At least I want to.
Maybe I’m just a lost girl, clinging to anything that offers me answers... but maybe, just maybe, it’s more than wanting them to wrap their arms around me. Maybe it’s more than wanting to press my skin against their skin, safe in their arms.
Because why would I feel this way about people I don’t know? Unless.
Unless their story is true.
Unless there is a reason, a purpose.
A point.
“Did you hear about that storm in Alaska a few weeks ago?” Arrow asks. “The fires in California? The tsunami in Thailand? The hail the size of golf balls in Brazil? The world has gone to shit. And... Gaia is dying. And when she’s gone... what will be left?”
I press my fingertips to my forehead, feeling seriously over- whelmed for the first time all night. Which is saying something.
“It doesn’t matter, then. Does it? The world as we know it is ending, is that what you’re saying?”
I close my eyes; the pulse of everything around me feels off. What is real and what isn’t? I just want to go to the rehearsal space, to move my body and shake out all of this emotion I don’t quite understand.
“Yes. And we are sent here to watch over you, to make sure you are safe,” North answers.
“And what if I say no? What I resist your protection?”
“Is that what you want?” Arrow asks. “Do you want to deny what we told you?”
I press my hands to my heart, wanting to center myself, to find some clarity in the middle of a conversation that is making me buzz with confusion.
“How do you even know this Gaia lady?”
The guys look at one another, and the mood in the room shifts. I know they aren’t telling me everything.
“When we were little, she looked after us. Like a guardian angel.”
“I’m sorry if it’s more than you want to know,” Sawyer says softly. “You asked and we answered.”
“No, you’re right. I did ask.” I sigh, leaning into the thoughts running through my mind. “I just want to bury my head in the sand and ignore this information. It’s too much. I feel like my head’s going to explode. Do you understand that?”
Sawyer smiles. “You don’t have to understand everything or have answers for anything or even make any decisions right now. Hell, Gaia might show up tomorrow and tell us that we’re off the job. That by talking to you about all of this, we fucked it up.”
My eyes widen. “No, you can’t go if she comes for you.” North smirks. “Not sure we’d have a choice, Lark.” “No, listen,” I say. “If Gaia asks you to leave, you can’t.”
Vaughn coughs, making the first sound I’ve heard from him all night. “Why not, Lark?”
I look at him, his big blue eyes worried and his strength and size fill me with the peace I need. His question is simple, and I realize the answer is simple too.
“Because I would miss you.”
Vaughn nods as if knowing that would be my answer, and he strides across the living room, pulling me to stand and drawing me to him. All of it happens in what feels like a couple of seconds flat. It surprises me, his surety, his decision. It makes me want him so damn badly.
“Good,” he says. “Because I would miss you too.” And then, Vaughn kisses me.
11
Vaughn
It’s strange when you get the thing you’ve wanted.
And even stranger when the thing ends up being
even better than you could have possibly imagined.
I sat there, the whole time everyone was discussing Mother Earth and the end of the world as we know it and I couldn’t pay attention. I was focused on Lark’s lips. On how pink they were, how full they looked.
Damn, they are sweeter than I thought.
She sinks her body against mine and my big hand holds her cheek, pulling her closer to me still.
I don’t care who watches, who sees. I just care about the woman in my arms.
I fell for her the first moment I glimpsed her, and since that moment I’ve wished for the kind of courage that would let me take what I wanted.
When she spoke, though, when she looked at us, I could see she wanted what I wanted. We need the same thing.
There are too many damn unknowns swirling around us, so why not take hold of one thing that is true and pure and real and right in front of us?
I couldn’t wait.
And Lark couldn’t either.
Our mouths open, her tongue finds mine and my cock strains against my jeans, wanting more, wanting everything. Praying Lark wants it too. Feeling her fingers reach up into my hair, threading through the strands, pulling at me to take more; everything.
“Oh, Vaughn,” she murmurs between kisses. “Don’t stop,” she asks, and I run my hands over her back, her slender body and I lift her up. Her legs wrap around my waist and for a moment, it’s as if we’re floating, she and I, suspended in a kiss, held up by desire.