Page 37 of Knotty, Nice, & Holiday Lights
Iz… my Iz. I need to protect her at any cost.
“I’ll take her.”
Asher eyes me for a long moment, and ire builds in my chest until he nods at me. “I’ll go with you.”
Helping me cradle Iz in my arms, Asher then opens the door, and we all file out of the closet, where Will makes a pit stop at the coat check while Asher and I head for the doors, where a bouncer stops us. I’m about to tell this Alpha off when Will rushes up from behind us and says something to him that I can’t hear. The bouncer’s nostrils flare, and he frowns, nodding us past him.
When we get to my car beside Will’s in the parking lot, I gently let Iz’s feet touch the ground and grip the door handle, the keyless fob in my pocket disengaging the locks before I open the door. With Asher’s help, we get Iz in the back seat, and he sits beside her.
“I’ll follow you back,” Will says over the roof of my car before getting into his.
About halfway back to Will’s, Iz begins to wake with a groan, making me look at her in the rearview, barely able to make out her form because of the poorly lit back streets. But Asher moans as he shifts beside her, and I have to keep my eyes on the road.
“Is she okay?”
“Yeah, mate,” Asher’s voice is strained. “She’s grabbing on me.”
Of course she is. “Keep it together. We’re almost at the B&B.”
The rest of the ride is blissfully quiet, and I pull around the back of the building and park next to Iz’s car.
Will parks beside me as I’m pulling Iz from the backseat. Once in my arms, she sighs and wraps her arms around my neck before burying her face in my shoulder. “Matthew,” she breathes on a giggle. “You smellsoooogood now. What are you doing different?”
What the fuck is she talking about? She must be hallucinating, delirious after passing out at the height of an orgasm.
I follow Will into the B&B and up the stairs, reminiscent of last night’s events. Only once we’re up the stairs do I realize our scents are nearly gone.
Once we enter Iz’s room, we get her settled on the bed for only a minute before she scrambles onto her knees on the mattress, looking wide awake, and presses her lips to mine. Her hands come up to my face, rubbing my beard as she says against my lips, “I love your beard. It makes you look so sexy.”
I groan internally, my dick stiffening in my jeans almost as bad as when we were in the supply closet at the lounge.
Something isn’t right here, though. This isn’t just Iz being drunk and horny. I know all about drunk and horny Iz. Right now is that times a million, and I don’t understand it.
“You need your sleep, Iz,” I tell her, helping her to lie down again.
This time, the moment her head hits the pillow, she closes her eyes and snuggles in, falling asleep almost immediately.
What the fuck is going on?
Chapter Twenty-Six
“Shit.”
This is the third pancake I’ve folded in half while flipping this morning.
I barely slept a few minutes last night, worried about Izzy. I kept finding myself outside her door, listening to see if I could hear her breathing. Then, feeling like a creeper, I’d trudge back downstairs and into my room.
I made Matthew stay overnight after freshening up one of the spare rooms. He demanded to pay, which turned into a whisper-argument, until he won and immediately turned into a self-satisfied bastard.
I think I’m cranky.
“You need help over there?” Asher asks from the kitchen table, where he and Matthew are seated for the pancakes, bacon, coffee, and tea I’d prepared for them.
I let out a frustrated sigh and ignore him. “When was the last time someone checked on Izzy?”
“I was up there a few minutes ago,” Matthew says. “Her shower was running, so she’s up.”
Deep inhale, long exhale. She’s okay. Now, maybe I can flip the next pancake properly.
