Page 45 of Control's Undoing

“No.”Colum’s gaze slid down to his mouth.

“Going to kiss me?”Xavier asked quietly.

“I’m thinking about it.”

“I think you should.”

Colum leaned down but stopped himself just short of making contact.When he sighed, Xavier felt Colum’s exhale against his own lips.

“I shouldn’t be doing this.”Colum abruptly rolled away.

He took the covers with him, and the shock of cold air made Xavier grimace.Colum hopped out of bed, revealing that he was wearing his boxers.Xavier sat up, watching the flex of Colum’s ass in the tight boxer briefs as he pulled on his pants.

Xavier slid out of bed.Unlike Colum, he was naked.He pulled on pants, and when he turned, Colum was definitely staring.

Xavier smirked, his anger at Annie amplified by sexual frustration.“Brave enough to look but not to touch.”He clicked his tongue, shaking his head mockingly.

A muscle in Colum’s jaw flexed and he snatched up his shirt, stalking out of the bedroom.

Xavier winced, half wishing he could take back his mocking.But the other half of him was sexually and emotionally frustrated and had no problem with goading both Colum and Annie until they gave in to the desire that lashed them together.

Xavier followed Colum out, catching up to him as the other man stopped in the living room of the suite, staring at Annie.

She sat at the small table, her hair pulled back in a ponytail, but a few pieces had escaped.Even from here, he could see the dark circles under her eyes, and she was hunched forward as she made notes on a tablet.

The Yorick skull sat on the table in front of her.

“What’s all this, then?”Colum asked, head cocked as he studied her.

“I did what I could with the tools I have.”She gestured to a small towel on the table beside her.A few small electronic devices, none of which Xavier could identify, were laid out there.

“What are those?”Colum asked, voice tinged with interest.He started to rush forward, but Xavier put a hand on his shoulder stopping him.

“Scanners, a digital no-touch probe.I’ve confirmed it’s made of plaster, and the interior is hollow, which we basically knew from the weight.I also…”

Annie went on, but Xavier stopped listening, instead studying her.She looked exhausted, and given everything she was saying, he guessed she’d stayed up all night examining and studying the skull.

Xavier leaned in to whisper in Colum’s ear.“I don’t think she slept.”

Colum stiffened, his gaze sweeping down her in a proprietorial assessment.That possessive look perfectly encapsulated how Xavier was starting to feel about Annie…and Colum.

Colum looked at Xavier and a shared moment of understanding passed between them.

As one, they moved, Xavier toward Annie, Colum toward the phone.

Annie looked up as he loomed over her.“Yes?”

Instead of replying, he gently took her hand, pulling her from her chair.Annie blinked in surprise, then inhaled sharply when he slid an arm around her, guiding her over to the couch.Once Annie was seated, Xavier went to the small coffee station, sneering at the pods.That turned into a smile as he listened to Colum charm the room service people to rush their breakfast order.

For a man who seemed alternately shy and brusque, he could turn on the charm when it suited him.

A second later, they rendezvoused at the couch, Xavier passing Annie a cup of coffee before dropping to sit on the coffee table facing her.Colum sat beside her, pulling the throw off the back of the chair and settling it around her shoulders.

Annie blinked in surprise, attention bouncing back and forth between them.

“Did you sleep any?”Colum asked.

Annie shook her head.“I wanted to have some information for us by the time you two woke up.”

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