Absolution (The Protectors 1)

Like with Jonas, I’d meant the kiss to be brief and comforting but I knew Mace needed more when he automatically opened for me. I let my tongue brush his before I gently explored every surface of his mouth. I knew he was vulnerable so I didn’t deepen the kiss any further and when I pulled back, I waited to see if he would lash out at me. But he didn’t. Instead, he wrapped his arms around me and drew me close and then buried his face against my neck. I held him as tight as I could until I felt a hand settle on my back.

Jonas.

Guilt went through me that Jonas had witnessed the kiss but I couldn’t make myself regret it. Nor did I regret kissing Jonas. I didn’t know what to make of that, but I didn’t have to think on it for too long because the second Mace relinquished his hold on me, Jonas reached up to stroke his hand over Mace’s face before pulling him down for a kiss. It was nothing like the passionate one I’d witnessed between them the night before in the gallery, but it was just as intense.

“Let’s go lay down for a bit, okay?” Jonas said to Mace even as his hand closed around mine. Mace managed a nod as he wiped at his face. As I followed Jonas and Mace up the stairs, I knew I was crossing a line I wouldn’t be able to come back from. Not only had I taken the leap into the deep end in terms of exploring my sexuality this morning when I’d kissed Jonas for the first time, I was building a connection with not one but two men and I had no idea what that meant for any of us. I knew what was about to happen between us wasn’t about sex since Mace was way too vulnerable for that but that almost made it worse because what we were seeking in each other wasn’t about pleasure – it was about so much more.

We ended up in the master bedroom which had a king sized bed. None of us removed any clothes other than our shoes and Jonas urged Mace to get under the covers before crawling in next to him. I went around to the other side of the bed and climbed in. Mace and Jonas were both lying on their sides facing each other and Mace had one arm under Jonas’s head and the other wrapped around his waist. But as soon as I pressed up against Mace’s back with my front, his hand sought out mine and then he was pulling my arm around his chest. I linked my fingers with his and pressed our connected hands against his sternum and rested my head on his shoulder. I felt Jonas’s hand settle on the arm I had wrapped around Mace and I smiled because with the one move, Jonas had made sure we were all connected.

Just like we were supposed to be.

Chapter Seventeen

Mace

The first thing I noticed before I even opened my eyes was the smell of cinnamon. The second thing was the warm body pressed up against me. Only problem was that there was just one and I really didn’t like how empty and cold one side of my body felt. I wanted last night back. I wanted to be surrounded in heat and soothing touches.

“Your coffee will get cold if you don’t wake up,” I heard Jonas say softly against my shoulder where his head was resting.

“Don’t want to,” I responded.

“Why not?”

“I don’t want this to be a dream.”

I felt Jonas shift and I was sure I’d lost him but then I felt his mouth brush mine. “Only way to find out is to open your eyes.”

I did just that and was rewarded with Jonas’s silver eyes watching me. “Morning,” he whispered before he kissed me again. I let him control the kiss but I couldn’t keep from wrapping my arm around his back as his tongue slid over mine. I was painfully hard when he finally released me and lowered himself back down to my shoulder.

“Where’s Cole?” I asked.

“Gone,” Jonas said. My heart constricted painfully in my chest at that. “He left a note that he needed to check on some things and that he’d be back tonight.”

Anger and fear went through me at the same time.

“He’ll be okay,” Jonas said quietly but his statement sounded more like a question. I shifted so that Jonas was flat on his back and I was hovering above him.

“He’s strong, Jonas. Smart. He knows how to take care of himself,” I said even though the words didn’t ease my own fears for Cole’s safety.

The feel of Jonas beneath me turned the pleasant warmth inside me into a full on inferno of need and I leaned down to kiss him. I kept the kiss light because I didn’t know where I stood with him. What if last night had only been about comforting me? What if daylight meant we had to go back to him hating me?