Page 34 of Knotting Autumn

A low growl vibrated against my spine. Twisting, I looked up at Sawyer. His eyes glinted, the green a bit brighter.

“Okay, so what can we do?”

Sighing deeply, Thorne answered, “I don’t know, but for the next day or two, we’d like to stay with you. We can protect you,and then you and I will feel better. Then we can decide what to do. But I have a raging headache right now.”

He pressed the meat of his palms into his eyes, tipping his head back to expose his throat. There was something so vulnerable in that, I wanted to help him.

“Fine, you can stay here for the night. You can sleep on the sofa or in Sawyer’s room, since he’s sleeping in mine.”

The temperature in the room rose, the air heavy. There was no ignoring the way my skin flushed as Thorne’s gaze raked over my figure. The tingles I felt weren’t just from Sawyer’s touch. My body wanted Thorne, too.

Clearing my throat, I took a step to the side, out of Sawyer’s arms. Turning, I reached for his hand.

“I’ll order some pizza, and you guys can pay for it. I hope you like pineapple on your pizza,” I said, putting on a smirk. “But I need some peace and quiet. I’ll be in my room.”

Raising an eyebrow in challenge, I took in Thorne’s stiff expression and Cole’s narrowed eyes. With a flip of my hair, I brushed past him, and Cole stepped back against the wall so he didn’t touch me.

My room felt like a sanctuary after all the testosterone in the living room. Sawyer dutifully followed me in, glancing over his shoulder at Cole as he went. He hesitated a moment, glancing back out at our visitors before closing the door. Giving his head a little shake, he turned to face me.

I braced myself, ready to argue about Thorne and Cole staying the night.

Chapter 13

Taste Me

In a flash of green flannel and blond curls, Sawyer pounced on me. His hands gripped my ass, and he carried me the three steps to the bed, dropping on top of me as we tumbled back. My hair splayed around me in a cinnamon mess.

“Sawyer!” Snatching his glasses, I tossed them onto the bedside table.

Unapologetic, he nuzzled into my neck, his hands digging into my hair, flattening over my ribcage, anything he could reach with our chests smashed together.

“You’re all I want,” he growled. “I won’t lose you.”

“Shhh.” Framing his face with my hands, I forced him to look at me. “You won’t.”

“But it’s a fated mate bond.” His voice broke.

“Hey,” I said, looking into his eyes. The green glowed. “Some mystical bond doesn’t matter. You’re the one I’ve built a life with. We know everything about each other, and I love you.”

“I love you,” he whispered, dipping his head to brush his lips over mine.

We’d told each other we loved each other many times, the way best friends do. But this was different. We both knew it. I could tell from the hungry way he kissed me.

“I need you,” he murmured against my lips.

“Me too,” I breathed, sliding my fingers under the neckline of his shirt to feel more of his heated skin.

“I want them to hear you and know that you’re mine.” His lips moved against the skin on my neck, sending a shiver down my spine. It was really hard to think when he flattened his tongue to the sensitive skin under my ear.

“Are we seriously going todo itfor the first time with them in the other room?”

“Do it?” he said, leaning back to grin at me.

“You know what I mean!” I released his shirt to lightly smack his very firm chest.

Chuckling, Sawyer kissed my jaw on his way back to my mouth. “No, baby. But I watched you come in my lap, and I’m dying to taste you. Let me?”

My heart rate increased, and heat rushed from my face down to my stomach, sinking lower. I should say no. The last hour had been a rollercoaster of emotions, but my body was humming, aching to be touched. Maybe it was a decade of tension between Sawyer and I finally snapping, or maybe it was Thorne’s presence on the other side of the door, but I was desperate.