Page 140 of Seeking Two Lovers

I nodded, my heart soaring. “Soon.”

42

BLAINE

Sarah had officially been with us for a week when Franklin finally got in touch with her. I hadn’t recognized the New Hampshire number calling my cell but had answered anyway. A quiet, hesitant voice had introduced himself, and I’d promptly handed my phone over to Sarah who’d been sitting eating dinner with me and Grey.

Cheeks pink and tears in her eyes, she’d scampered up the stairs, leaving me alone with Grey for the first time outside our bed in seven long as fuck days. We hadn’t done more than cuddle and kiss in that week. Sex of any sort had been the last thing on my mind, which wasn’t surprising considering what Sarah and I had gone through since her arrival.

Countless questions and hours upon hours of having to wade through the darkness I could no longer keep under lock and key. That shit was needed to build the case against Quell.

Turmoil no human being ought to experience raged in our hearts regardless of our attempts to think on other aspects of our lives. Exhaustion didn’t begin to describe both my and Sarah’s bodies and minds.

Physically drained, emotionally spent, we both needed a long-as-hell vacation far away from everything and just about everyone.

While I felt all kinds of satisfaction in seeing Quell hauled off in cuffs, the cult disbanded and a few of the buildings razed to the ground, I knew I would never be able to forget what had taken place inside the cult’s fence.

Sarah fared a little better than I did. The bruises had begun to fade, and she’d lost the pale face and frightened eyes. Watching the aftereffects of the raid on the compound, finally having answers of where our parents had gotten to—even if it hadn’t been confirmed yet—had settled something in her.

My head still floundered like a damn hot mess.

Grey and I finished eating, not talking a whole lot, and cleaned up. He’d been quiet throughout week but always there if I needed him. The man I could count on.

The man I loved desperately.

Pain lanced through my chest, and I set aside the towel I’d been using to dry the dishes he washed and tugged his forearm.

Suds up to his elbows from the dish water, he turned toward me, his brow furrowed. “Are you okay?”

Throat tight, I nodded and moved in close, resting my forehead on his shoulder to soak in his warmth and the sure peace being in his arms always brought.

He hugged me to him, wet hands soaking through my thin T-shirt as he rubbed up and down my spine, soothing my mind as I knew he would.

I sagged against him, tucking my face into his neck, my fingers digging into the muscles along his spine. He smelled like soap and masculinity—my Grey. Emotions rose up in my chest but with sweet longing rather than sorrow.

Trailing my lips over his neck, up over his jaw, I attempted to give him something in return for all he’d sacrificed for me.

“Grey,” I murmured against the corner of his mouth, and he turned toward me, brushing his lips over mine. The chaste touch of lips we’d shared over the previous seven days gave way to rising hunger from a mere flick of my tongue along his seam.

His hold on me tightened, and he groaned, his tongue lashing against mine.

Life returned to my groin for the first time in over a week, and I leaked pre-cum like a goddamn broken faucet.

“Grey,” I whispered once more over his lips.

“I know, baby…I know.” He squeezed my ass and kissed along my scruffy jaw. “Fuck, have I missed you.”

“Mmm.” I swallowed hard as he closed his lips over my earlobe.

Footsteps sounded, and we both stepped away from each other, panting. Gazes locked, we adjusted the obvious bulges in our pants. He smirked and winked, the lightness in the moment curving my lips into a soft smile.

I slid onto the barstool I’d vacated to clean up while he turned to finish the dishes. Hard-ons officially hidden.

Sarah breezed into the kitchen, face flushed and eyes more alight than I’d seen since she’d landed in California.

“He’s good, I’m guessing?” I asked, my tone steadier than I’d expected considering how my pulse still raced and desire for my man still coursed through my blood.

“A-Mazing!” She plopped onto the stool beside me, handing over my cell. “So, he found out he has grandparents he never knew about, and he and the other four kids moved in with them. They have a farm in Maine, a big one, with plenty of room for all of them. Franklin won’t be responsible for his siblings like he’d feared—he wants me to come home so we can be together.”

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