Page 70 of Her Brother's Keeper

“That’s enough out of the peanut gallery,” he said, then with a wave at Reaver called out, “See you later, bro!”

“Wouldn’t miss it,” Reaver declared and Hayden started her lumbering giant of a vehicle and backed smoothly up the drive.

I turned back to Nox and said softly, “Hi.”

“Mm, Happy Birthday, Angel,” he murmured and pressed a quick kiss to my lips before letting me go and taking a half step back, retrieving his box from the railing. “Let’s go inside, Baby. It’s chilly out here.”

“I’m warm,” I said, and it came out a bit breathier than I’d intended.

Nox chuckled, and I turned to go in, he gave me a slap on the ass as I went through the door and I yelped, laughing.

“That’s one,” he said smiling.

“One what?” I asked.

“Birthday spanking.”

My mouth dropped open and I felt my eyes go wide as I rolled them dramatically, declaring, “Oh god!”

“Nope, that comes later,” he said.

“What comes later?”

“You, writhing underneath me, calling me god, comes much later, Angel,” he said and his tone was so serious, taking on a darker, sexy tone that made my breath still, and my heart stutter to a stop completely.

“I like the sound of that,” I said quietly, and he smiled, a deliciously dark and wicked smirk that made my insides turn to liquid.

“Where do you want to open your present?” he asked and I gave him my wide-eyed innocent look.

“The bedroom, of course…” I said letting my eyes roam every delicious inch of him. He brought the box in front of him and I smiled and said, “Oh,thatpresent, the kitchen, I suppose. I’m still not quite caffeinated enough, how about you?”

“I could use a cup of coffee,” he said smiling, adding: “Smartass,” to the end of his casual declaration.

I turned and went down the hall singing out, “Better than being a dumbass,” as I passed through the archway to the kitchen.

I set about making coffee while he leaned casually against the counter, box set next to the wreckage from Sage’s gift. His light eyes were fixed on my boots as they traveled across the linoleum and I smiled to myself as I poured us each a cup from the coffeemaker and added the right amounts of cream and sugar.

“They look good, Angel. Sage picked ‘em out all by himself, and I couldn’t argue.”

“Thank you for helping him,” I murmured. “Was the card you, too?”

“What card?” he asked and I smiled to myself and handed him his cup. Once my hand was free, I slid the card Sage had given me off the counter and handed it to Nox. I sipped my coffee carefully while he read it.

“He’s a good kid,” he said softly and I nodded.

“He is when he wants to be, which thankfully, is much more often now.”

“I think he’s just lonely.”

“I don’t disagree. He only gets to see his friends in school and Ian’s parents are still pressuring him to stay away from Sage and not talk to him. They’re so worried about their precious little snowflake and about my brother being a bad influence, that they don’t have a single care for how any of it is affecting Sage at all.”

“Preaching to the choir on that one, Angel.”

I sighed, “I know, I just wish it would start to suck less for my brother. We’ve all been through enough right now.”

“Mm-hmm,” Nox agreed. “Which is why you need to open your gift.”

I smiled wryly and set my coffee down, pulling the box closer to me across the kitchen counter. I stood next to Nox, who leaned back against the counter, light eyes fixed on my face as I popped the four small pieces of tape holding the lid on the garment box. He hadn’t wrapped it, just left the pristine white box to speak for itself; I liked that somehow. It felt far more grown up than Sage’s wrapping paper that screamed ‘Happy Birthday’ with balloons and confetti.

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