Page 47 of Unmask (Crew of Elmwood Public #2)

I startled, my body jerking as if I’d been caught doing something criminal. Which, technically, I was about to be doing. “No, this is fine. Just…” I forced what I hoped was a believable smile, but it felt like stretching plastic wrap across my face. “When will Kreed be back?”

“Late. Could be hours yet, depending on what they find.” Mason’s expression softened slightly, genuine concern creeping in around the edges of his suspicion. “Maybe you should try and get some sleep. Come here.” He opened his arm, his fingers indicating for me to move.

I chewed on the corner of my mouth, my lips tasting like buttery salt.

“Just sleep.” He gave me a lopsided grin. “I promise not to cop a feel…unless you want me to.”

I rolled my eyes, contemplating if resting in his arms was a very bad idea, but I always slept better in Kreed’s. Mason wasn’t Kreed, but he was as close as I would get. “You swear to keep your sneaky hands off me.”

He lifted both hands in the air. “You have my word.”

I double-checked to make sure he hadn’t crossed any of his fingers, because that was just the shit Mason would pull.

Grabbing the throw blanket, I scooted into his arms, my head resting on the space below his shoulder, and curled into him.

His arms came to rest around me, and he felt warm and safe.

Different from Kreed, but it did the trick.

I closed my eyes, trying to clear my head of thoughts, but a dose of guilt hit me, and it had nothing to do with using Mason as a human pillow.

Tomorrow’s deadline loomed like a thundercloud on the horizon. I had a mission. A terrible, dangerous, probably suicidal mission that would either save my best friend’s life or end mine.

And for better or worse, I was going alone.

Sunlight filtered softly through the curtains, warm and golden as it washed across my skin.

I blinked slowly, muscles still heavy with sleep, my eyelids fluttering against the brightness.

The familiar ache in my lower back told me I’d been lying in one position too long, but as awareness crept in, I realized I wasn’t where I’d fallen asleep in Mason’s arms.

I was in my bed, but I wasn’t alone.

How did I get here was my first thought. My second…

Fuck.

I didn’t… I wouldn’t have…

No way I slept with Mason. Like I hadn’t been that tired. Had I?

Lifting my gaze, a rush of air expelled from my lungs at the sight of Kreed’s gorgeous face.

His arm was slung across my waist like he was still protecting me even in sleep.

His face was half buried in the crook of my neck, stubble scratching against my collarbone with each slow, deep breath.

Heat radiated from his body, seeping through the thin fabric of my shirt until the steady thrum of his pulse beat against my shoulder blade.

Oh, thank God.

But unfortunately, the relief at knowing I hadn’t gone to bed with his brother didn’t last long as the message from last night slammed into the forefront of my mind.

Today was the last time I’d wake up beside Kreed like this.

Tonight, I was leaving him behind.

Tonight, I’d be gone.

Tonight, I’d betray his trust.

And he didn’t have a clue.

Oh, how the fucking tables have turned.

I stayed perfectly still for a moment, afraid that even the slightest movement would shatter this fragile bubble of peace.

My ribs rose and fell in careful rhythm, matching his breathing as I memorized the weight of his arm and the scratch of his stubble against my skin.

The way he seemed to instinctively pull me closer even as he slept, his fingers twitching slightly against my hip bone.

One lock of dark hair had fallen across his forehead, and I fought the urge to brush it back.

I shouldn’t wake him, not with what awaited him, but I couldn’t stop myself from turning my head just enough to study his face.

He looked…peaceful. And younger somehow.

The harsh lines around his eyes had softened in sleep, his jaw unclenched for once.

As if the constant tension he wore during the day, the rigid set of his shoulders, the way his hands always seemed ready to reach for a weapon, had finally loosened its grip.

There were no edges on him right now, just soft, steady breaths and a quiet that made my heart ache.

This morning, I wanted something selfish. Something simple. Just a moment with him that didn’t involve fear, or loss, or the world pressing down on both of us until we could barely breathe.

I shifted slightly to face him, the mattress dipping under my weight as I propped myself on one elbow.

My fingers hovered above his cheek, trembling slightly, and without even thinking, I traced the line of his jaw with my fingertip.

The contact was featherlight, but he leaned into it unconsciously.

I brushed against the faint shadow of a bruise near his temple, purple and green at the edges, a reminder of yesterday’s violence.

That warmth in my chest bloomed, unfurling like sun-drenched ivy, curling through my ribs and spreading outward until my whole body hummed with it. I wanted to memorize every version of Kreed. The good and the bad. All of him.

God, he’s beautiful.

And he didn’t deserve any of this.

Screw it. Why didn’t we deserve one day of happiness before I blew up both our lives?

I missed that feeling. The butterflies taking flight in my stomach. The electricity that made my skin feel alive. The part of me that still believed in moments that made all the scars worth it, that whispered maybe, just maybe, some things were worth fighting for.

I leaned in slowly, heart thudding against my ribs so hard I was sure he’d feel it.

My lips hovered just above his for a moment so I could taste his exhale.

