, keeping it tucked close to him. “Grid and I don’t speak anymore. We haven’t for a long time. He walks a different path than me in life. A dark one.”
She shivered though she wasn’t sure why. “I’m sorry. I can tell that upsets you.”
“It does, but it is what it is. I have to accept that and do what needs done,” he said.
She continued to rub his leg with her foot. “That can’t be easy for you. Like I mentioned before, I’m an only child, and I’d give anything to have a large family.”
“And I want to give you that,” he whispered, his voice so low, she wasn’t sure she’d actually heard him right.
She yawned and stretched like a cat in the bed before laughing softly. “Sorry. I’m sleepy.”
He kissed her cheek. “Sleep. You’re exhausted.” He snaked an arm around her waist and slid up alongside her on the bed once more. He then dragged her against his frame, turning her onto her side as he held her. “I’ll be here while you fall asleep. And I promise you, I’ll be here come morning light.”
Nicolette closed her eyes, unsure she believed him. The man was simply too good to be true. There had to be something majorly wrong with him. That was the only reason she could think of that he wasn’t already taken.
He traced lazy circles over her stomach with his hand as he kissed her shoulder, still holding her to him. Her back was pressed to his front. The longer she remained there, the more darkness began to swim around her vision. When sleep finally came, it did so with a vengeance.
When she next stirred awake, she found the bed was empty. The window was wide open, letting rain come in, as it stormed outside. Squinting, Nicolette peered through the darkness to see Garth’s large frame near the open window. From what she could tell, he was fully dressed, and his hair was braided once more.
She shivered as a gust of cool wind blew in from the window, past Garth and over her. The framed picture of her and Clara on the dresser fell to the floor. He bent and retrieved it before standing tall once more, clutching the photo in his hand. He was barely visible with as dark as it was, but she could faintly make him out there, standing, still facing her, saying nothing.
It was strange.
“You’reverypretty,” he said, his accent the thickest she’d heard it to date. Not to mention there was something in his voice, or rather something missing—warmth. He took a step towards her, and she heard the squeak a shoe makes when wet.
As she peered harder in his direction, a flash of lightning went off outside, casting light over him. He was in the gray T-shirt she’d seen him in earlier, in the square, and he was wet.
Very wet.
“Garth, did you go outside in this weather? And why on earth did you open the window?” she asked, reaching for the covers to both shield her from the bite of the stormy night air and conceal herself from his view. She wasn’t sure why she felt compelled to do so. He’d had his face between her legs, for crying out loud. The man knew what she looked like naked better than she did by this point. Still, she tugged the covers up more as he stepped even closer towards the bed. He held the framed picture in his hand and lifted it up, examining it.
“You’re both very pretty girls,” he said, his accent still sounding way thicker than it had earlier in the night. He walked to the edge of the bed, his boots still squeaking as he did. He then bent and set the picture on the bed before leaning over her. His face was partially shadowed. He touched the top of the covers, near her breasts. He swiped his finger back and forth over the mounds of her partially covered breasts. “So soft. So smooth.”
