Page 22 of Heartless
"Don't be a smart ass." I went to swat him but he dodged out of my reach.
Glaring at him across the work table, I set down the fuel injector and spread my feet, poised like a cat.
"Oh, you coming to get me?" He copied my stance, bending his knees and bringing his chest forward like a football player. "Come on, pretty medic."
I faked to one side, then darted around the table in the opposite direction, but he saw me coming. And Jandro knew I was no match for him. I tackled him with a roar and he just laughed, catching me under my thighs as he pressed kisses to my neck.
The feeling of his mouth was electric, as were his strong hands gripping so close to my ass without a second thought. Going slowly with Shadowwasnice, but there was nothing like the confidence and ease from the men who were already mine.
I locked my ankles behind Jandro's back, squeezing my thighs around his waist as I found his luscious mouth.
"Mm, you can tackle me any time for this," he chuckled, fingers digging into the fabric of my jeans.
"Don't use this as a reason to be more of a smart ass with me." I pulled at his lips lightly with my teeth.
"No promises," he murmured, turning us and parking my ass on the table strewn with bike parts. "Fuck, I want you," he added, spreading my legs around him as he pressed flush to me. "I want you to myself."
"We're alone, aren't we?"
I released his lips to kiss my way to his earlobe, sucking on it until he moaned, then moving on to the warm skin of his neck.
Shadow and I had returned home from the bar an hour earlier, kissed, and went our separate ways. Gunner and Reaper were still gone, and Mrs. Potts, the B&B owner, left us alone for the most part. She remained swift and unseen when it came to cleaning our rooms or refilling coffee and pastries in the common room. Although getting it on out here in the yard probably wasn't the wisest idea, I never got the sense she was spying on us.
"Ugh, no," Jandro sighed, pulling away. "We're not."
"In the room, then." I tugged his cut to return him closer, kissing his throat and under his jaw.
"I see Reap coming down the hill," he said. "Riding fast. I bet you anything he's about to tell us something urgent."
"Fuck, what now?" I groaned, leaning my forehead against his chest. Not that I didn't want to see Reaper. Having him and Jandro in bed would be intimate and cozy too. But he was already worried about me from Daren's message, and I hoped his meeting with the general didn't tell him anything to exacerbate that fear.
Moments later, Reaper's bike roared its way up to the B&B entrance and he quickly waved at us over the fence before cutting the engine.
"Good, you two are together. Stay there, I'm coming over."
"Does he seem happy to you?" I asked Jandro.
"Damn near ecstatic," he replied with a confused frown.
Sure enough, Reaper was beaming as he came out to the backyard with us. He also reeked of clove cigarettes, like he went through an entire pack since breakfast.
"You're not gonna believe this." He was downright giddy, practically giggling with excitement. "My parents are alive. Vance's general is my fuckingdad."
"Wait...what?" Jandro blurted out after a beat of silence. "Your parents are alive? And they'rehere? All of them?"
Reaper shook his head. "Just Mom and Finn, my bio-dad."
"Carter?" Jandro asked hesitantly.
The glow of Reaper's happiness faded just slightly. "No, they lost him a few years back. I still have to break the news to Noelle."
"Damn, no one's made it this far without some losses." Jandro rubbed a hand over his head. "But dude! Finn and your mom, that's amazing! And he's a fucking general?"
"I know," Reaper laughed. "It's fuckin' wild." He turned to me, a smile lighting up his gorgeous face that I couldn't help but echo. "My parents are alive, sugar. You'll get to meet my family."
"I'm so happy for you!" I held my arms out to him. "And relieved that they're okay. I know how heavily that weighed on you, my love."
A pang cut through my chest. I’d give anything to know if my parents were alive and well, much less in the same town as me. But there was no way I’d diminish Reaper’s joy. He deserved to have his family back, something that was so rare after the Collapse tore thousands of families apart. Even more, he could finally be absolved of the guilt he carried.
