Page 65 of Devastation
"It helps having such an incredible family to support me and constantly remind me what I have to fight for."
"We love you, man," Luke responds as he comes up to my other side and places an arm around my waist.
"To Hell and back," Leo adds as Hale glances over his shoulder at the four of us and smiles.
"To Hell and back," he echoes and turns back to Elizabeth, inquiring, "Am I in the clear now?"
She lets go of his hand and hesitates briefly, opening and closing her mouth to speak. I feel myself suck in a breath and hold it, anxiously waiting to hear her answer.
Cocking her head to the side, she cautions, "While I do have the power to see your soul and its energy, my word is not law. Even I am sometimes wrong..."
I want to yell at her to stop being so cryptic and just spit it out, but I swallow my impatience, knowing it won’t help the situation.
"But, I do think that you are in the clear from what I can sense."
My pent up breath—as well as the men's—whooshes out, and I visibly sag with relief. For once, things are going our way, but how long will that last?
We really needed a win, and this feels like the biggest win of all. After losing Ash to this same darkness and the atrocities that accompanied it, I'd like to think that I'm strong enough to go through it again for Hale if it had come to that, but I honestly don't know if I could have.
I can't help the squeal and little hop that I do, and I cross the short distance between myself and Hale, hopping on his back and peppering his cheek with kisses. "You're incredible!"
He chuckles and stands, pulling me around into his embrace and kissing my forehead before dragging his lips down to my ear and whispering, "Oh, I can show you incredible."
I drag my lip between my teeth to prevent myself from gasping in tandem with the blush that is surely evident on my face. Elizabeth gives us a knowing look and laughs softly before turning her attention back to Ash.
Hale nips my ear softly before pressing a kiss to my neck. Smacking him on the back I joke, "At least take me to a room first."
What I don't expect is for him to drop down, heft me over his shoulder like a caveman, and mutter, "I can make that happen."
"Hale! Put me down!" I yell while giggling at his antics. Part of me doesn't want him to put me down though. I want to explore this with him in the security of our joint peace of mind now that he has firm control of himself.
"See ya losers later!" Leo yells as we cross over the threshold of the house.
From my vantage point, I see Seth looking at us in amusement as he speaks. "Welcome back. Third floor is guest rooms."
My mouth drops at how nonchalant he is, and my cheeks burn with embarrassment at being caught like this.
Hale simply thanks him and begins to ascend the stairs, easily taking two steps at a time with his long legs. I'm jostled around as we go and I beg, "Please let me use my own two feet."
A light sting follows the smack of his hand on my ass. "No."
Unconsciously, I clench my thighs together at the heat that spreads through me with his authoritative tone and actions. Thankfully, we make it to the third floor landing quickly, and he pushes through the closest door. Hefting me over his shoulder, he lays me down onto the bed and stares down at me with a deep hunger as he admits, "I need you, Lana."
The truth is I need him so much more. In every aspect of my life.
He's our family's leader and constantly has all of our best interests at heart—and he does it all with a level head. Our crazy group can't be easy to handle, but he makes it look easy with his endless patience and love.
"I need you too," I whisper back as I'm filled with warmth. A combination of love and lust floods every nerve ending in my body until I feel like I'm going to burn up.
My answer is all he needs before he rips my leather pants off with an ease that I wish I could replicate daily. Sitting up, I pull at the straps holding my leather top in place and yank it off, tossing it to the ground.
He takes his fill of me, practically devouring my naked body with eyes. Shifting under the weight of that stare, I mumble, "So..."
My men have done nothing but worship my body and make me feel beautiful, but I think it's always in the back of a woman's mind that there is something wrong with her. Being exposed to Hale brings those little insecurities wriggling out from the deep recesses of my brain.
Before I can make things awkward, though, his mouth is on mine, shutting me up with ease. I'm grateful for his distraction from my own thoughts.
Swirling my tongue around his, I hear him groan as he cups my breasts, kneading them and tweaking my hard nipples simultaneously. The feeling elicits a moan of my own, and I reach for his shirt, yanking it up, breaking away from him long enough to pull it over his head.
