Page 41 of Martyr (Sterling Falls Rogues #3)

We don’t get back to the club until mid-morning, after the inquisition from Tem’s brother and his friends finishes to their satisfaction. Daniel is hard at work, but as soon as we show up with Jace and Wolfe in tow, Saint, Reese, Tem and I make ourselves scarce.

I was expecting a certain level of awkwardness, but both Saint and Reese make faces when I offer to take the couch. Even Artemis rolls her eyes and huffs at me.

She peels my sweatshirt off her body. She’s facing me, and that’s the only reason I catch her grimace of pain.

“What was that?” I demand.

“Oh.” She puts her hand to her back. “Um, I forgot.”

Forgot what ?

She rotates slowly, and my eyes bug out.

There’s a bullet in the Kevlar. Upper back and a little off-center. I immediately slide my hand under it, feeling for blood.

Nothing . Still?—

“One more,” she says. “Lower?”

“Fucking hell, woman.” I grit my teeth and bend. The bottom plate in the vest just barely caught it. Another half-inch down and it would’ve been buried in her spine.

I undo the Velcro straps and help lift it off, then her shirt. Her back is a patchwork of deep-purple bruises.

Saint and Reese come over, and both of them make noises of disapproval.

“You got shot and you’re just telling us about it now?” Saint demands.

Tem rolls her eyes. “The vest caught it. You’re saying you didn’t even catch a stray bullet? Loser.”

Saint scowls.

Reese grabs the sweatshirt she was wearing and finds the two holes, sticking his fingers through them. “Your brother is going to kill you.”

She laughs, then winces. “Yeah. Ow. I was fine up until right now.”

“Shocker,” I mutter. “Adrenaline does that.”

“We were sitting at my brother’s…”

“And you were up in arms defending Gabriel,” I finish. “Do you keep painkillers around? Medicine cabinet?”

Tem stiffens. “Am I allowed to take that?”

“Tylenol?” Saint questions. “I think that’s allowed, Artemis.”

Ooh, he full-named her. With his memory back, I think he saves Artemis for emergencies. Like when she gets shot and doesn’t tell us.

“Tylenol and waters all around,” Reese says. “And then we’re going to sleep.”

“Thank goodness.” Tem undoes her pants and drops them.

My eyebrows hike, but she doesn’t bat an eye. She fills four glasses with water, dropping a few cubes of ice into each, and passes them around. Saint comes back with a small bottle of ibuprofen, and he taps out some for all of us.

“Cheers,” Tem mutters.

We clink glasses and take our pain relievers.

I follow them into the bedroom, pausing when Reese goes to one side and Saint the other. Tem climbs straight down the middle, drawing her legs up to tuck them under the sheet and blankets.

“Come on,” Saint says gruffly. “You can be the big spoon.”

He leaves room for me on the edge, scooting close to Artemis. She’s framed in by Reese and Saint, sharing a pillow with the former. I drop my pants, too—the last to do so—and flick the light off. I take my time closing the blinds, then slowly crawl in behind Saint.

I wish I could say I savor it, but the military taught me to sleep wherever and whenever I could. As a result, I’m out in seconds.

I walk out of Bow & Arrow and examine the barren street.

Artemis and Reese left on their errand a little while ago, and the rest of us have busied ourselves cleaning up the place.

The bodies are gruesome in the light of day. Cyclopes just following orders.

They were given the chance to surrender , I remind myself.

I guess part of me expected Ouranos to send someone to collect them, but so far… nothing. And since there’s no unusual activity on the street, I duck back inside and lock the door behind me.

My body is sore from holding extra tension.

The sun is setting. My stomach growls, but I ignore it.

Movement will be the best cure for my physical wellbeing, and the last I heard, Jace, Wolfe, and Saint were playing cards in one of the private rooms. Daniel was hanging around them, too, finishing the security shit.

They didn’t seem inclined to include me, but I have been perfectly content on my own. No need to force a square peg into a round hole.

Unless the square peg is my cock, and the round hole is Saint’s asshole, of course. Then, with the right amount of lube, anything is possible.

Even though I fell asleep fast, I dreamt of Saint and Artemis. And when I woke up just after two o’clock in the afternoon, I was alone with a raging boner. There was a plate of food left on the table for me, with instructions in Tem’s handwriting for how long to microwave it.

After I ate every last bite, I went to work. I didn’t want to bother Saint, Jace, and Wolfe, and I guess waking up solo was a sign for me to continue the day that way.

I go to the back stairwell, the one that leads from the ground floor up to the top-floor offices—and Tem’s apartment, somewhere in between the two, which we’re now more intimately familiar with after our nap—and roll my shoulders back.

