When he finally speaks, it’s with a vow I know in my heart he won’t go back on. “I’m never going to let anyone hurt you ever again.”
TWENTY-EIGHT
HAWK
Landon’s fucking lucky he’s dead. I hate that I feel that way about my own brother, but there it is. All along, it was him who was the liar, not her. She fought back, she antagonized him. And he realized he wasn’t going to get his way, that if he let her go, she’d tell someone he’d assaulted her. And then his picture-perfect life would be over. The kicker is that even in death, he had me believing in him.Asshole.
Now that I’m aware of what he was truly capable of, all I see are repeating patterns. He never wanted to take the blame for anything. Not for any of our antics. Not for being the one who’d actually threatened that girl. He was fine with me being sent away and continuing on with his life as if he hadn’t hung me out to dry. He protected himself, at my expense. He’d refused to own up to what he’d done to Lux. He’d wanted her to lie for him—the one he’d sought to abuse. And when she said she wouldn’t do that, and he couldn’t see a way out without everyone discovering what he’d done? He tried to kill them both. His image had been so important to him that he’d rather die than have anyone find out he was less than perfect. Fucking selfish bastard. He meant to take Lux with him. If she hadn’t survived, and we hadn’t crossed paths, I’d still be none the wiser to all the wrongs he’d done.
Fuck.I don’t know if our parents will believe me after all this time. The three of us were just getting back onto solid footing, navigating a new relationship with me home from military school. Eventually though, I’ll have to present them with the truth and let them come to their own conclusions. They can be in my life or not. Because I’m not letting Lux go. She’s mine… and I’m hers.
She shifts in my arms, her head on my chest, and nuzzles her way closer to me. This girl. I couldn’t bear to leave her here alone after the emotion of getting everything out into the open had wrung both of us dry. I don’t know how she managed to work her way inside my heart, but she did it, despite all the fucked-up shit I’d done to her.
I’ve been awake all this time, so my eyes are long accustomed to the lack of light in her room. I scan her body from head to toe. Her hair is a wild mess in the bun on top of her head, and she’s wearing my jersey again. Every part of her is so beautiful to me, my heart expands, and with every breath I take, my chest threatens to burst wide open.
Out of nowhere, Lux jerks from sleep and sits up, blinking in the dark. Her face is etched with a panic so big it makes my blood run cold. “Baby? What’s wrong?” I run my hand cautiously over the swell of her hip.
Her body stiffens at my words and her fingers claw into my stomach. “G-Gage?” The uncertainty in her voice wrecks me.
“Look at me. I’m not him. It’s me. Gage.” I stretch to the side, locating the switch for her bedside lamp, and turn it on. I wince at the bright light, but it’s worth it when she instantly relaxes. My heart tugs hard. “It’s me, baby.”
She gives me a tremulous smile and climbs over me to straddle my waist and lie on my chest. My arms encircle her, holding her close. Her lips press softly to my neck before she murmurs, “Sorry,” and burrows herself closer.
I kiss the top of her head. “You never have to be sorry. Not for that.”
The rise and fall of her chest as she sighs tells me she doesn’t quite believe me. I’ll have to find a way to make her understand I’m okay with whatever she needs. I would do anything for her. My hands drift under the jersey and move up her spine, then back down until her round ass cheeks are filling my hands, and I give them a firm squeeze. “If you’re telling me that we have to keep the lights on all the time, I’m not sure I can find it in me to argue.”
She pushes herself up to look at me with her bottom lip caught between her teeth. Her hips roll once, then again. It’s a relief when a naughty grin spreads across her lips. “Is that so?”
I lift one eyebrow before sliding my hand between us to touch her over her panties. When I find them already damp, I growl low, “I’m going to need these off.” Her lips part and her tongue peeks out.Fuck,the things I’m going to do to her. Blood roars in my head as I watch her shimmy out of the underwear and then begin to peel my jersey off. “Nope.” I grasp the hem, stilling her movement. “That stays on for now.”
She bites her lip again. “No problem. I like wearing it for you.”
Hearing her say that she’s been wearing it for me… that does something to me. “It turns me on so fucking much. I get a hard-on every time I look at you in it.” I roll with her and toss her onto her back. And, oh man, when she lands on the mattress with a bounce, the jersey rides up to her midriff and her legs fall open, exposing her bare pussy. She’s so perfect, all pink and glistening. All mine.
TWENTY-NINE
LUX
Gage crawls forward, his lean, muscular body on display. I drink him in, every inch, from his powerful football thighs to his strong shoulders. I itch to touch his smooth pecs and his stomach, his muscles so well-defined, I’d like nothing more than to drag my tongue over them, dip them along those V-lines until my mouth encounters the cock that’s currently tenting his boxer briefs.
“I need to kiss you.” He leans in, his lips just shy of mine, and I let his tongue invade my mouth. The rhythmic, passionate stroking makes the tension in my lower belly coil tighter and tighter. A sharp jolt of desire shoots through me, and a moan tears from my lips.
From there, he takes his mouth on a journey of my body, lips grazing over me, but never quite touching. He’s making me burn for him with every exhale of his warm breath feathering over my hypersensitive skin. He gets to my stomach, and I can’t stop myself from tugging the jersey up over my breasts. I want him there, too.
His breath on my nipple makes it pebble almost to the point of pain. He gives me a teasing grin as his eyes meet mine. I’m practically panting, wondering if he’s ever going to touch me, or if this is a new diabolical form of torture. I’m all wound up, and he has to know it won’t take much to set me off.
“F-fuck,” I stutter. “Please.”
He grins, then slowly licks a path between my breasts before lightly kissing my mouth again. “You want me to touch you, Lux?”
I huff, “What are you waiting for?”
Another flirty grin. “Just making sure you’re ready for me… so are you?”
“Yes.” I frown, all at once unsure what I’m in for. “Maybe?”
“Maybe…” He nods, then lets his fingers roam, dancing over every inch of my exposed flesh—my breasts, my stomach, my thighs. And then finally—finally!—he dips two fingers into my opening and brings the wetness up to my clit, rubbing circles there until I think I might explode, before sinking them back inside me. He slides them in and out, the pads of his fingers concentrating on a spot inside me that has my breath catching. His other hand strokes up and down my thighs, over my belly and breasts, his fingers caressing and teasing me mercilessly. And the entire time, he watches me, that sinful mouth, smirking a little with each of my whimpers. He knows exactly what he’s doing to me.
