Sometime during it, I collapsed back into the wall. And I was still panting for breath when Jay moved away, stood up, shot me a devilish smirk as he wiped his thumb across his lower lip, then reached behind him to open the door, and disappeared on the other side. “Oh, God,” I whimpered, yanking the front of my dress closed. “Oh, God. Oh, God. Oh, God,” I mumbled as I tried to yank up my panties while still holding my front closed. I’d done a lot of… questionable things in my life. But that? That was the fucking biggest mistake I’d ever made. I waited what felt like an hour before I emerged from the closet, then, checking for A, made a mad dash upstairs, grabbing my bag, then making my way back down, and rushing down the driveway. Thankfully, the guards were likely getting themselves plates as well, so I could let myself out, and make my way down the road as I waited for my ride to scoop me up. I had to go back. Eventually. But I had to put myself back together again. And wha

The horror is in the back corner,” Luna said, pointing. “ Really? Wouldn’t Aunt Peyton put that shit right up front?” I asked. “She did. And the accidental side effect was a bunch of young people picked them up innocently and became scarred for life,” Luna said, shaking her head at our crazy, tattooed, pierced, larger-than-life aunt’s antics. “So I moved it back behind the romance which is somehow equally as disturbing to some of our patrons,” she said with a barely controlled eye roll. “It’s probably all the monster fucking,” I teased, getting a smile out of her. “I’ll go see if anything sounds interesting,” I said, moving to walk away, only to have her stop me. Articles you may like Mohenjo-daro: Unveiling the Mysteries of “Naomi?” “Yeah?” I asked, half turning back. “Why are you wearing that dress?” she asked. She’d caught me too off-guard. There was no stopping the way my eyes widened at those words. No way to come up with a smooth lie fast enough. “It’s a work thing,”

That’s great—oh,” she said as her gaze landed on the cover. Because this was Luna. I guarantee she’d read every single one of the romance books they had on the shelves of the library. Along with a bunch of the historical, contemporary literature, and even a healthy amount of the young adult stuff too. “Don’t spoil it,” A said, smirking, as she took the book. “We want to see where it goes,” he added, and I watch Luna shoot me a confused look from under her lashes. Luna was not, by nature, a big gossip. But there was no way she was going to keep this little bit of information to herself. I was sure our cousin Gracie would know it before she even left work. From there, Gracie would spread it around until it made its way back to Violet who would likely pile on a bit because she would think it was funny. Then, inevitably, it would trickle back to the aunts. Then the uncles. My parents would be calling. It was going to be a whole headache. “Do you have a library card?” Luna asked.

I was annoyed for myself. But at the thought of Hope getting caught up in my shit? Yeah, that was something else entirely. Something a fuckuva lot more heated. She had Val. If nothing else, if no one else would protect her, Val would. That dog was borderline obsessed with her. And I knew him to be protective. So there was that. And, of course, her own skills. I wasn’t an idiot. All those bikers, they had their little girls in self-defense classes since they were toddling. Not that basic-ass women’s self-defense shit, either. No. They got them trained in all the different styles of military fighting. She could handle herself. So long as someone didn’t sneak up on her and just shoot. “Fuck,” I growled, knuckles going white as I held the wheel. By the time my house was in sight, my jaw was aching it was clenched so tight, and I swear I could feel the blood pulsing through every vein in my fucking body. The guys at the gate barely had time to open it before I was flying throu

Need, raw and aching, bloomed through me as his lips slanted over mine again and again. Hard. Possessive. Crushing into mine. Something in me was craving that lack of control. It matched how I had been feeling since I’d stepped foot in his house. Jay’s pelvis pressed into me, making it clear his desire matched my own even as his teeth nipped my lower lip hard enough for me to gasp. He took the opportunity to slip his tongue inside, toying with mine, fanning those flames of the desire that threatened to burn me up entirely. His hands were sliding down my arms then, slipping down my sides, over my ribs, then slipping under my shirt, teasing over the skin of my belly before closing over my breasts. My lips ripped from his as my head fell back on a soft moan when his forefingers and thumbs found my nipples and started to do little rolls. My own hands moved out again, slipping under his shirt, fingers tracing up the muscles of his stomach, feeling them tense under my touch. My fing