“Yeah,” Keifer said, picking himself off the ground. “I’ve only gone through that three times now, and it hasn’t gotten easier.”
“It was faster this time, though,” Blythe said.
Keifer and Nikolai snorted.
“And it didn’t leave you on your ass this time. Only your knees,” Blythe continued.
I smiled, sensing a sore subject when I heard one.
Blythe had a way to badger you to death. She was awesome like that.
“Shut it, woman,” Keifer growled. “Now cook me something to eat. Suddenly, I’m fuckin’ starving.”
“Hmm,” she said. “What do you want?”
“Meat.”
“What kind of meat?
“Good meat. Manly meat,” he teased.
Blythe raised her brows.
“Steak? Chicken?” she asked.
He shrugged. “Anything, as long as it comes from an animal that has legs.”
“I’m out of everything but eggs,” Nikolai said. “We haven’t gone to the grocery store since you left.”
“Well, fuck,” Keifer said. “Guess it’s breakfast. What about bacon?”
Nikolai shook his head. “That’s gone, too.”
“I know how to make pancakes,” I offered.
Keifer nodded. “That’ll be okay, I guess. Do you cook any good?”
I shrugged. “Better than Blythe.”
A dish towel hit me in the face, and I laughed.
“Well? It’s the truth,” I said.
Blythe stuck her tongue out.
And I started cooking, Blythe at my side offering to stir or add ingredients when I needed her to.
“So, tell me what happened today. You said in your message that you were attacked,” Keifer said, taking up a spot at the counter.
Nikolai sat down beside him, and they discussed what had happened earlier in the day.
“You think it was her uncle?” Keifer asked, gesturing to me.
“No. It had nothing to do with him, I don’t think, and everything to do with her uncle’s cronies,” Nikolai said. “They clocked me the minute I got out of our territory, so they at least tracked us to our line but couldn’t see any further past it.”
“Well, that’s just fucking perfect, isn’t it?” Keifer growled in frustration.Chapter 8The strongest walls are not made of stone. They are made of brave men.
-Fact of Life
Brooklyn
I tiptoed out of the bedroom that Nikolai had stashed me in hours ago.
My eyes darted first left, then right, as I slowly eased out of the door.
I froze when my cat followed me, but breathed a sigh of relief when she continued down the hallway in the opposite direction of where I was going.
I couldn’t sleep.
In fact, I was so not sleepy that I could probably stand to burn a few hundred calories.
And I had just the way to do it as I eased down the hallway towards Nikolai’s room.
I pushed the door open on a silent swing, straining my eyes to see inside…I couldn’t.
So I slowly moved towards the bed and kept my hands out in front of me to stop myself from taking any headers without seeing them first.
A table bumped into my right knee, and I cursed softly.
“Shit,” I whispered nearly silently.
“I was wondering when you’d finally get in here,” Nikolai said, amusement tinging his voice.
I squeaked.
“God!” I gasped. “You just scared the crap out of me.”
He chuckled darkly, and suddenly I was yanked down.
I sprawled ungracefully across a very hard body and instantly went soft as I burrowed my face deep into Nikolai’s neck.
“You were waiting for me?” I asked softly.
“Mmm-hmm,” he rumbled.
His chest vibrated with his words, and I nearly moaned.
“Then why didn’t you come to me?” I asked.
“I don’t want to push you,” he answered.
“Push me into what?” I pushed.
He sighed.
“We both know where this is going,” he answered honestly. “We’re just waiting for you to get ready.”
I swallowed thickly, went up on my elbows and stared down at where I thought his face was.
“I am ready,” I said nervously.
His strong, thick fingers burrowed deep into my hair, and I closed my eyes as his lips met the sensitive skin of my neck.
“You sure?” he asked.
I nodded, and he growled in reply.
“Good,” he said. “I don’t think I could’ve held out for much longer. Your visions are killing me.”
I blinked.
“What?” I asked.
I felt his lips curl into a smile against my neck.
“You’ve been projecting visions at me. And they all center on me and you…most of the time we’re naked,” he answered.
I gasped.
“What?” I asked.
Had I done that?
Holy shit!
I’d, of course, had daydreams about him, but never in a million years would I have thought that I was projecting those visions out towards him.
“I’m…I don’t know what to say,” I stuttered.
He chuckled.
“Not your fault. I needed to teach you how to handle them first. Without the knowledge, you’ll just keep doing it unwittingly. But I found that I quite liked the visions…and I didn’t want you to freak out without being in the right mind frame first,” he said.
I sighed a breath of relief.
“Good,” I said, leaning my head down to his.
His lips whispered against mine, baby soft.
“You smell so good,” he growled.
“You always do. The scent of you clings to me, making me think about you even when you’re not here,” I admitted. “My mind never strays far away from you.”