Page 48 of Filthy Little Pretties

“Cuddle.”

Her voice is almost inaudible. It’s clear she’s sleeping, but Liam’s brows raise, and he looks at me as she pulls him closer to spoon. I look down at her beautiful sleeping face and shake my head at him, mouthing, “Get the fuck out,” but he ignores me to wrap his arm around her stomach, tucking her back against him.Asshole.

My left hand finds the back of her thigh and hitches her leg up over my hip while my other is tucked behind my head. I lie there, listening to her heavy sleeping rhythm, staring at the ceiling as my fingers move back and forth against her skin.

“Dude, this is going to be a long fucking night,” Liam whispers, gently shaking the bed with his laughter.

“No, this is going to be a long fucking year.”

Donovan

MY REFLECTION IN THE WINDOWmixes against the dark sky outside as if all the stars are just within my reach. The moon’s gleaming off the lake, casting a spell with its stillness, making me wish I was back outside. Back in that moment—the one I just dreamed—that has me awake and wrapped in a blanket, lost in thought.

I’ve been downstairs in Liam’s lake house for the last twenty minutes trying to wrap my head around how it is I woke up sandwiched between them. Dreaming of being between them.

It’s not really that surprising that my mind would flirt with danger. I’m not a fool. The mutual attraction is impossible to ignore. It’s like embers stoked in a fire every time they touch me, heating me up in all the right ways. But this is exactly the kind of life choice I ran from.

Now, however, there’s nowhere to go. In one direction, there’s Grey and what he said to me tonight, telling me he wanted to kiss me and then fighting for my honor. In the other, there’s Liam, wrapping himself around me like I’m his blankie and giving me permission to enjoy all the bad ideas.

Impossible choices, impossible routes, but the real problem is, I like where I am. I shouldn’t, but I do.This ends badly, Donovan. Shit, I’m getting swept up, caught in the spell of lust and attraction, but I need to remember that, eventually, we’ll wake up. When we do, once the spell fades, they’ll hate me because I’ve broken them. And I’ll be left with nothing.

No Liam. No Grey.

My hands pull the soft cashmere blanket tighter around my shoulders as I gnaw on my lip, still thinking the thoughts I shouldn’t. The dream that woke me replays in my mind, like fast snippets on a highlight reel, chipping away all rational thought.

Liam’s hands running slowly down my sternum.

Grey’s fingers digging into my hips.

My back arching.

Lips on me.

Kisses trailed.

Tongues laved.

Moans. Growls. Need.

“What are you doing down here?”

“Shit!” A yell rips from my body as my shoulders jump. “Grey. You scared the shit out of me.”

He grins, making his way to the fireplace, and flips the switch, bringing it to life. “Cold?”

I nod, but it was rhetorical. Grey shivers as his hand runs over his shirtless body. The fire puts him in its glow, holding my attention and making him look like some kind of heavenly demon. Jesus, my eyes are having a very hard time staying away from the hard planes of his chest and the tight muscles that run down his stomach, but I try anyway.

“Here,” I offer, pulling my warm blanket off. “Take this. I’m good.”

He smiles and takes a few steps toward where I’m standing and takes it from me, sweeping it over him and pulling me in as well. It’s so natural, so welcome. So Grey. But I can’t help but hold my breath for just a moment.

“You keep my front warm, Cherry.”

I laugh and twist around so we’re standing, me wrapped in his arms, my back to him, and look out of the window again at the dark expanse. His arms are locked around me. A warm blush, staining my cheeks from my leftover thoughts, makes me give my head a tiny shake just as the wood cracks in the fireplace.

“What?”

His deep voice rumbles in his chest against my back, and I smile to myself, enjoying my secret.