Page 15 of Cuddling Sucks in Coffins
“I appreciate that...so much.” My voice hitched, but I willed myself to keep it together.
“Anytime.” A groove formed between his eyebrows, sliding his glasses down his nose slightly, and it wasn’t until I saw where his gaze pointed that I guessed why. He stared down at my arm stretched out toward him, my fingers curled naturally against my face-up palm.
I hadn’t even realized I’d reached out to touch him. Maybe I hadn’t. Maybe my arm had been like that before he’d sat down. He’d fucked me so hard, I couldn’t even remember the state of my limbs afterward.
“Eddie...”
But he’d already turned away and stood, headed for the upstairs bathroom. “I’ll see you downstairs.”
Minutes later while alone in the kitchen, I sat at the cracked table in front of a steaming bucket of coffee—just the size I needed—while locked in my thoughts. All 57,000 of them. It would explain my wandering limb toward Eddie, no question about that.
And if there was a way to protect Jacek from Ronick, I would try to find it. If there wasn’t...then maybe I could find a way to stage their reunion so that I was in control of the situation. That way I could still get Night’s Fall and the location of the Senate while ensuring Jacek’s safety. The only way to do that would be to kill Ronickafterhe transferred the sword’s power butbeforehe killed Jacek. But before I could get to any of that, I’d have to betray Jacek so the reunion could happen. He would forgive me, once I was able to explain the situation. Right? I’d have make sure the timing was right to make sure everything went according to plan, as flimsy a plan as this was. It was the best I could do, but if one thing went wrong, it was Jacek’s life on the line. Mine too.
Sawyer came in wearing only jeans, shrinking the kitchen with his size. His warrior’s body wrapped in golden skin tattooed with swirling sun and moon tattoos accentuated his dark curls, still wet from his shower. A spicy smell emanated from him from across the kitchen, good enough to lick, and I melted into it, letting it drown out some of my doubts and worries. No morning wood today, but his orange-yellow eyes blazed as if with salacious thoughts. He swept around the table toward me without a word, cradled my face in his hands, and kissed me all the way to my soul.
I kissed him right back and wrapped my legs around him to pull him close. A firestorm of impulses rushed through my body, making me come alive with want until I was a panting mess. Maybe I smelled of desire because that was the only ingredient that had made me. And sunshine. My vamps could flip the switch on my desire faster than anyone I’d ever met, which wasn’t really saying much. But still. Hot damn.
“Morning, Belle,” Sawyer murmured once he pulled away.
“Morning, Sawyer,” I purred.
A smile played on his lips as he sat next to me, but it faded as he took in the faint cut on the back of my hand. “Rough night?”
“Yeah.” I flexed my fingers and sighed.
He frowned at the table and ran a finger down the large crack in the center. “Looks like you weren’t the only one. What happened here?”
Before I could answer, Jacek came into the kitchen, wearing black athletic pants that revealed the sharp V of his hips and his usual grin that lit up his whole face. The backs of my eyes burned at the sight of him from the pressure expanding in my head at everything he needed to know, and everything I couldn’t tell him.
“How’s my favorite slayer?” he asked on his way to the refrigerator.
“Good. You?” The moment he passed me, my eyes welled as I looked down at my lap, and I hoped Sawyer didn’t notice.
“Fan-fucking-tastic,” Jacek said cheerily.
When I’d blinked back my tears, I side-eyed Sawyer, who sat frowning into space and rubbing the side of his jaw. He looked bothered by something, but I didn’t have a chance to ask what because Eddie wandered in.
His hair was still damp from his shower and actually lay flat against his head for once. He zipped up his black dress pants with one hand and attempted to button his white shirt with the other. When he righted his glasses on his nose, he gazed at me as if seeing me for the first time. His amber eyes brightened, and a hint of a smile curled his lips.
“There you are,” he said.
I breathed a sigh of relief. He didn’t seem upset with me.
“Here I am,” I said.
While he and Jacek puttered around the kitchen for a mug of warm blood, my mind worked over how I might bring up last night’s events withoutreallybringing up last night’s events.
Gah! My life made zero sense anymore.
Finally, I settled on: “Hey, how many slayers have you three known? Like personally, I mean.”
Eddie, who’d been on his way to the refrigerator, stiffened, his steps hitching. Jacek eyed him as he strode past to the table and sat next to me, a coppery scent steaming from his mug. His was less bucket-like than mine.
“Are you sure you want to hear another history lesson?” Jacek asked.
“If it’s about your histories, then yes. It’s dead people’s histories that put me to sleep sometimes.”
He grinned. “We are dead, Slayer.”
