“Say what? That I’m sorry and I was stupid? Because I do owe you an apology for that.”
Pivoting, I decided to face him, ready to tell him that it was ok if he was only interested in Hiro. I’d never judge him for his feelings, it would just hurt to know he didn’t want me, but determination surged through my veins. I didn’t have to lose him as a friend if I reacted well to this.
Cocking his head to the side like a puppy dog, I realized he was listening in on my internal struggle, compliments of Damien. Without breaking eye contact with Ryder, I pointed a finger in Damien’s direction where he remained in the living room, watching us.
“You, butt out!”
Ryder outright laughed, and I gaped. “You think I don’t want you? That I only want Hiro?” The fucker! How dare he laugh at me.
My heart thudded wildly. “Am I… am I wrong?”
He nodded his head, the shock of faded purple hair falling into his eyes as he did. Pushing his hair from his face, he stalked toward me. I backed up with every step until my back hit the counter. He pinned me in place with a hand on either side of me, gripping the smooth surface in his hands.
“I admit it; I was jealous. I wanted to be in Damien’s place, sucking your neck and turning you on with Hiro. We haven’t had any time together, and what I want most in the whole world is to spend more time with your sexy self.”
Now it was my turn to laugh. Holy hell, I’d let my mind and my worry run away with me and the relief I felt now was palpable.
“Bloody hell, I haven’t even gotten to kiss you yet, but some of my brothers are getting seconds already.” His eyes strayed to my lips.
I felt it necessary to point out that they hadn’t all kissed me yet. “I haven’t kissed Damien yet either, and Theo’s was just a little peck.” I gave him a shy smile as I realized how bizarre it was to be talking about kissing so many guys to another guy you undoubtedly wanted to make out with. “But if its a kiss you want…” I reached over and dipped my finger into the bowl of filling, “… that can be arranged.” I placed a dot of batter on my lips.
The light in Ryder’s eyes drew me in as he leaned closer, bringing his mouth an inch away from mine. I felt sparks as our magic collided, both holding ourselves back from closing that last little inch.
“I’d like nothing more…” his thumb skimmed along my bottom lip, spreading the dot of filling. “… but I have plans for our first kiss.”
I darted my tongue out and flicked his thumb as I tasted the sweet cream cheese, trying to entice him in. Ryder closed his eyes and groaned, then spoke louder and addressed the room. “And she thinks I don’t want her,” he scoffed playfully. When his eyes opened again, I saw the heat in them. Closing the last little bit of distance, he pressed his lower half against mine, and I felt his hardness against my stomach. “Don’t you ever think I don’t want you again, understand?” The words were soft yet husky; so odd to hear such a solid command from my playful unicorn.
I nodded and he withdrew this thumb. I was riveted to the spot as I watched him place that thumb into his mouth, sucking it clean. My pulse jumped, and I swallowed hard as dirty images flew through my mind from his simple act. I felt a hum rumble through his body.
“If you only knew what she was thinking right now.” I knew Damien was listening to my litany of fantasies and my face heated. Looking in their direction, I saw they had come to join us in the kitchen. Damien was leaning against the open doorway with his arms crossed across his chest while Hiro stood just off to the side of him with his hands in his pockets. I had to shake my head to clear it. How had I gotten so lucky as to garner their attention like this? My reaction followed by my relief over the knowledge that Ryder wasn’t pulling away from me wasn’t lost on me. I cared for all of them more than I had admitted out loud.
“Care to share?” Ryder turned his head to look in their direction.
“Let’s just say she’s as bad as what we were sharing with each other last night.” Hiro grinned at the information that was being shared.
“You were sharing naughty thoughts about me with each other?” My eyes lit with interest.
“So you admit to thinking dirty thoughts about us, Nix?” Hiro’s eyes were daring me to deny it.
My face flamed with heat but I squared my shoulders. “Maybe, maybe not.”
“Damien. “ Ryder turned, freeing me in the process. The whine in his voice apparent to all in the room. “Details man! Please!” He begged.
“I’d much rather enact the fantasies than hear them from the Gargoyle’s head.” Theo strode into the room, sans shirt, and interjected his opinion while he ran a hand over his abdomen. Drawing my attention to the ropes of muscles angling into the waistband of his blue sweatpants, I couldn’t move my eyes from the way they rippled under his skin. My mouth was dry as I let my gaze rake up his form to land on his bed wrangled blonde hair. Yes, these men might be the death of me if my heart kept skipping beats like this. Holy hell!
Trying to cover my perusal, I waved all of the men from my kitchen. I needed to get breakfast on the table as well as steer the conversation away from topics that would end up with me jumping one of them—two birds, one stone. Looking at the mess around the room, I decided we were done making crepes and started cleaning up the cluttered counters when I had an idea. Closing my eyes, I focused on speeding up the process and pushed my ideas to my Phoenix, hoping she’d be able to lend a hand. With an excited coo, I went flying at the speed of light toward the counter where I slammed into it and slowed my pace. Yeah, this was going to take some practice. After a few more tries I had the dishes done, the counters cleaned off, everything put into its place, and had the blender on as I combined the ingredients for the protein smoothie Damien liked to have in the morning.
Looking up, I realized that Killian was still sleeping. “Hey, can one of you go wake up Kill? I want him to eat while everything is still hot.”
“Kill’s not here.” Theo mentioned it so casually; I repeated his words back to him in question form. “He left before the sun was up to track Michael.”
“Without backup?!” I screeched.
That damn bunny! I knew he was scouring heaven and earth to find the threat against me that still existed, but he shouldn’t be out there searching alone! Not to mention what he’d do if he found him. While I didn’t care much if Michael lived or died these days, I sure as hell didn’t want Killian doing something he’d regret. It’d also be nice if I could get some answers from the fucker. Answers like how the hell he’d gotten a hold of me and what truly happened to my mother. My stomach was twisted.
Theo whipped out his phone and shot a series of texts back and forth. He knew I was worried and I needed a status update. I wanted us all home together, but I knew they were all trying to eliminate the threat against me. Honest to God, I wanted to be out there with Killian myself hunting down that sadistic a-hole.
Theo’s gentle voice soothed me slightly. “He’s on his way home now. Unfortunately, he hasn’t found any leads.”
Nodding carefully, I motioned to the counter, inviting them to dig into the food so they could begin eating.