I jog up to the top, drop and do fifteen push-ups, then jog down. Crunches at the bottom. I repeat the cycle, getting faster on the stairs, swinging around the landings to keep momentum. On my fourth lap, a sheen of sweat covers my face, neck, shoulders, and back.

On the fifth, my legs tremble with every down step.

Sixth, and I become aware of an audience.

Saint.

“Lurking? Or do you want to join me?”

He steps out of the shadows and smirks. “You could join me … I was headed to the shower.”

I raise my eyebrow. Last night was about Artemis, which I appreciate. I’ll never get sick of that woman’s body, even hidden under too much fabric. Or seeing her with Saint, for that matter. But we haven’t really discussed his memory, which is clearly back.

I apologized to Reese, but Saint and Tem need to hear it, too. Although I have a feeling Saint will forgive me quick, and Artemis will make me beg for it.

That’s okay . I’d get on my knees for her any time.

He seems to know that I’m off my game, because my lack of an answer has him smiling wider. “Come on.”

I wet my lips. “What about Artemis?”

“She’s supportive of our… endeavors.” He winks. “She just wants a play-by-play later.”

Oh, fuck.

“Daniel, Jace, and Wolfe left, so it’s just us,” he adds.

He strides by me and climbs the stairs. I stare after him for another moment, then come to my damn senses. I take the steps two at a time to catch up with him—or rather, linger a few steps below to admire his ass—and follow him into Tem’s apartment.

It’s empty. He yanks his shirt off and tosses it over his shoulder.

It hits me in the chest, and I automatically catch it.

My gaze is drawn to his naked, muscled back.

Tattoos cover it, disappearing into the waistband of his jeans.

The placements are impeccable, each one moving with the lines of his body.

I drop his shirt and lose mine, too. I kick off my shoes, tug off socks, and unbutton my pants, my dick already hardening in anticipation.

He’s just in jeans, too, by the time we reach the bathroom. He goes in and starts the water, and he’s barely turned around when I pounce.

I kiss him hard, pressing my body to his.

My skin wakes up at the contact, my dick straining against my jeans.

He shifts, widening his stance, and grasps at my waist. He kisses back just as fierce, his teeth snagging my lower lip and biting down.

I groan at the bloom of pain and the way the sensation goes straight to my groin.

He’s hard, too. His hips move, shifting against me, and I feel it pressing on my thigh.

His hand sweeps up from my waist, over my nipple, and comes to a rest over my heart. Where his tattoo is.

He drags his lips from mine and looks down at it, blinking. “You didn’t tell me about this. When my mind was all fucked up.”

“No,” I agree.

He meets my gaze. “Why?”

Why, indeed?

“Because I didn’t want that to influence you.” I catch his chin in my hand so he can’t turn away. “I didn’t realize, when you first came into Hawthorne’s office, that you had forgotten. But I had been looking for you…”

Because Ouranos wanted you dead .

Still does, probably. I would say I’ve effectively cut ties with the man after last night. There’s no going back.

“I caught a glimpse of you walking down the hall and thought I was seeing things,” I confess.

Saint leans in until our lips are almost touching. He keeps his eyes on mine, and I revel in his newfound confidence. Like restoring the two years’ worth of memories has given him back his shine.

I can recall the way he blushed on the beach beside that house in North Falls, his gaze dropping to my cock and then quickly away. Or the way he fought—let’s not forget that. We were strangers back then, but he moved with savage beauty.

“Well, thanks for not manipulating me too much,” he says.

I huff a laugh, then quickly fall silent when he grabs my dick through my jeans. He squeezes and tugs lightly, smirking at me. My reaction.

“These should come off,” he says.

He finishes dragging my zipper down and pulling both the denim and briefs down my hips, thighs. He crouches, guiding my feet out, then looks up at me.

“Hmm.” He leans in and opens his mouth.

Oh, fuck.

He slides the tip of my cock past his lips, and warm wetness envelops my length. His tongue flicks at my piercings, then dips deeper. I lean forward and brace myself on the wall behind him as he tastes me.

It’s clear he’s never done this before, but he doesn’t seem to have any problem exploring.

Or experimenting.

He sucks, his cheeks hollowing. His hand comes up, and he grasps me. He twists his hand, the pressure tight and a perfect combination. I imagine this is how he likes it. A blending of sensations.

When he lifts my balls in his other hand, I let out a hiss. Everything is so damn sensitive, and I can’t ruin it by jacking my hips forward. It’s what I want to do—I want to grab on to his hair and shove him down, to take control and show him how I can fuck a face.

His face.