“That… was not what I meant when I said I was sleeping in here,” he muttered into my skin, but I could feel the smile pulling at his stubbled cheek where it rested against the slope of my breast.
“Mmm hmm, sure it wasn't,” I teased, then pushed his shoulder to roll him off me. I needed to clean up. There were very few things in this world worse than sleeping in the wet spot.
After a quick cleanup in my bathroom, I sauntered back into my bedroom totally nude. No sense in being shy now. Cole lay across my ridiculous princess bed, looking deliciously out of place with his all of his tattoos and muscles and nakedness splayed out amongst my lavender sheets and unicorn plushies. I heard an animalistic purr as his sharp eyes followed my movements, and when I came within reach, he whipped out a hand to yank me off balance, and I landed flat against his body.
“Again so soon?” I teased, raising my brows at him, and he shushed me, kissing me soundly on the mouth.
“You've lost weight,” he remarked with a frown, his huge hands roving over my naked flesh to illustrate his point.
“I was kept drugged and unconscious on a fluid drip for close to ten days,” I told him frankly. “Or at least that's what I'm told. It does make sense I would have lost weight.”
The big man rumbled an angry sound deep in his chest, and I caressed a hand down his jaw to soothe him, bringing his lips back to mine for a quick peck.
“I'm fine, Cole. It's nothing a few double-cheese cheeseburgers can't fix,” I reassured him, and my stomach rumbled at the thought of cheesy goodness.
“Double-cheese cheeseburgers?” he repeated with a hint of a smile. “Is that double the cheese on the cheeseburger?”
“Obviously.” I rolled my eyes at him, then snuggled into his burning hot chest, my face cheek to cheek with the green and black dragon snarling across his skin. “Let's get those tomorrow, though. I'm exhausted.” My words were punctuated with a huge yawn, and Cole's body shook with silent laughter.
“Mmm, sounds like a plan,” he mumbled, tightening his arms around me and tucking his chin over my head. “I'm glad you're home, Vixen.” The last part was whispered so quietly I almost didn't hear the thick emotion in his voice, but I did, and it made my heart flutter.
“I am too, big guy,” I whispered back.
19
I woke with a start, my heart pounding and my breath gasping loudly in the silence of my bedroom. A rough hand circled my waist, and the heady scent of pine trees washed over me and calmed me instantly.
“Shhhhh,” a smooth voice whispered in my ear. “It's just me, Kitten. I couldn't wait until the morning to see that you were okay.”
“River.” I sighed, relaxing back into him where he lay on his side behind me. Cole was to my other side, still fast asleep with his face turned towards me on the pillow and his dark eyelashes fanning across his cheeks.
“Are the others here too?” I whispered back, tilting my head slightly so I could see him without having to move from his embrace.
“Not yet,” he murmured back. “We were all split up, chasing down leads on where you might have ended up. This wanker was the first to find out you were back and didn't tell the rest of us so he could get some alone time with you.” He sounded annoyed but at the same time a little impressed at his friend’s sneakiness.
“So how did you know?” I asked, smiling to myself at Cole's act of possessiveness.
“Director Pierre called me as soon as you landed.” Of course that made sense that River, being the team leader, would be the one Jonathan called. But then how did Cole find out first? I made a mental note to ask him in the morning.
“So are you?” he prompted. “Okay, I mean.” For once, the supremely dominant team leader sounded unsure, and it made me feel sick that I had caused them so much worry.
“I am,” I whispered firmly. “We can debrief tomorrow, but for now please believe me when I say nothing truly bad happened to me.”
My open curtains allowed enough light into the room that I could see his unique golden eyes clearly. He stared intently at me with a frown creasing his forehead.
I quirked a cheeky smile at him and stole a quick kiss from his lips while he seemed lost in thought. He recovered faster than I expected and cupped my cheek in his hand, holding my face still. Gently, he pressed his mouth back to mine, his velvet lips stroking softly and slowly as though he were telling me a secret.
My body flushed with an urgent heat once more as I melted under his lips and parted my own, begging him to take it further. True to form though, River was in total control and kept teasing me with his lazy, languid kisses while holding my face immobile in his huge palm. It was driving me wild.
From the position I was in, with him spooning me and just my face tilted back, there wasn’t much I could do to try and break his control. I wiggled a little, intending to roll over, but was stopped by his hand shifting down to my hip to hold me still.
“River…” I sighed with a bit of a whine.
“Shhhhh, love,” he whispered, his warm breath sending goosebumps down my neck and causing my heart to race. “Don’t wriggle around; you’ll wake Sleeping Beauty.”
I bit back a snicker at his words and glanced over at the Sleeping Beauty in question. Cole was still in the same position, fast asleep on his side facing us, and looking like something straight out of a dirty dream, all naked and muscled, wrapped with tattoos and just barely covered by one of my purple bedsheets.
“Aw, he looks so peaceful,” I whispered with a little giggle and felt River’s hand smooth down over my naked hip and back up again while his lips nibbled the back of my neck.
“Mmm, it looks like someone has worn him out. You wouldn’t know anything about that, would you, Kitten?”
“Who me?” My breath caught as his roving hand got ever so slightly closer to where I wanted it.
“Yes, love. You. Perhaps it has something to do with why you are completely”—his hand dipped closer still—“and utterly”—his finger dragged a long, slow line down my center—“naked right now?”
Holy fucking yes. I gasped a bit too loudly as his teasing fingers followed through on their promise, and had to clamp my mouth shut when Cole stirred a little in his sleep.
“Quietly, Kitten. What did I say about not waking Aurora over there?” I could hear the edge of laughter in his voice as he murmured in my ear with that sexy-as-fuck accent of his, but he gave me no reprieve from his restless fingers, which made me bite my lip and arch backward into him.
“Fuck, Alpha…” I breathed out as quietly as I possibly could and exacted a little revenge on him by arching my back even further and cozying my rear end up to his hard cock. My free hand reached for his hip, dragging him closer, and was pleasantly surprised to find him already stripped down to just a small pair of boxer briefs.
“Underwear?” I teased, “I thought you were a commando man?”