“Shit,” I mutter, turning quickly. I start to run down the hall toward his room, but I don’t get very far. His strong arm circles my waist and I’m pulled back against his warm, hard chest. Squeaking when I’m captured, I feel him kiss my neck then nibble below my ear. It turns that tingle I felt between my legs earlier into an ache.
“Don’t change on my account.” His words whisper across my ear, making me shiver, while his fingers slide along my stomach where my tank has risen up. My muscles tense in preparation, and my eyes slide closed as his fingers sneak into my panties and touch my bare skin. Moving my arms up over my head, I hold on to his neck as his free hand moves to cup my breast.
“Oh,” I whimper when he flicks my clit. My knees start to give out from under me then the doorbell rings, causing every inch of me to go solid as I freeze.
“Fuck me,” he mutters, pulling his fingers from my panties and turning me in his arms. Cupping my jaw, his eyes search my face for a second before he grumbles “Fuck” again and shakes his head. “You may want to get something on. I can only think of two people who’d show up here this time of the morning.”
“Who?” I ask, trying to shake the arousal that’s still coursing hot and heavy through my system.
“Willow and Harmony.”
“Right, I’ll jus—” The doorbell goes off again, and I fight back the laugh I feel building up inside me from the frustrated look on his face. “I’ll go get dressed,” I say, getting up on my tiptoes and pressing a quick kiss to his cheek.
Hearing him groan, I look at him and watch his hungry eyes drag across my skin as he adjusts his hard-on in his shorts. My pussy clenches, and I debate going back and attacking him. “Go,” he growls, making my stomach clench.
Nodding, I hurry to his room and right to the bathroom, where I strip out of my clothes, turn the shower to cold, and hop in. The freezing water does almost nothing to cool my overheated libido, but I do feel like I can breathe a little easier. After washing up quickly, I get out and dry off then put on the jeans I had on yesterday, one of my simple black tanks, and my sweater back over it.
I try to get ready quickly, since I don’t want Sage to think I’m being rude, but it still must have been longer than I thought, because when I walk into the kitchen while tying up my hair, the smell of bacon is in the air. There are pancakes on the griddle on the counter, along with two beautiful girls sitting on the stools in front of Sage, who is cooking shirtless. I know Willow and Harmony well. We’ve hung out a lot. We have the same friends—or I should say I’m friends with their cousins—but I’ve never been around them since Sage and I… well, whatever we are right now. Feeling uneasy all of a sudden, I pause just outside the kitchen, not sure what to do with myself. Do I pretend like nothing is going on, or do I—
“Kim!” The shout of my name and two women running toward me cuts off my wayward thoughts, and before I can prepare myself, I’m engulfed in a tight hug that cleans all of my worries away.
“Hey, guys,” I get out, and then they both attack me with question after question in rapid succession.
“Are you okay? How are you feeling? Do you need anything? We wanted to come see you, but Sage wouldn’t let us.” That last statement makes me shake my head.
“What?” I ask, and both Willow and Harmony pull back to look at me before looking at their glaring brother.
“He told us we weren’t allowed to bother you.”
“I did not say bother her. I said you guys needed to give her some space. Jesus, there’s too many people in our family. If everyone started showing up, she would have been overwhelmed, and you know her family was here.”
“You just wanted her to yourself.” Willow rolls her eyes.
Sage shrugs. “Sue me.”
“Whatever,” Harmony grumbles, taking my arm and pulling me toward one of the barstools. “The point is we don’t want you to think we don’t care, because we do.”
“I know that,” I assure her, and I do know they care. After Kelly’s death, I must have gotten a million texts and a dozen bouquets of flowers delivered to Sage’s house from his family, my friends. It was all really sweet, and I tried to reply to everyone, but sometimes I just couldn’t.
“How’s Sage treating you? Is he being nice? Mom said to make sure he’s being nice, ’cause if he’s not, she promised to cut off his balls,” Willow states, and I flinch.