Page 62 of Craving Consequences

Ishouldhate it. I should tell him to knock it off. He’s on thin ice, and with his behemoth size, he’s going straight through.Does he even know what he’s doing? The chaos this would cause if our children, if Jefferson, caught wind of how badly we want the tiny creature between us. How is he not thinking with his head?

Well, he is. Just the wrong head.

And I can’t blame him. If Everly was wedged into my chest, peering up at me with those big, doe eyes, I’d stand no fucking chance either.

While the two are distracted staring into the other’s soul, my traitorous gaze slips to the soft curve of her thighs exposed beneath the short hem of her pretty dress.

They’d been so soft quivering on either side of my face. Like butter beneath the hold of my fingers gripping her open. The way they tensed right before she came on my face.

I shift, biting back my groan as the head of my swelling cock cuts up the teeth of my zipper. I make the mistake of glancing over and catch Van watching me from over Everly’s head. His pale eyes are knowing, and I have to keep from flipping him off when the corner of his mouth quirks up on one side.

Asshole.

Safekeep Storage, a sprawling compound painted a pumpkin orange with trims of gray, sits tucked far out of sight and out of mind from the people of Jefferson. It extends down a dirt road fully enclosed by looming pine trees and endless silence. It’s a great place to avoid people and maybe hide a body or two.

“I promise I won’t be long,” Everly rushes out as we spot the structure.

“Take as long as you need.” I tell her, maneuvering the truck through the iron gates. “Which way, sweetheart?”

She gives me directions through the maze of metal doors until we reach one of the larger units towards the back. She rifles in her purse while I park just outside the grated door. Her quiet muttering has me glancing over to watch her. To study her doing something so basic, yet somehow impossibly adorable.

“I know I tossed them in here,” she grumbles, dragging out her phone, a novel with little colored tabs sticking out of the pages, a fistful of keys that aren’t the ones she needs, and a crumpled packet of chips that has my eyebrows lifting.

I ignore the half-eaten baggie to take the dictionary sized tome and flip it over. I get as far asI didn’t set out to fall obsessively in love with my fake stepdad ... or his twin brother,when it’s snatched out of my fingers and hastily shoved back into the bag.

“That’s not mine,” she blurts, cheeks as red as the morning sun on a hot July. “I’m holding it for a friend.”

The outright lie is so horrible, even she looks momentarily horrified by her response.

I roll my tongue over my teeth. “Which friend in Jefferson is reading such a dirty, smutty book, Everly?”

“I’m not telling. It’s private,” she quips haughtily.

But now I am curious, especially by the way she’s anxiously avoiding all eye contact. There is no way I’m letting this go.

“Since it’s not yours, I think we should be allowed a peek,” I prod and have to bite the inside of my lip when she snaps the zipper into place like I might try to dive in after it.

“I don’t think we have time for that,” she retorts a bit too sharply.

“I’m not busy today. Are you?” I ask the man watching her with his own amusement.

“Nope.” He lightly pokes Everly’s side, making her squeak and jump. “I think you should pick one of those colorful tabs and read it to us.”

Everly’s eyes widen. “Out loud?”

“Why not?” He plucks a lock of hair off her shoulder and gives it a light tug. “Are you reading inappropriate things, Everly?”

“What if I am?” she blurts and juts her little chin up at us all defiant and adorable. “I’m an adult and I can read what I want.”

“We’re not saying you can’t. We want you to read it to us.”

I roll my tongue over my teeth when her flush deepens, and she glowers between us. “You want me to read you a smut book?”

“Just the parts you highlighted,” Van says. “I want to know what made them so special.”

It’s sheer defiance when she looks both of us in the eye and states boldly, “I don’t think either of you are ready to hear all the dirty things they do to her.” Not waiting for either of us to comment, she holds up the twin set of keys dangling from her fingers. “Found them.”

She’s definitely right.

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