Page 74 of Lawless Rivals

I pad across the room before I can talk myself out of it and lower myself beside him, close enough that my bare skin brushes his.

“He made me take off my clothes,” I whisper.

“What a bad bastard,” he says next to my ear, his voice hoarse.

His mouth lingers there for a second, close enough that the warmth of his breath traces the shell of my ear and drifts down the side of my neck.

Every nerve in my body wakes up, hoping he would kiss me there.

He exhales a slow breath. “What else did he do?”

“He kissed me.”

“I bet ya hated that…”

“Yeah…I think he hated it, too.”

He rolls himself onto his side and positions me in front of him, my spine snug to his chest, his body a wall of warmth at my back. His arm slides back around my middle and his hand splays over my belly, stealing a breath from me. My spine arches a fraction, and my ass settles against him, and he’s hard.

His thumb moves along the underside of my breast. Once. Then it stops, and his hand stays exactly where it is. I lie there aching and wide awake with him pressed against me, neither of us willing to be the one who moves.

“Don’t worry: nightmares fade eventually.” The warmth of his breath caresses my nape.

He drags a blanket over me, and neither of us says anything more.

And for the first time since this began, my heart doesn’t thrum like it’s fighting itself. It just beats, slow and steady, and in time with his.

“Ciarán Tallon, what the hell do ya think you’re doin’?”

My eyes snap open, and I take a second to remember that I fell asleep on Saint’s couch, in his arms. And now, his sister is glaring over the top of us.

For one disorienting second, I feel caught as if she’s interrupted something private and dragged me into the light.

Saint moves behind me, pulling himself up to sitting while fixing the blanket over me.

“Get the fuck out of here,” he warns. “The spare key was for emergencies only, Sera.”

“This is an emergency,” she grits. “I knew the Harrington girl fancied you, but I didn’t think you two would be in here playing house. What the hell is wrong with ya, Saint?”

Saint’s on his feet in a blur and towering over her. He’s pure muscle and fury now, all warmth replaced with stern features.

“What I do behind that door is none of your fucking business.”

She laughs and prods his inked chest. “Really? This is a whole new level of asshole, even for you.”

I sit up and wrap the blanket around me, not sure where to go.

“Oh yeah? Because I like the girl? Because she’s nothing like her old man?”

My heart beats faster because he just admitted that out loud.

“No, Saint!” Sera bites back. “Because you’re making moves on her when you know how this ends.”

Her gaze cuts to me then, and for a split second the anger thins into something that looks dangerously close to caution.

“The plan was to hold her in the yard until Alasdair signs, then throw her back. Not welcome her into the family with your dick and a warm blanket.”

Heat crawls up my throat and I hug the blanket tighter, the fluffiness still warm from our combined body heat. Now it feels less like comfort and more like evidence.