Page 82 of Beautiful Ruins
I swallowed against the knot lodged in my throat. “Yes. It’simportant. I’m going to pay your father a visit. Then when I get back, we’re going to work out what the fuck Snake knows.” I gave her arse a slap and peeled myself out from under her warmth and the tangle of sheets that had nearly talked me into staying.
Two hours of sleep had to be enough to keep me going for the day. That, and copious amounts of coffee. The previous night, I’d barely managed to tear myself away from Sadie’s lips. Losing her again wasn’t an option. Not now.
I snatched a pair of jeans hanging over the armchair in the corner of my room and shoved my legs into them.
Sadie rolled onto her side, propping her head up with a hand, leaving the sheet pooled around her waist. The swell of her breasts pressed against the mattress, her nipples hardening—just like the part of me already begging for her.
“Seriously?” She frowned, completely oblivious to the fact her body was fucking trying to kill me with my dick.
The quiet in the room pressed in, warm and deceptive. I couldn’t let it lull me into a false sense of security.
I grabbed a clean T-shirt, yanked it over my head, and threw on my Ridge Riders cut. “Serious as a fucking heart attack, Firefly. He’s got some explaining to do.”
Sadie threw herself back onto the bed with a little too much exaggeration. Her little tantrum wasn’t going to sway me—no matter how fucking good she looked doing it. My gaze drifted to her chest, her breasts bouncing slightly with each deep breath. A grin tugged at my lips, despite the tension coiling in my gut.
“Fine,” she said finally, wrapping the sheet around her body as she slid off the bed, and snatched her black lace bra from the floor. “I’m coming with you.”
“Absolutely fucking not.”
Sadie’s hazel eyes narrowed, every single one of herarguments flashing behind them like tiny orbs. “You think I’m just going to sit here while you go after my father?”
One wrong word from Chief Cooper, and I wasn’t sure who’d show up—her protector, or the monster pacing behind my ribs, begging to be let out.
“That’s exactly what you’ll do, Sadie. You really think he’s going to answer any of my questions while you’re standing there?” I leaned against the doorframe, crossing my arms over my chest. It wasn’t happening. Sadie was going nowhere near this, and she could fight me as much as she wanted. “Besides,” I said, lifting a shoulder. “I need you to do something for me while I’m gone.”
She shifted, clutching the sheet to her chest, her suspicion evident on her face. “What’s that?” Uncertainty filled her words.
Didn’t blame her. The last few weeks had been a mind-fuck, and that was putting it mildly.
I cleared my throat, resisting the urge to touch her again. “I want you to take that sexy arse of yours over to your place and pack a bag. You’re moving in with me.” She opened her mouth, probably to protest, knowing her. But I raised a hand. “And before you argue, this is non-negotiable, Sadie. Until Snake’s back in a cage, you aren’t staying in that house on your own.”
Pride—maybe relief—flashed across her face. She popped a hip, letting the sheet fall to her ankles like silk sliding off sin. Then she slipped into her bra with a slowness that made every single muscle in my body coil tight.
I groaned, the rough sound betraying the restraint I was barely holding onto. Fuck if she wasn’t the most beautiful creature I’d ever laid eyes on. And she was mine.
She crossed the room slowly, deliberately, still bare from the waist down. Need punched through my gut like a bullet, except this time it went directly for my heart.
“I wasn’t going to argue with you, baby,” she said softly as she came to stand in front of me. “I just wanted to know—can I sleep on the left side of the bed? The right is too close to the door.”
My eyebrows shot up. Her request caught me off guard, so simple yet so intimate. I nodded, unable to find words as she gazed up at me with those eyes of hers. She reached out, trailing her fingers along my chest, leaving a blazing inferno in their wake. And if she kept looking at me like that, I was going to lose my grip on the ledge completely.
“Thank you,” she whispered, her breath warm against my neck.
I swallowed hard, fighting the urge to crush her against me. “Anything else you need while I’m feeling generous?” My smirk widened.
I would have cut myself open for her and let her yank my heart from my chest if she asked me to. My side of the bed was the least of my worries.
“Nope.” She popped the P and waved me off while she fumbled around for her discarded clothes on the floor. “I’m sure Scout will be over any moment.” A flicker of hurt crossed her face, there and gone in an instant.
It hit me harder than it should’ve. But I didn’t touch it. Didn’t know how to. At some stage, I had to loosen the reins a little. If I tugged too tight, I’d have strangled the trust Sadie was handing me.
“Actually,” I said, rubbing the back of my neck. “I’m sure you’ll be fine for an hour.”
Her eyebrows shot up, and she grinned like I’d just dropped to one knee—one day. “Freedom? That a new concept in Ridge Rider territory?”
I rolled my eyes and pushed off thedoorframe. “Watch yourself, Sades. Or you might find yourself tied up later.” I left her standing there, mouth hanging open.
Yeah, I was fucking whipped.
