Page 80 of Soulmates

“I know you would, but it’s not just you guys you have to worry about. That little girl needs her parents.”

“Sam—”

“I have somewhere to be. Thank you for lunch, Sierra.” I shoved my arms through my sleeves as I brushed past her, buttoning the shirt on my way down the stairs.

Sierra didn’t try to follow me.

* * *

I pulled into the Amatos’driveway at four in the afternoon. I hadn’t even stopped at my place to shower, which considering how Nathaniel and I had spent our afternoon, was probably a bad move. But I needed to see her. I needed to hold her and to feel alive again.

I climbed out of the car and moved to the front door with the stained glass windows that offered no view inside the house. Though since I’d had to cross in front of three living room windows on my way to the door, there was a chance someone already knew I was here.

The door swung open and Siren stood there, only steps away. I wanted to grab her, to hold her against my chest and kiss the hell out of her, but she folded her arms in the universal woman signal fordon’t touch me.

“What’s wrong?” I asked. Was she finally regretting giving me her body last night? Had I missed some stupid human tradition like calling exactly three hours after she left my apartment this morning?

I let my gaze drift down to her chest, her soul. Some of the insane glow from this morning had dimmed, but her soul was still brighter than normal. Whatever was wrong, it couldn’t be too serious.

“Care to explain to me why Jules is currently sitting in my living room?” she asked.

“I thought you liked Jules.”

“I do, but Jules has never ever spent time with me outside the walls of Youngblood. I’m not stupid enough to believe he’s suddenly breaking his not-mixing-business-with-pleasure rule, which means hanging out with me has become his business.”

Fucker. He should have told me about his rule and that Siren was aware of it. “I—”

“Don’t you dare lie to me, Samuel,” she added before I could get more than a word out.

“I have never lied to you. And I’m not sorry about having Jules tail you. I protect what’s mine, and I won’t apologize for it.”

Her lips parted and her mask of annoyance slipped. “Who said I’m yours?” she whispered.

I cupped her face between my hands and brought my mouth to hers, claiming her mouth with mine. My tongue slipped through her parted lips, stroking hers with determined strokes. I was still holding her face when I finally pulled back from the kiss. “Yes,” I said in a low, rough voice. “You’re mine.”

Siren stared up at me the same way she had in the linen closet at her family’s ball, the way she’d looked at me on the roof of Youngblood when she was just a teenager. She looked at me like I was what she’d been searching for her whole life, like she believed I could solve all life’s problems. She was wrong. So wrong.

But I was a selfish asshole who couldn’t find the willpower to stay away from her anymore.

“Are you going to let me in?” I asked.

Her fingers curled around my wrists. “You have to let go of me first.”

I dropped my hands from her face to her hips and backed her through the front door.

“This doesn’t mean you’re forgiven for making Jules play bodyguard.”

“I’m not asking for your permission,” I told her, tightening my grip on her hips and lowering my head toward her neck.

Her palms landed on my chest, making my shirt stick to my sweat-soaked skin. She shoved, and I stilled. “I don’t know what you’ve been doing all afternoon, but you need to take a shower before you get any closer to me.”

I chuckled and leaned closer just because I could. “Will you join me?”

She shook her head. “My family is home.”

“What if I promise to eat your pretty little pussy?”

“Shush! Oh my god, did you miss the part where my family is home?”

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