Page 86 of Burdened Bonds
“Me too,” she says. “I’m whacked. Let’s all get some sleep. The plan we form will be a better one if we all have fully functioning brains.”
We all peer at Renzo, who’s fiddling with the ancient-looking light switch on the wall. “What?” he says, sensing us all staring at him.
“Nothing,” I say with a smile.
If my mates were hoping they’d get to sleep with me, they’re beaten to the punch by Winnie. She drags me up the stairs and into the nearest bedroom, one with a huge four-poster bed that could definitely fit me, Stone and Azlan on the mattress.
“I know you’re probably biting at the bit to bang those boys,” Winnie says, as we hover in the doorway. “But do you think just for tonight, we could be together?”
“Winnie,” I say, hugging her. “I am not some nymphomaniac–”
“Debatable,” she murmurs.
I elbow her. “I can go one night without …” I lift an eyebrow. “Besides, sometimes a bit of anticipation is a good thing, right?”
“Definitely,” Winnie says, flopping herself down on the mattress.
“And anyway, I am way too tired for any banging.” Which isn’t quite true. I’d be more than happy for either of my mates to throw me down onto the nearest horizontal surface. But Winnie has already sacrificed an awful lot for me and has been by my side from the beginning. I owe her my time and attention.
I go to lay Pip out on the floor of the bedroom, but Winnie snatches him off me and settles him at the end of the bed.
“I thought you were a strict enforcer of the no pigs on the bed rule,” I say to her.
“He’s sick!” she protests, although I think she’s missed him as much as she’s missed me. Let’s be honest. Probably more.
I head to the door to say goodnight to the others and find Azlan lurking in the doorway.
“You’re sleeping in here?” he asks.
“Yes, with Winnie.”
He looks mighty disappointed, and I almost feel sorry for him, my own resolve fading. His eyes travel over my face and he grabs my hand, pulls me out of the room and slams the door behind me. Then he pushes me up against the closed door and kisses me, his hands tangled in my hair, his mouth hungry and incessant. His kiss makes me even more unstable on my feet. In fact, my knees begin to buckle and my head swims. I don’t know if I can be the good friend I want to be and keep my promise to Winnie.
However, the sound of footsteps on the stairs has him pulling away, my bond mighty unhappy about it.
“I’ll sleep in the room next to yours and Phoenix will take the room on the other side. Any problems,” he eyes Renzo as he comes to join us on the landing, “you yell for us. Even if it’s just a feeling of unease. Okay?” I nod and he kisses me again, this time more briefly. “Go get some sleep.” He opens the door behind me. “You can take one of the bedrooms down the hall,” he tells Renzo.
“Nah, I’m going to sleep outside her door.”
I roll my eyes, placing a hand on Azlan’s arm because I can tell he’s steaming again. “You can’t sleep outside my door. It’s a hard floor.”
He shrugs. “Doesn’t bother me.”
“There are beds down the hall,” Azlan says firmly.
“And I don’t want to be down the hall,” Renzo says, as firmly. “I need to be near little rabbit, in case something happens.”
“Little rabbit?” Azlan says, his face distorting with disgust.
I sigh and decide to leave them to it, stepping back inside the bedroom and shutting the door behind me.
Winnie’s lying on the bed next to Pip, her hand resting on his stomach.
“When are you going to tell Stone and the ma– Azlan?”
“Tell them what?” I ask, tugging off my jeans and my sweater. Winnie’s conjured new covers for the bed and a smokeless fire in the fireplace. It’s pretty toasty in the room.
“About Barone?”