I could feel the pull between us, magnetic and heady, every nerve ending in my body suddenly awake and aware of the space between us, the narrowing distance, and the anticipation making my hands shake. The ache had been building for weeks.

I closed the distance. My lips brushed his softly, a question pressing against his mouth. It was barely a kiss, more like a whisper of contact, but he tensed beneath me, and the answer came immediately.

Kreed stirred, a soft sound rumbling in his chest as his lips parted slightly.

His breath caught as I kissed him again, deeper this time.

His hand came up slowly, fingers finding their way into my hair, threading through the tangled strands.

He pulled me closer with gentle insistence, lips pressing more firmly against mine, and I melted into him.

Heat flooded my veins, pooling low in my stomach as his other hand found the small of my back, his fingers splaying wide against my spine. I could taste the salt of sleep on his lips and feel the way his pulse jumped beneath my palm when I pressed it to his throat.

“Good morning,” he murmured against my mouth, voice rough with sleep, making me want to kiss him again. His eyes were still closed, but a smile tugged at the corners of his lips.

“Morning,” I whispered as I kissed the corner of his mouth, then his jaw, then that spot just below his ear that made him shiver.

His arm tightened around my waist, pulling me flush against him until there was no space left between us.

Just skin and warmth and the steady rhythm of two hearts beating in sync.

For a moment, I let myself pretend this was real.

That tomorrow wouldn’t come and I’d still be here, but even as I kissed him deeper, even as his hands mapped the curve of my spine with reverent fingers, I couldn’t shake the cloud hanging between us.

By sunset, this would all be a memory.

By sunset, I’d be the villain in his story.

The thought should have made me pull away, should have made me stop this before it went any further. Instead, I kissed him harder, poured every apology I’d never be able to say into the space between his lips and mine, and tried to memorize the taste of his trust before I shattered it completely.

That familiar rush surged through me, sparks blooming in my belly, spiraling outward, the sensation creeping up my spine, vertebra by vertebra, until every nerve ending hummed with electric awareness.

He kissed me like he needed to feel something real, something that could cut through whatever darkness had been chasing him. Like he didn’t know this was goodbye.

And God, it hurt.

My fingers gripped the fabric of his shirt, the soft cotton bunching between my knuckles as I pressed closer, desperate to steal just a little more of him. The heat of his chest seeped through the thin material, his heartbeat accelerating against my palm.

His mouth moved over mine with a quiet hunger, restrained but deep, each kiss deliberate and consuming.

His teeth grazed my bottom lip, and a soft moan escaped him when I responded by sliding my tongue against his.

My free hand found the nape of his neck, my fingers threading through the short hair there, and he shivered against me.

I melted into him, pouring everything I couldn’t say into the way I kissed him, every apology, every confession, every desperate wish that things could be different.

He shifted above me, one hand bracing against the mattress while the other cradled my face, his thumb stroking along my cheekbone with devastating gentleness. My hands slid under his shirt, feeling the solid muscle beneath my palms, the way his breathing hitched when I traced the ripple of his abs.

He broke the kiss for just a moment, forehead pressed to mine, both of us breathing hard in the small space between us.

His eyes fluttered open, heavy-lidded and dark, causing my stomach to flip and dive.

His pupils were dilated, lips slightly swollen from our kisses, and his fingers were still tangled in my hair as if he didn’t want to let go.

“What was that for?” he asked, voice rough and thick with sleep and need.

I swallowed hard, trying to keep my face neutral, my heart locked behind a glass wall that was already showing hairline cracks. “I wanted to,” I said simply.

His brow arched slowly, those silver eyes studying my face with an exposed intensity. The corner of his mouth twitched. “Why does this feel like a trap?”

The question hit closer to home than I wanted to admit. I forced a smile, just a little one, trying to keep it light. “Will you make me breakfast?”

Kreed rolled onto his back with a groan, one arm flung dramatically across his eyes as he dragged his other hand down his face. The movement pulled his shirt up slightly, revealing a strip of tanned skin that made my mouth go dry. “Not until you tell me what you’ve done with Kaylor?”

“Maybe I just realized life’s too short to hold grudges,” I said, rolling onto my side to face him. The mattress shifted under my weight, and I propped my head on my hand.

“Hmm.” He gazed up at me. “I don’t think I trust anything that comes out of that gorgeous mouth of yours.”

I laughed softly, but there was a quiver in it I couldn’t quite suppress. “Then why’d you kiss me back?”

“Because I’m a sucker for girls who taste like trouble.”

My chest squeezed like someone had wrapped a fist around my heart.

Yeah. Trouble. That’s exactly what I was.

And if things went sideways tonight… He might never kiss me again. I was the one betraying him, but staring at the hottest guy I’d ever seen, I wanted one last day to pretend, to commit every line of his face to memory, every piece of this version of us that would die with the setting sun.

I was so falling in love with him. It was about time I admitted it. At least to myself. I didn’t know if I had the gumption to tell him, but it didn’t seem fair to profess such a thing and then run away. Kreed was the type of guy who would hate that.

Hell, he might hate me come tomorrow morning when he realizes what I’d done.