My Mori fluttered happily, a sensation I’d gotten used to, spending so much time near Chris these days. Suddenly, I remembered being in his arms last night and his mouth on mine. Heat rushed through me, and my stomach dipped as I lifted a hand and touched my lips, reliving every second of the kiss.
How could I let him kiss me like that? And then I’d agreed to go on a date with him. What the hell was I thinking? I rubbed my aching temple. I hadn’t been in my right state of mind. That had to be it. I never would have done any of those things, otherwise. How on earth was I going to face him after last night?
Groaning silently, I moved to get up – and let out a squeak when I found myself pinned to the bed by a male arm around my waist. I held my breath as my eyes followed the arm to its owner and saw Chris asleep on his side next to me.
Oh, my God. What did I do?
My heart sped up, and I tore my gaze from Chris to look down at my body, which was dressed in the tank top and cotton pants I normally wore to bed. I snuck a peek at Chris and saw he wore a T-shirt and a pair of sweatpants. Seeing we were both clothed made me feel a little better, but it didn’t explain how the hell I’d ended up in bed with him.
I wracked my brain for memories of last night. I was exhausted when we got back to the marina, and I remembered getting into one of the SUVs and Chris driving us back to the safe house. He had forced me to take some gunna paste, and I’d managed to stay awake long enough to get a shower. After that?
Panic gripped me. Why couldn’t I remember what happened after that?
“You’re going to hyperventilate if you keep that up,” rasped a sleepy voice.
I turned my head and met his green eyes.
His full lips curved into a lazy, contented smile. “Morning.”
“Morning,” I croaked. “I… How…?”
“Nothing happened,” he said, making no move to release me.
I cleared my throat. “Why are you in my bed?”
“I’m not.” His eyes lit with amusement and something else that made my stomach flutter. “You’re in my bed.”
“What?”
I lifted my head and looked at the room – and my bed near the window. The covers were crumpled like I’d slept there. Only I wasn’t there. I was across the room in Chris’s bed.
A memory surfaced of me getting out of bed and walking over to his. Pulling back his covers…
Heat flooded my face, and I couldn’t look at him. My voice was barely a whisper.
“I got into bed with you?”
“Your Mori needed to be close to mine.” His arm tightened slightly around my waist. “It’s natural and nothing to be embarrassed about.”
Easy for him to say. My cheeks burned at the knowledge that I’d actually left my bed and climbed into his. I’d slept in his arms.
I was still in his arms.
I pushed his arm off me and got out of bed. Tugging the bottom of my shirt down, I crossed the room and pulled a change of clothes from my bag. The silence in the room felt heavy and awkward, and I couldn’t get away from it quickly enough.
“Beth.”
I paused with my hand on the doorknob but didn’t turn around.
“Leave some hot water for me.”
I glowered at the door, a reluctant smile lurking at the corners of my mouth. “Sure.”
“Oh, and Beth?”
I don’t know what made me look back at him. I knew it was a mistake the second I saw him lying in the bed with his arms behind his head, making his T-shirt stretch tight across his well-defined chest. His blond hair was ruffled, and he wore an infuriatingly sexy smile as he watched me with heavy-lidded eyes that silently invited me back into his bed.
My breath hitched, and all the heat in my body seemed to pool at my center. “Yes,” I said in a husky voice I didn’t recognize.
“I like bunking with you a lot more than my old partner.”
There was no mistaking his suggestive little smirk. Huffing loudly, I yanked open the door and closed it not too quietly behind me. Arrogant ass. He was so full of himself, and delusional if he thought there’d be a repeat of last night.
I told myself I was only being considerate and saving him some hot water when I set the water temperature in the shower to cool. It had absolutely nothing to do with my flushed skin or the heat in my veins. Nothing at all.
Chris
“Here she is, folks. Supergirl, who leaps off tall bridges.”
Brock’s loud teasing voice filled the foyer as he entered the house ahead of us, and there were answering cheers and whistles.
Beth heaved a sigh before she followed him inside. She’d been the subject of good-natured ribbing ever since she got up this morning, and she’d taken it all in stride. But her downcast eyes told me she was a little embarrassed by the homecoming reception.
I entered the living room, and my eyes immediately found Nikolas, who was standing near the French doors with Geoffrey, the leader of the team that was staying here for a few days. Geoffrey had been stationed in Las Vegas for the last two years, and Nikolas and I had stayed at his safe house a few times.
“Heard you had quite the night,” Geoffrey quipped when I joined them.
I thought about Beth climbing into my bed. “You have no idea.”
Nikolas smiled. I’d called him once we got back to the safe house last night and filled him in. He’d laughed so hard when I told him about Beth’s dive off the Golden Gate Bridge that I had to growl at him to shut up. Of course, that had only made him laugh even more. I was starting to sense payback here for my amusement over some of Sara’s old stunts.
Geoffrey chuckled. “She really jumped off the bridge and caught that boat?”
“Yes and worked her Mori to exhaustion in the process,” I grumbled, watching Beth talking to Sara in the kitchen. She looked like she was back to her full strength, but she’d scared the hell out of me for a while there. Not that I was complaining about being able to hold her or her seeking out my bed. But I wished it had been under different circumstances.
“It’s easy to forget your body’s limitations when the adrenaline’s flowing,” Geoffrey said, smiling. “I drained my Mori a few times in my first year out of training. One time, I was laid up for two days.”
I kept my gaze on Beth. “Great.”
Nikolas and Geoffrey laughed, drawing the attention of Beth and Sara. Sara smiled and waved at us. Beth’s eyes met mine and quickly looked away. It had been like that since she’d woken up in my bed this morning. Her telltale blushes every time I caught her gaze told me she was remembering it, too, and she hadn’t found it as unpleasant as she tried to let on.
There was no way, however, that she could pretend she hadn’t enjoyed our first kiss as much as I had. My blood heated every time I remembered the feel of her lips beneath mine and how she’d pulled me closer, deepening the kiss. I’d told myself I could go slow and give her all the time she needed to forgive me for the past. But now that I’d had a taste of the passion simmering below the surface, all I could think about was how to get her back into my arms again.
Beth laughed at something Sara said, and my body reacted as if she’d physically touched me. My Mori growled possessively, its need for its mate mingling with mine and making it increasingly hard not to give in to the urge to touch Beth. I’d known that holding and kissing her would strengthen our bond, but I hadn’t expected it to affect me this deeply so soon.
I was starting to have a whole new level of respect for Nikolas. I’d known it was difficult for him to hold back his feelings for Sara, and being bonded for as long as they had before they’d mated was unheard of. I wished I could say I had his willpower, but I knew I wouldn’t be able to hold back with Beth like he had with Sara. Beth was like a drug in my system, and I was already craving my next taste.
“The one in San Francisco was opened a month ago,” Nikolas said, drawing my attention back to the conversation. I realized they were discussing the club we’d found.
“Same owner as the one in Los Angeles?” I asked.
He shook his head. “We don’t know yet. David is still following the paper trail. Whoever set it up is good at hiding their tracks. Fortunately for us, David is better than them. And Kelvan thinks he’s found another club in San Diego. One of the teams there is going to check it out.”