Page 23 of Mates & Mercenaries

I crave her more than I thought was possible. Holy shit I might actually be in love with her.

I kiss my way back up her calves and thighs, then her core. I get to have her on the tip of my tongue all over again. My feelings for her are strong and powerful, and I can’t get enough. I might not be able to do this forever, because everything could quite easily fall apart at any given moment. But we have to explore and enjoy everything while we can, before everything erupts.

“Wow,” Skylar gasps. “That was…”

I like the way she’s speechless, because I feel it too. There just aren’t words for what we’ve all experienced. I loved every God damn second of it.

“You’re starting to get goose bumps,” Clay tells Skylar as he runs his fingers over her skin. “Are you cold? Maybe we should go back inside.”

“I could use a shower actually,” Skylar agrees as she props herself up on to her elbows. “But I don’t think I’m the only one who needs to clean up. You two look a little dirty too. I think it’d be nice if we took a shower together,” she says, wiggling her eyebrows at Clay and me.

I get to my feet quickly, not having to give it even another thought. Clay is a little more hesitant, but he gets to his feet too. It might be a little weirder in the cabin—there won’t be the same “anything can happen” vibe as there is outside—but maybe that’s a good thing. It’ll feel more serious and we’ll be able to figure out if the three of us being together is okay.

I’ve never considered that sort of relationship before, but then this is Skylar, and of course she’s thrown all my rules out the window. I have no idea how far I will go for her, but it seems like I’m going to find out. Skylar wants to push all my boundaries, and I’m more than willing to throw them all out the window to see what I can discover.

Skylar holds one of my hands and one of Clays, clinging to us and strengthening our connection. I have always had a great friendship with Clay, but I think this will bring us even closer.

Inside the cabin, Skylar turns to kiss Clay and he pushes her up against the door. Skylar is hungry, needy, wanting more.

Fuck, I love that about her. Maybe this is the unexpected way it all ends up. Clay and I both win Skylar and get to be with her forever. That would be incredible.

The sound of a phone ringing zaps all the magic that was flooding the room a moment ago.

“Shit, it’s mine,” I call out the moment I spot my phone. “It’s Creed.”

While I was thinking about my crazy happily ever after with Clay and Skylar, I forgot all about Creed. And Rex. But Creed it the one who’s been hooking up with Skylar the longest. We don’t want to upset him, especially when we don’t know where he is mentally at the moment. Just because he hasn’t mentioned the crime life for a while, doesn’t mean it isn’t still there in his mind. If he finds out that Clay and I tried to steal his woman, it might send him flying back to that plan again, which I don’t want.

“Hey, Creed.” I’m sure he must be able to hear the shaking in my voice. “All good?”

“Uh, yeah, everything’s…fine,” he answers cagily. “We got some intel, I’m on my way back to the safe house now.”

My eyes nearly pop out my head. I don’t know how obvious it is that we’ve all been hooking up with Skylar, but it’s not something I want Creed to pick up on right away.

“Great. Do you need us to do anything?”

“Get packed up. We’re going back to Chicago.”

That hits me like a bullet in the chest. We’re going back already? That means it’s time to face reality. This glorious time we have had with Skylar is over.

“Chicago? All of us? Even Skylar? Is it safe?”

“Yeah, we’re all going so if you could get everything packed up. Pack up Rex’s stuff, would you?”

“Sure, but where is he?” I ask anxiously. He better be okay. I can’t imagine life without him.

“I will tell you all about it when I get back. I won’t be long now. Okay?”

This doesn’t sound good at all. I can’t put my finger on what’s wrong, but I know it’s all going to shit. I feel like I’m losing everything and everyone all in one fell swoop. One minute everything was perfect, and now…I don’t know what’s about to happen. It really hurts. But the wheels are spinning way too fast for me to do anything to stop them. I can’t control any of it. All I can do is agree with Creed and do what he needs.

I hang up the phone to find Skylar and Clay looking at me expectantly.

“Creed is on his way back, but Rex isn’t with him. We have to get everything all packed up to get ready to go back home to Chicago.”

12

SKYLAR

Idon’t understand why we’re suddenly going back to Chicago. Is it really safe to leave? I can’t imagine having to go home and letting go of what I have with Clay and Sam. With Rex and Creed as well. I know that’s greedy, but I wanted to make the most of it while I could. I didn’t want that time to be cut short.

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