Page 41 of Protected

I come in less than a minute, tensing and shuddering through the release with a loud whimper since all my inhibitions have somehow vanished.

He strokes my hair and my back. I play with his beard and kiss his shoulder.

I honestly can’t remember the last time I felt so completely good.

14

The next morningthings are relaxed and almost normal between us. Nothing significant has changed despite the fact that we had sex last night.

When we’ve gotten dressed, Deck signs,You okay?

“Yeah. I’m a little sore, but I feel pretty good about everything. What about you?”

Very good. He gives me a wolfish smile, making me giggle.

“So you think we can do this, right? Act like we always have and just have sex at night when we want to?”

Yes.

“Okay. Good.” I squeeze one of his arms. “Then that’swhat we’ll do.”

I’m in a good mood all day. I do try to keep everything in perspective. It’s not like it would have been before Impact after I had a really good date. There’s not the same promise and hope for a future, not the leisure of slowly working out a relationship at our own individual pace.

But still. I’m definitely in a better mood than normal. Merely from the expectation of maybe having sex with Deck again this evening.

My good spirits are dampened only slightly when I find out that Deck has guard duty for the late-afternoon-and-early-evening shift. At least he’ll be done before too late, so we’ll still have the chance of sex afterward.

It’s a very warm evening, and the grit in the air doesn’t feel as thick as it sometimes does because there’s a steady breeze. After dinner, I sit outside on the porch swing, pleased when Micah comes to sit beside me.

He’s not Deck, but he’s good company.

I smile at him, waiting to see what he’ll say.

He arches his dark eyebrows. “So you and Deck are a thing now or what?”

I stiffen. “What are you talking about?”

“You’re together now?”

“We’re not together any more than we were yesterday,” I say rather primly and without complete accuracy. “Why is it any of your business?”

“It’s not. But you know how Logan is. He doesn’t like anything to interfere with the efficient functioning of his people.”

“I know. But that’s not going to happen. Everything is fine.”

“Okay. Good. Because fucking is fine. Feelings not so much.”

I narrow my eyes at him, defensive and so switching the direction of the conversation. “It’s ridiculous of Logan to think he can control the feelings of everyone who rides with him.”

“I don’t think he gives a shit about what anyone feels about anything. He just doesn’t want the feelings causing problems.”

“They won’t.” Micah doesn’t look entirely convinced, so I ask, “So you don’t have any troublesome feelings about anything?”

He flashes me a half smile. “Not really. I love my sister but no one else. It really isn’t worth it in the shithole this world has become.”

“Burgundy said you all lost the rest of your family.”

“Yeah.” He’s not meeting my eyes. He’s always been good-natured and no-nonsense. I’ve never seen him open up even this much before. “But almost everyone has. You did too. That’s what I mean. You can like people. I like all kinds of people. But loving them?” He shakes his head. “Not worth it. Not when everyone ends up dying or leaving anyway.”

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