Page 249 of What We Brave
Some things never change.
I lie there, watching them sleep. Blake's face is soft without the tension he carries during the day. Reid is a sprawled disaster, mouth open, probably about to start snoring.
Mine,I think.These idiots are mine.
I should get up. Shower. Start coffee. Be a functional adult.
Instead, I burrow deeper between them and close my eyes.
Functional adulting can wait.
45
BLAKE
Reid's got her on her back. One hand braced beside her head, the other gripping her hip hard enough that I can see the press of his fingers into her skin. Laine's legs are wrapped around him and her back arches every time he drives forward.
The sounds she's making aren't for show. They're involuntary. Desperate little gasps pulled out of her with every thrust, and each one goes straight to my cock.
I'm propped up on my elbow. Close enough to touch. Close enough to see the flush spreading down her chest, the way her mouth falls open, the way her fingers dig into Reid's shoulders like she needs something to hold onto.
My hand is on her thigh. Thumb moving against her skin. I don't remember deciding to do that. She shivers and I feel it under my palm.
Reid changes his angle — pulls her hips up, drives deeper — and Laine's whole body reacts. Her head presses back into the pillow and the sound that comes out of her is raw. Not a moan. Something more animal than that.
Christ.
I'm so hard it hurts.
Maybe this should be weird. I'm watching my best friend fuck thewoman I love. But it's so much more than that. So much bigger. I'm watching the two people I love most in the world and it feels just fucking right.
Reid's jaw is clenched. He's close and fighting it. Stubborn bastard — even now he's focused on her. Making sure she gets there first. That's Reid. Always has been.
I slide my hand higher on her thigh. Grip. She's slick with sweat and her skin is so hot under my fingers and I want —
I want to be inside her so badly I can't think straight.
Wait your turn, Moore.
Laine's hand leaves Reid's shoulder. Reaches out beside her — searching, grasping at the sheet, at air — and her head turns.
She finds me.
And — fuck.
She's wrecked. Completely. Flushed and shaking and getting fucked and she's looking atme.Not glazed over. Not far away. Right here. Locked onto my face like I'm the thing keeping her in her body.
Her fingers find mine. Lace through. Grip hard enough to grind my knuckles together.
I squeeze back.
"Blake." My name comes out broken. Split apart by Reid's rhythm. She's not asking for anything. She's just — confirming. That I'm here. That I'm real.
I'm her anchor right now.
"I'm here." I lean in. Press my mouth to her temple. She's damp and hot and I can feel her pulse hammering under her skin. "I've got you."
Reid shifts his grip. Hooks under her knee, opens her wider, and she moans against my jaw and I feel it vibrate through my bones.
