Page 121 of Stutter

“It means Mrs. Hoover will be going down for manslaughter because she chose not to save her husband when she could have. I’m sure with the money she has, her parents can afford a great attorney, and she’ll get a five-year sentence maximum on account of stupidity. But if anything points back tous, which I believe it won’t, Raven or Jonas could go down forattemptedmanslaughter.”

I shiver in his hold.

“But my good girl got rid of all the evidence, didn’t she?” Mav asks, rubbing my thigh.

I nod. All of the bottles of wine that were used, we watched the trash company pick it up the day after Christmas from Damon’s access to the security feed at the Monroe mansion.

“That’s it, then?” Jonas asks.

Maverick bobs his head pensively, looking at me because he knows how I feel about this. I lean down to kiss him softly. “That’s it.”

But it doesn’t feel like ‘it’ at all.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Damon.

“Basil, basil, basil…” I quietly mumble to myself, opening the small spice rack in the pantry. Usually, I go for fresh basil, but the organic goods store I normally purchase from was completely out and so here I am, searching for the herbs I dried and crushed myself only to put them in little glass containers I purchased off the Zon.

The pantry door closes, and I turn around to see Jonas, who looks a little distraught as though waging a war in his mind – which I was expecting after this morning’s…activities.

“Everything okay?”

“Yeah… no. Yeah,” he says, seemingly debating with himself. “I’m not gay.”

I hold in my eye roll. I was waiting for this. Granted, I was waiting for a less ADD-riddled conversation, but that’s not my pup. “Jonas-“

“No, wait, let me say this because I’ve been thinking about it all morning. I’m not gay. I went to an all-boys catholic school from the time I was thirteen until I graduated. I saw it all the time, and I even tried to kiss a few guys to make sure, but I couldn’t. I… I never felt that way… Until you.”

I hold my breath.

“I’m gay… bi? I’m… I only have those feelings foryou. Not for Mav, and I don’t think anyone else, either. Never have. But my feelings for our girl will probably always be stronger. She’s… she’severythingto me, and I need to make sure you understand that. But I… I also can’t see my future without you in it. Does that make sense?”

I look at him, breathing in his mint and citrus scent, thinking of the first kiss I stole from him that night at Inferno when we seduced Tyler for our Little Bird. How bright of a light he is for us with his antics, and how much easier he makes every day seem. For all of us.

He’s breathing heavily, chest steadily rising and falling, waiting for my answer. He’s taller than me and yet I feel bigger than him.

“Damon, you have to say something. Your silence is making my stomach hurt.”

I put the small shaker on the shelf beside him then pull him by his black thermal, closing the distance between us. He lets out a soft whimper and it goes straight to my dick. “I was seventeen when I slept with a man and never tried it ever again, because it was enough for me. Until you. Between the first night I kissed you up until this morning, I could have sworn fucking you was just a wet dream I would have. I never imagined it going any further than us sharing her. So no, Jonas, I’ve never felt this way toward any other man, including the one I experimented with eighteen years ago and yes, it does make sense. And believe me, if this ever made our Little Bird insecure, there isno wayI would continue it. Like you, she is my everything but like you… I can’t see a future withoutusin it either. I have never carried a relationship with a man, nor do I want to… unless it’s you.”

His eyes round, softening, and a look of relief flickers across his face. "Damon," he whispers, his lips so close to mine I can almost taste his toothpaste.

“Yes, Pup?”

“Kiss me.”

It’s all I need. One arm goes around his taut back, carved with muscles I’ve never felt underneath my fingertips unless in a medical setting before, the other to his hair and he embraces me just the same. Something behind him clatters to the floor butwhen his mouth parts and our tongues tip, I kiss him with all I have.

“Oh my god,” he groans but attacks my lips again, growing hard against my abdomen. Without losing momentum, I reach down to feel his rigid, thick length, and squeeze.

His taste, the lingering scent of our girl on his flesh, and the feel of his soft skin over such firm muscles are fucking with my brain chemistry. We both let out a groan when I shift and my own hard length rubs against his.

The door to the pantry opens suddenly and we break away but not with guilt, merely to see, and I think we both hope, it’s Raven.

And it is.

She steps into the pantry with a devilish grin on her face and closes the door behind her, only to make the sign for us to continue kissing.

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