Page 57

Platonic love.

Declan tapped my chin, garnering my attention. His expressive brows were furrowed.

“You okay?” he signed, and I offered him a tentative smile. What would he think of me if he knew the direction of my thoughts? If he knew that I was thinking the dreaded “L-Word”...and did not mean it in a sisterly manner. No, the direction of my thoughts leaned towards the romantic/sexual end of the spectrum.

Great. Now I was thinking about sex. With Declan. In this bed.

And then I thought about Calax, my wonderful boyfriend, but instead of deterring me, I began to think about sex with both of them. Man, I had a secret kinky side. Three-ways. Four-ways. Freaking eight-ways. The sky was the limit. Correction: my vagina was the limit.

“How’s your leg?” Declan signed, nodding towards the black, heavy cast on said leg. I shrugged, unable to help noticing that Declan’s eyes zeroed in on the swath of skin exposed on my stomach when my shoulders came up. My cheeks flushed.

“It has seen better days. And worst days. And days in-between. Legs are annoying. I’m more of a fingers and penis type of girl.”

He merely blinked at me, both because I had forgotten to use sign language in my ramble and because of what I said. I silently prayed that I had spoken too fast for him to read my lips, but when a delectable blush rose up his neck and to his cheeks, I knew that the gods weren’t that generous. Damn my big mouth.

And my big, needy vagina.

All it needed now was a sign that said “Open for Business” in flashing, neon red lights.

Greedy, horny bitch.

“Let’s talk about something else. I meant, sign about something else. Can you talk? I mean, I know you can, obviously. I heard you. Why don’t you talk? Does your voice sound weird? Oh God, is that insensitive of me to ask? I give you permission to spank me. Damn. I have an unhealthy obsession with spankings. And whips. And chains. Hmmm...maybe it’s just a phase.”

Declan waved his hands vigorously in front of my face, and I paused in mid-speech. Mid-rant would be a more accurate description. Wincing, I dared a glance at him out of my peripheral vision. Instead of looking disgusted by my blurted confession, he appeared confused.

“I have no idea what you just said,” he admitted without preamble. Now my cheeks flamed for an entirely different reason.

“Sorry,” I signed. “I suck at this. Sometimes my thoughts run away from me, and my hands have trouble keeping up. Forgive me?”

A slow smile tilted his lips upwards. It caused delicious tingles to course through my body, as if I had been shot by a bolt of electricity. Or a thousand bolts. Or a thousand bolts and a penis. Or a -

Down girl.

“Nothing to forgive.”

The sound of a curse coming from outside made me jump. Declan’s eyebrows furrowed.

“Everything okay?” he signed, capturing and holding my attention.

“God damn it. That was higher than I thought,” a familiar voice muttered.

“Callie?” I asked breathlessly. Declan watched my lips move, his brow quirking, before understanding flickered in his eyes. Instead of looking angry at the intrusion, or even jealous, he turned towards the newcomer expectantly.

Calax’s hands appeared first, gripping the sill, before his tall, muscular body was pulled through the window. He landed with a grunt on the ground, his dark hair disarrayed and dirt smeared on his high cheekbones.

“What are you doing here?” I squeaked. My eyes rapidly flickered from Declan, perched on my bed, to Calax, and then to the diminutive sliver of space between me and my ex-best friend. I had to have been breaking thousands of rules here. Rule Number 212: No Guys Besides the Boyfriend are Allowed in the Bed.

But Calax didn’t seem perturbed at seeing Declan. Instead, he merely clapped him on the shoulder and came to sit beside me on the opposite side of the bed.

“You need to get some sleep,” he said, a hand coming up to tenderly brush a strand of hair behind my ear. I gaped at him, glanced anxiously at Declan, and then went back to gaping. Frankly, I resembled a lunatic fish forced out of water. Definitely not a sexy look on me.

Calax smiled smugly, but ignored my inquiring gaze.

“Get some rest, Baby Girl. We’ll be here with you until you wake up.”

When I just continued to stare at him as if he had a few screws loose, Declan pulled back the blanket and slid in beside me. Calax hastily did the same on my other side.

I found myself sandwiched between two very strong, very sexy men.