Page 41 of Her Brother's Keeper

“Jesus, Angel,” he whispered. “He’s got you jumping at everything.”

“I’m sorry,” I muttered quietly, lowering my hands from my mouth and smoothing over my nightgown. Nox raised an eyebrow, noticing it for the first time. It was black satin and ankle length, clinging to what curves I had, with lace panels just beneath my breasts, along the ribs. Not exactly something I advertise, but I liked to wear nice things to bed. I just usually had a robe on over them. My scruffy, fluffy bathrobe hung on the back of the door, just inside my reach. I tended to have water drip down my arm when I brushed and when it caught the edge of my sleeve, Ihatedthat. It was like tiny wet kisses against my wrist from Satan with how much I detested it.

“I like this,” Nox said softly, and his eyes, for as pale as they were, went dark with a hunger that had nothing to do with food.

I swallowed hard and whispered, “Pumpkins, remember?”

“I do,” he murmured back, but that didn’t stop him from capturing my hand with his and drawing me closer. He lifted my hand to his mouth and turned it, placing his lips softly to the inside of my wrist.

“Everything is cleaned up, downstairs.”

“Thank you,” I murmured, throat tight with the urge I had to just pull myself the rest of the way into his arms and put my lips up against his. The struggle was absolutely real, and I could tell it was for both of us. What I couldn’t tell was if that made thingseasieror if that made things just that muchharder.

“Come on, let an old man tuck you in,” he said, teasing.

“You’re not old,” I murmured and took the last step into his personal space. His hands smoothed over the satin over my hips and he closed his eyes as if committing the feeling of me beneath them to memory.

“This isn’t easy,” he said.

“No, it’s not,” I agreed, my voice strained, and his mouth was on mine. We kissed, and the fact that it was a mutually stolen one, despite our pact to remain chaste until my eighteenth birthday, made it both sweet and forbidden. My heart picked up its pace until it felt as though I’d been running, even though I stood perfectly still.

Nox pulled back first, though it was reluctantly, and stared into my eyes from inches away. I closed mine, unprepared for the sheer magnitude and intensity of that look, and he backed off a step. The air suddenly seemed breathable again, the sexual tension backing off, alleviating suddenly with the empty space between us.

“I’m sorry,” I uttered and slipped past him into the hall.

“I’m not,” he whispered. “Still have to watch myself, though.”

“You aren’t the only one.”

He slipped into my bedroom before me and pulled back the blankets on my bed for me. I went to the jewelry box that’d been gifted to me for Christmas, and opened it, I bit my lip gently and pulled out the spare house keys. I turned to Nox and held it out to him.

“What’s this?” he asked.

“Someone should have them, in case something happens… You’re the only one I trust enough to give one to. Plus, if you’re up here with me, and plan on tucking me in, you need to have the ability to lock up. Right?”

He laughed softly and plucked the keys from my fingers. I sat on the edge of the bed and he bent, lifting my feet onto it the rest of the way as if it were a long practiced motion, and perhaps it was. He pulled the blankets to my chin and kissed my forehead before going and turning out the light. I felt cherished; warm and safe for the first time all week. It surprised me when he came back over, rounding the bed and sitting on top of the covers. He laid down behind me and pulled me back against him, the thick comforter and blankets separating us.

“What are you doing?”

“Holding you until you fall asleep.”

“Oh…”

“Would you rather I not?” he asked softly, a hint of amusement in his voice.

“No… I mean yes! It’s nice, keep doing it please.”

He chuckled softly and laid a kiss behind my ear, “Sleep, Angel. There’s no bad here. Not while I’m on watch.”

I closed my eyes and it was true, therewasnothing that could hurt me when Nox was around. I believed wholeheartedly that he would do anything to protect me. Both me and Sage. I melted back into his warmth and embrace and I slept; sad, that once again, he would be gone when I woke. I liked this, probably way more than I should. I mean if anyone found out, there would be no way they would believe that nothing had ever happened sexually between us. I didn’t want him to get in trouble. I didn’t want them to take my brother for poor judgment on my part, but I was simply too tired to resist the sirens call of the safety of Nox’s arms.

Chapter 15

Nox

Maren’s alarm went off, waking us both.

Shit!

---