Page 68 of Bad Boy in Her Bed

“All I want is something edible.I don’t even care if it’s good.”Backing toward the stairs, he gave her a smile he hoped didn’t look as forced as it felt.“I won’t be long.”

Trudging to the top floor of the house, he listened to her moving around in the kitchen until he closed the door and turned on the shower.

The hot spray washed the stale mildew stench of the cell off his skin.The room filled with steam as he scrubbed away the past twenty-four hours.He was rinsing his hair when a waft of cool air traveled over him and the sound of the door being eased shut followed shortly after.

He held his breath, his eyes locked on the turquoise shower curtain as delicate fingers grasped it and slid it open a fraction.One long leg unfolded over the edge of the tub and his body reacted instantly, his mind catching up only once Jocelyn was standing naked in front of him, her stance almost shy.

“Holy fuck, you’re gorgeous.”He reached up to tilt the shower head so she wouldn’t freeze.“Gorgeous.Like, fuck.Gorgeous.”Exhaling loudly, he raked his gaze over her body, coming to rest on her gaze which was locked on the tub floor.“Hey,” he whispered, closing the distance between them.“Look at me.”

Her silent treatment on the drive over was a tough pill to swallow.But the tears in her eyes when she obeyed was far worse.

Panic slammed through him, all lust and desire shoved aside as he scanned her for injury, pain, anything to explain the streaks on her cheeks.“Jocelyn, baby,” he pleaded, taking her hands and studying the sorrow in her eyes.“What—”

“I shouldn’t have let them lock you up,” she sobbed, her shoulders heaving as she buried her head against his chest.“I should have fought it.Made Puller fight it.I promised you it would be okay, and it wasn’t.I don’t care what kind of message they wanted to give Ryder, you shouldn’t have had to go.”

Wrapping his arms around her, he smoothed her damp hair, shushing her helplessly while she cried.“It’s fine.We all knew it was for show.And it worked, right?He has no idea I’m out, which means Trevor has no idea, which means the cops have enough time to do their thing.No harm, no foul.”When his words were met with a heartbreaking shudder under his hands, he tightened his hold on her.“It’s okay.I’m okay, you’re okay.Shhhhhhh.”

He’d dealt with his fair share of crying over the years.When his brothers were really little, he was the one bandaging their cuts and treating their scrapes.When Winter was put away, Grey cried every night for a month.When it was his turn to be locked up, River’s broad shoulders crumpled under the strain of knowing he was next in line to keep Grey and himself above water.

Growing up around his brothers, seeing them cry was something he knew happened in families and he almost reveled in the normalcy of it, as fucked up as their family was.It sucked, he dealt with it, and they moved on.

But this was different.

He hadn’t realized until that moment how much weight he’d put on her to be strong, to keep him solid.And not once had she cracked.There hadn’t been a single moment when she faltered, when she gave him a reason to doubt everything would be okay.

Her sobs turned to gulps for air and he kissed her hair.“You’re amazing.I’m the luckiest guy in Nebraska to have a woman like you holding me up.”

She let out a shaky laugh and burrowed in closer, her breathing still unsteady.“I’m sorry.I didn’t want to have a total meltdown at the station or in front of Grey if he was here.Then I remembered our shower deal and figured it would distract me.”Sniffing, she tilted her head to look up at him.“But then I saw you and it hit me you’re safe and you’re here and it just all came out.”

Ducking his head down to kiss her cheeks, he cupped her chin.“I’m safe, I’m here, I love you, and you can cry on me all you want whenever you need to.”

He brushed his lips over hers, focusing on how grateful he was for her and not on the fleeting thought that her tears were another strike against Ryder Drayson.Because that asshole wasn’t going to dictate another moment of his—or her—existence.

The water began to run cool and she shivered.“I think the whole shower sex plan will need a raincheck.”

Turning the faucet off, he pushed the curtain open and grabbed a fresh towel, wrapping it around her.“Why don’t we eat, put on a movie, and forget about plans until tomorrow?”

*

Jocelyn slipped outof the bathroom and back into Birch’s bed, curling up beside him while the rising sun peeked through his curtains.

He lay sprawled on his back, out cold with one arm stretched out beneath her pillow and the other hidden by the blanket where she knew his hand was resting comfortably on his manhood.

They made it through a lukewarm dinner and half a horror film before both of them were nodding off on the sofa, nudged off to bed by the youngest Baker when he emerged from his room to grab a midnight snack.

There hadn’t been a moment of hanky-panky, both of them content to simply snuggle up together until they crashed.

But now she was awake.

And judging by the glimpse she got when Birch rolled onto his back, he was too.

Or at least part of him was.

Slipping down the mattress, she eased herself between his legs, removed his own hand, and palmed him through his boxers.His hips shifted and she tugged the boxers down far enough for his hardened length to spring free, his heat warming her cold hands while she skimmed them lightly along his shaft.Wiggling a little further down, she lowered her head and circled the velvety tip with her tongue, smiling when she heard a sleepy grunt.Deciding she wanted him waking to more than a tease, she took him between her lips and slid her mouth as far down his length as she could.

It took exactly three trips up and down his cock with her mouth before he woke with a shudder and a groan.

“Whoa, fuck,” he gasped when she finally managed to take him all in.“I…Oh, wow.Wow.Woah.”His hand tangled in her hair but he didn’t push her, his hips stilling to allow her to set the pace.“This is—” He let out a strangled sound as she hollowed out her cheeks and sucked.“Oh god, yeah.”

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