Page 49 of Unmask (Crew of Elmwood Public #2)

My mouth moved from her lips to trace the line of her jaw, then down to the sensitive spot below her ear that made her breath hitch. She tilted her head back, giving me better access, and her pulse raced beneath my lips.

Fuck. Not another girl wrecked me like she did.

“You’re mine, little raven,” I murmured down the column of her neck, pushing the neckline of her shirt out of my way so I could press my lips there.

The loose material fell off her shoulder, sliding down her arm and exposing the top of her breast, an invitation I couldn’t resist. “Tell me who you belong to. Say the words.” I dragged my mouth lower.

“I belong to myself.”

I shook my head, pushing the fabric out of my way and taking her nipple in my mouth as I swirled my tongue around the pointed bud. “Wrong answer. Try again.”

“Kreed,” she growled, but it ended on a moan when my teeth grazed her nipple. Her nails dug into my scalp, but I enjoyed the sting, enjoyed knowing it was my mouth that got her hot and bothered. I very much loved the fucking combination.

My lips curved as I trailed my fingers up the inside of her thigh, moving higher and higher.

She shivered, but it wasn’t enough. I wanted her aching and whimpering my name.

I dipped down between her legs, pressing my mouth to the inside of her thigh where my fingers had been seconds ago.

My tongue darted over the softest flesh I’d ever had against my lips, her skin a mixture of sweet and salty I craved.

Her head fell back as one hand went to brace herself on the counter, and the other stayed buried in my hair. I hooked a finger into the corner of her black panties, and?—

The front door opened with a soft click, and a familiar voice called, “You two better not be screwing where you eat.”

Every muscle in my body went rigid as reality came crashing back in. Kaylor’s hands stilled in my hair, her breathing ragged against my ear, her heart hammering against my chest, matching the frantic rhythm of my own.

I’m going to kill him.

Kaylor pulled back slightly, eyes wide and lips swollen from our kisses, her cheeks flushed pink with embarrassment and lingering desire. She looked thoroughly debauched, hair mussed and shirt askew, and it took every ounce of self-control I had not to tell my brother to get the hell out.

I straightened, turning my head with a growl. “Maddox, this better be fucking good.”

He stood in the doorway, his eyebrows raised in that particular expression of wanting to kick my ass. “People eat here,” he grumbled, his gaze shifting to Kaylor and lingering. I knew he kind of had a thing for her, but I was starting to wonder just how deep this thing was rooted inside him.

My brothers and I never fought over a girl. There had never been a girl worth our time to fight over.

Until now.

Kaylor tugged on the stretched neckline of her shirt that had fallen so low down her shoulder that I could see the plump mound of her breast. If I could see it, so could Maddox.

My gaze narrowed. “How did you get in?” I demanded, automatically stepping between him and Kaylor, blocking his view even though the damage was already done.

“The door was unlocked,” he said with a casual shrug, his lips twitching.

That stopped me cold. “It shouldn’t have been.

” I never left doors unlocked, never. It was a basic security measure that had been drilled into me since I was old enough to understand the dangers lurking right outside my doorstep.

Hell, sometimes the danger was within the walls of the home meant to keep you safe. “I distinctly remember locking it.”

“That’s a you problem, not a me problem,” he replied with infuriating logic.

“Mad…” I sighed, dragging a hand down my face in frustration. Behind me, Kaylor slid off from the counter, her feet hitting the floor with a soft thud.

“Fine,” he said, waving a dismissive hand toward the hallway like he was doing us some great favor.

“I’ll check the perimeter since you were obviously too distracted to do it yourself, but you can take your lips and hands off her for two minutes and check the rest of the house.

” He turned and disappeared down the hall before I could say anything else.

I faced Kaylor, my eyes devouring her, all tousled, flushed, and embarrassed. She never looked hotter except when she came. That was by far my favorite look. “Well, that was a mood killer,” I muttered.

She let out a soft, breathless laugh, and my dick hardened. “Little bit. Probably for the best.” But even as she said it, her hands came up to rest on my chest again, and I saw in her eyes that she didn’t really mean it. That she was as reluctant as I was to let this moment end.

“I disagree.” I didn’t miss the way her eyes clung to me, drinking in every detail of my face as if she knew something I didn’t. Her gaze lingered on my mouth, then traveled up to meet my eyes with an intensity that made me ache.

