Page 53 of One Way Out
My system is still jacked up too.
I took out one of the facility guards, five of Amato’s team, and the dickhead boss himself. Leo took out two of the facility guards and three of Amato’s men.
I’m not sure what Ridge did, besides heckle Valor for flopping around like a fish when he was trying to get out of the van with his hands cuffed behind his back, which has continued now that they’re both occupying the front seats of the vehicle.
Those two are so alike, it’s almost scary, and I don’t just mean their physical attributes. The thought almost makes me laugh, but Saylor whimpers, burying her nose between my arm and my chest. It puts her face all up in my armpit, but I’m sweaty, so she’s probably getting a nice hit of my pheromones.
I palm the back of her head and tighten my hold on her lower back. “Are you doing okay, princess?”
She grunts, and her fingers dig into my lower back as her toes wiggle next to my thighs. Her feet stretch, then she curls her toes, and it starts all over again.
My head tilts.
She’s stimming.
I forgot about that.
Saylor used to have several tactile stims, but I didn’t spot any of them in the cell. Maybe I thought she outgrew them, or maybe I forgot about them since it’s been so long since I’ve seen them play out firsthand.
Except, now that I’m focused on it, the repetitive blinking she did when she first saw me and Leo seems a lot more familiar. Also the rocking she did in Valor’s bed when she was trying to self-soothe after Omen and Valor were taken to the hole.
Goddammit.
I should have realized it at the time.
I bet Leo did. He’s always been better attuned to her on some wavelength that I want to understand but never seem to click with.
“You smell stressed.” Saylor’s warm breath puffs against my skin, and she snuggles deeper.
“Nah,” I fib. “Just thinking about how proud I am of you. You held it together like a champ tonight.”
“Really?”
“Yes,” I tell her, and it’s the truth. “You stayed calm, assisted your teammate, and took the shot when you had it. I’m so damn proud of you.”
“But you killed him…”
“I did, and I’m grateful I got there in time to land the killing blow.” I nuzzle my cheek to the top of her head. “You didn’t need that weighing you down.”
Her shoulders bounce with a shrug. “Maybe I would have felt bad about it later, but honestly, I wanted him dead.”
Omen chuckles, twisting in his seat until he can run his hand down her spine. “I love it when you’re a little murdery. Just don’t ever turn it on me, yeah?”
Leo and Saylor snort simultaneously.
Leo nods at the back of the SUV. “It’s going to be a long ride. I packed a few blankets if you want to wrap her up.”
“You’d bloody well better share if there’s an extra,” Omen says, laughing. “My nipples are experiencing frostbite. The metal from my piercings holds the chill?—”
I snort. “Next time, don’t let Valor control the hose.”
I’m shirtless too, but I’ve got a perfect bundle of omega to keep me warm. Grabbing my coat from the floorboard, I hand it to Omen before pushing up enough that I can dig around the cargo area.
Saylor holds herself up on her knees and lights up, stretching over me to grab something. The move smacks me in the face with her tit, and it takes everything in me not to playfully bite her skin through the thin T-shirt she’s wearing.
We’ve still got at least another hour and a half to go, and a heat spike in a vehicle full of people would be complicated.
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