Page 23 of Shadow Warrior
I broke. How couldn’t I? “Just this once …”
“Just this once,” he echoed.
I sat up and reached for his feytech skin. I peeled it back, inch by inch, until his chest was bare to me. Powerful, velvet skin over muscle. I ran my fingers over the tattoos that curled their way up to his neck, lingered at his jaw, and then skimmed over his face to trace his scars. He closed his eyes as if my touch was agony and whispered my name. My heart ached with what would never be while my mind resolved to taste it just this once despite the pain it would bring. His cock was huge and hard, straining to be free of the material. I ran my thumb over the tip through the feytech. Hyde sucked in a breath. His hand slid into the hair at the nape of my neck and formed a fist.
“I think I’m blinded. Ever heard of closing a door?” Larkin’s sarcastic drawl cut through the haze of desire and reality slapped me in the face. Hard.
What was I doing? This was asking for pain. Sex with Hyde would be so much more than just sex. Sex with Hyde would be a soul-cutting scar.
My hand was still on his arousal. His hand still tangled in my hair. I lifted my chin to meet his eyes and saw the sorrow there, the goodbye. He leaned in until his lips hovered above mine, so our breath mingled, and tears threatened my vision. The kiss was sweet and all too brief, and yet it sliced at my soul.
Hyde released me and stepped back before shrugging back into his feytech skin.
“Tut, tut,” Larkin said softly.
My neck felt stiff, my head heavy as I turned and stared at Larkin. Anger rose in my chest like a tsunami, partly at my weakness, and partly at the interruption that forced me to face my bad decision.
“Tut, tut? Weren’t you the one encouraging me to give Hyde some love? What changed, huh? What now?” Tears of frustration pricked my eyes.
Larkin sighed. “I read your mind.” He shot Hyde a glare. “Orion’s law. Are you trying to get her killed?”
Hyde tucked in his chin and shook his head. “No one will know about this. I shouldn’t have. I don’t know what I was thinking.”
“You weren’t thinking,” Larkin said. “Love can do that to a person.”
Love.
The unspoken fucking L-word again.
Hyde’s jaw clenched, and he made a guttural sound of frustration in the back of his throat.
Larkin walked into the room and stood between us. “If you want her, you know what you need to do.” He crossed his arms. “Until then …” He pointed to the exit.
Hyde fixed his gaze on Larkin. “Thank you.” He scooped up his armor and walked out of the room without giving me a second glance.
It hurt.
Larkin’s shadow fell over me. “Well, that was close, wasn’t it?”
Close was an understatement. Larkin had arrived just in time. Or had he?
He looked at my lap and then turned his back on me.
Shit, I had my snatch on display. I grabbed the duvet and pulled it over my lap. “You weren’t just passing by, were you?”
“Meh, I may have heard your contradictory thoughts. They were pretty loud, as were all the moans.”
I sat up against the headboard. “I would have …“ I broke off to gather my thoughts. “I wanted him to be mine … even if it was for a little while.”
“I know. But you deserve better than one night,” he said softly.
“I usually prefer one night.”
“But not with Hyde. Not with Brady.”
“No.”
“But you’re not ready, not yet.”
He was pulling things from my psyche, things I hadn’t completely worked through yet, but when he verbalized them, they made perfect sense. I’d fucked around. One-night stands had been my forte. One night with Hyde shouldn’t matter. One night with Brady, whether he ended up mated to me or not, wouldn’t have mattered to the old Indie, but it mattered to me now.
I wasn’t that woman anymore.
I was more.
I wanted more.
I deserved more.
“Yes.” Larkin patted the back of my hand. “You do. And Hyde knows that. Let’s just hope it doesn’t get him killed.”
