Duke woke with a hell of a headache and a full-body ache.
Gods be damned, he hurt fucking everywhere.
Better than being buried under that house, though, so there was that.
Biting his tongue to stifle a groan, he sat up. The darkness disoriented him, so he closed his eyes and tried to get his bearings. Since he didn’t hear any movement, he figured everyone else was still asleep.
He rotated his neck until it popped a few times, relieving some of the pressure. Moving his shoulders, he rolled them to ease their stiffness then arched his back until it cracked.
His stomach rumbled and he thought about rummaging through Kyle’s fridge—
A soft snuffle from the other end of the U-shaped couch made his eyes pop open.
Tira lay curled in a ball, facing away from him. Her beautiful blonde hair shone like moonlight in the dark. She was covered completely in drab gray sweats, which made him long to see the creamy white skin he knew was beneath.
Shit, yesterday had been fucked up. But they’d made it back. Alive.
He knew Kyle would have woken him if anything had happened to Nic so he figured Nic was sleeping as well. And Kaine.
He had no idea what had happened to the eteri and didn’t really care.
But Tira… She sighed in her sleep but the closer he listened, the more he thought he heard her sniffling.
Was she crying in her sleep?
Hell, she should just take a dull spoon and cut out his heart right now.
She’d thought he’d been asleep while she’d been drying his hair earlier. Almost, but not quite. How could he sleep when she had her hands on him?
He’d wanted her to continue for as long as she wanted because if she’d known he was awake, she never would’ve done it.
And he’d enjoyed it too damn much.
What he couldn’t figure out was why. Why had she touched him like he was her lover?
Why, when she’d thought he was asleep, did her hands linger, her fingers playing through his hair as if she loved the feel of it?
Was he insane to even consider that maybe her feelings for him had changed after all these years? That she still might love him, even though he’d done his best to push her away?
And could he touch her knowing Nic never could?
As her cries became more pronounced, Duke couldn’t sit still any longer. He crossed the space between the couches, dragging the blanket along with him. He was naked and he didn’t want her to wake and think he was taking advantage of her.
Without over-thinking it, he sat next to her, pulled the blanket over his lower body then, as gently as he could, lifted her onto his lap and into his arms. He almost expected her to fight him, so he kept a loose grip on her.
He shouldn’t have worried.
She tucked her head under his chin as if she knew exactly where it belonged. She sighed, and the tears she’d been crying stopped with a sharp sniffle. Her entire body relaxed and her warm breath ruffled the hair on his chest and sent a sharp spike of desire from his chest to his cock.
Her ass shifted on his thigh as she wriggled closer, one hand rubbing from his pec to his shoulder and higher into his hair, where she wound her fingers around the longer-than-normal strands.
“Duke.”
His name whispered from her lips, and his arms tightened around her in shock. He would’ve thought it’d be Nic she was dreaming about. Because she was still asleep. She wasn’t faking that.
How the hell—
No, you know what? Fuck it. He could admit, if only to himself, that he loved to hear her say his name. Especially like this. Not in exasperation or anger. But as if she cared for him. As if they were lovers.
With one arm wrapped around her shoulders, holding her close, he lifted his other hand to brush through her silky hair. Her face still wet with tears, he let his fingers wipe them away.
“It’s okay, Tira,” he whispered against her crown, his lips brushing her hair. “Everything’s okay now.”
“No. No.”
Damn, what could he do to calm her? He didn’t want to wake her because he was a bastard who wanted to hold her.
She was shaking in his arms and burrowing closer as if she were cold. The air in the room was a little chilly but she was wearing cotton fleece from head to toe. Still, if he took off the fleece, his higher body temperature would raise hers in minutes.
Yeah and if you believe that one, I’ve got a bridge to sell you.
Fuck it.
As gently and as he could, he stripped the sweatshirt off her upper body without waking her. He tried not to make an ass of himself as her naked flesh met his.
But, fuck, it was torture. Yes, they’d been in the shower just like this earlier today but he’d been whacked out. He didn’t have that excuse now.
And he was going to enjoy every fucking second.
Since he was still naked under the blanket, he left her pants on. Removing those was just asking him to step over a cliff he couldn’t climb back up. And now he had to pull the blanket over her as well, enclosing them in warmth and darkness.
Her skin quickly warmed against his as he rubbed a hand up and down her arm and around her back. Settling even more heavily against him, her breathing got deeper until she lay completely unconscious in his arms.
Her crying had stopped, thank the gods. He couldn’t stand to hear it. It ripped him apart inside.
He wanted to close his eyes and fall asleep with her in his arms but he was worried about what would happen when she woke. Would they go back to their battle stances?
Tinia’s teat, he didn’t want that. He was so sick of acting like he hated her because he knew she couldn’t stand him. Yeah, it was a defense mechanism but it’d kept him sane these past years.
But…yesterday had changed things.
He knew that. He just didn’t know how.
And as he lay there for hours, staring into the dark with Tira cuddled against him, he still had no answers.
Dawn was at least an hour away when he felt her begin to wake. He forced himself not to tense, to keep his arms loose around her, even when she shifted in his lap, brushing her thigh against his erection and making him want to thrust against her.
He knew the second she came fully awake and braced for her to push him away.
But she didn’t. She lifted her hand to his shoulder and let it curve over the muscle before smoothing over to his neck.
He had a second to wonder if she truly was awake when she turned her head and let her lips rest against his chest.
He sucked in a breath as desire flashed through him like a lightning blast. How many times had he dreamed about having her just like this? Naked and warm against his own skin. Her mouth on his body.
Yeah, they were missing a crucial part of the equation but he couldn’t be sorry about what they did have now.
And he wasn’t about to waste the opportunity.
He needed her. He’d always needed her but knew they’d never be able to complete the triangle they were meant to be. For years, he’d let that fact keep them separated. He’d hurt her with his distance. He knew that now.
Well, he was done pushing her away and whatever happened, happened. They’d deal with it later.
“Duke.” Her whisper brushed against his neck seconds before her lips, making his heart race and his skin tighten. His hands flattened on her back and started a slow, stroking massage that had her arching into him.
“Duke…”
Bending his head, he rubbed his nose against her hair, breathing in her scent, clean and bright and so fucking her.
She moved, as if to get up, and his arms tightened around her. Shit, he didn’t want to lose her. Not now. He didn’t think he could go another day if he didn’t have her.
His throat tightened as his arms felt like rigid steel. He didn’t think he could loosen them if he tried.