I was seconds from grabbing her, shoving her against the counter, when the door opened again with a soft swoosh of displaced air. “I swear to fucking?—”

Mason strolled in first, his crooked grin already plastered on his face like he’d been waiting outside just long enough to make an entrance. He gave an exaggerated once-over of the kitchen, taking in the forgotten breakfast plates and the general state of dishevelment we’d left in our wake.

Raine followed behind, his movements more measured as his dark eyes scanned the evident situation, and the idiot grinned. “Are we interrupting something?”

Kaylor leaned her hip against the granite counter with fluid grace.

Her arms folded across her chest, the movement drawing my attention to the way my shirt hung on her frame, still wrinkled from sleep and our other…

activities. Her head tilted slightly. “All four Corvo boys under one roof with me,” she mused, half to herself.

“Not sure if that’s a treat or a punishment. ”

Mason’s smirk widened, eyes glinting with mischief as he leaned against the door frame, a joker card flipping between his fingers. “Depends on the night.”

Maddox circled back into the kitchen. Without asking permission, he reached over and grabbed a half-eaten strip of bacon off Kaylor’s abandoned plate, biting into it with a satisfying crunch. “It’s a punishment,” he said around the food. “For us.”

Kaylor snorted. “Fair.”

I turned to face Raine fully, squaring my shoulders. “Does Dad know what we’re up to?”

He didn’t blink, but I caught the slight twitching around his eyes. “He knows.”

“Knows what, exactly?” I pressed, the kitchen suddenly smaller with all of us in it.

Raine ran a hand through his perfectly styled hair, the gesture leaving it slightly mussed, a rare crack in his usually immaculate facade.

His sigh was heavy, laced with exhaustion that came from carrying family secrets.

“That we’ve been using Crew resources to chase this down.

The safehouses. The contacts. The intel channels. All of it.”

My jaw clenched. “And he hasn’t put an end to it?”

“We’re on borrowed time,” he said flatly. “He’s letting it play out, for now, but that leash is getting shorter every day.”

Kaylor’s head swiveled between us, her frown deepening with each exchange as the wheels turned in her mind, trying to piece together the politics she’d never fully understood. “Why wouldn’t he want to help? He has the power. The reach. You guys clearly have access to things no one else does.”

“Because helping you,” Maddox cut in as he leaned back against the counter, “doesn’t benefit him. Not unless he can twist it into something that gives him leverage.”

“Like using Kenny’s rescue to pull you back under his thumb,” Mason added, his tone losing all traces of humor. When Mason got serious, it meant the situation was worse than anyone wanted to admit.

I nodded grimly, dread settling in my stomach. “That’s the more likely play. He lets us find her, makes himself look like the hero who allowed his sons to save the day. Suddenly, you owe him everything. He’s got you again, and this time, he won’t let go so easily.”

Kaylor’s face paled except for two spots of color high on her cheekbones. “I’m not going back,” she snapped. “I don’t care what he does. I’d rather burn before I let him use me again.”

“You might not get a choice,” Raine retorted. “Not unless we move faster than he can.”

We were walking a tightrope with no net. One wrong move could send everything we’d worked for crashing down.

I looked at each of them in turn—my brothers, all brilliant in their own broken way, all carrying scars from the same man who’d shaped us into weapons.

We weren’t always on the same page, but right now, we were all aimed at the same target.

“This means no more distractions. We keep our eyes on the objective. No second-guessing. No slipups. If Dad’s circling like a vulture, we’re not just racing the kidnapper, we’re racing him too. ”

Mason gave a lazy shrug. “Good thing we’re smarter.”

“Debatable,” Maddox muttered under his breath, earning himself a frown from his twin.

Kaylor padded against the cold kitchen tiles as she pushed away from the counter, restless energy having her pace. “What happens if he tries to interfere? If he pulls you back in, pulls me back in?”

“Then we don’t give him the chance.” I shifted my weight, planting my feet wider. “We finish this before he makes his move.”

“And if he does make a move…” Raine rolled his shoulders back. “We’ll be ready.”

Kaylor’s pacing stuttered to a halt mid-step. She turned toward me. No words, no accusations, just those light-blue eyes boring into mine, searching for lies I might be hiding.

Trust lived there in the depths of her gaze, fragile and new as morning glass. But raw and familiar fear lived there too, fear that came from knowing the one person you hated most in this world had the power to steal back everything you’d bled and clawed your way free from.