Wicked and True (Wicked & Devoted 4)

Tessa couldn’t deny she was exhausted, but she doubted she’d sleep. Still, if Zy shutting his eyes would mean the difference between saving Hallie and not, she didn’t want to regret that she hadn’t let him rest. “All right.”

“Come with me.” He stood and held out his hand.

She frowned at it. “I don’t think we should sleep together.”

He grabbed her arm, hauling her to her feet. “I mean literally sleep, baby. Nothing else. You’re distraught, and I’m exhausted.”

“All right. I’ll try.” She grabbed her phone from the table and let him whisk her away.

He led her to a bedroom at the end of the hall, beside another closed door. Inside stood three walls of hard-core computer equipment—and one small futon.

“You can have the bed. I’ll crash on the sofa.” She backed out of the room.

“It’s like a rock, and it’s getting cold enough that Trees will let his guard dog into the house. He’ll sleep on that sucker.”

And, by process of elimination, there was nowhere else to lay her head. Tessa pressed her lips together. If this was the bed Trees had available, complaining wouldn’t change it. At least Zy had somewhere to rest.

“Fine.”

He didn’t speak again, just started dropping his clothes without an ounce of self-consciousness. When his shirt came off, exposing every ripped, inked, golden inch of his torso, she bit her lip. And when she remembered just how good he always made her feel, an involuntary rush of heat flooded her.

Tessa chastised herself. Yes, he was hot and damn good in bed. No denying that. But they were over. She blamed herself more than him, but they’d both made mistakes. She’d kept secrets. He’d kept secrets. Wishing otherwise changed nothing. All that mattered now was that she had help in rescuing her baby. If there was anything left to salvage between her and Zy, it would have to wait until her daughter came back home…one way or the other.

“I’m going to change into my pajamas. Be right back.”

“Sure. Whatever makes you comfortable.”

She nodded, then wordlessly slipped into the bathroom down the hall and changed.

Back in the bedroom, Zy had flattened the futon and thrown a couple of big quilts over it. He lifted the corner to invite her in. Tessa dashed under the covers, hating to admit that she probably would have done nothing but shiver miserably on the sofa. Zy had no obligation to her, but he was graciously keeping her warm. She didn’t expect to sleep, but at least she wouldn’t have to add being half-frozen to her list of problems.

She settled onto the surprisingly comfortable mattress. Since he’d only found one king-size pillow for them to share, Tessa backed against him until her head found memory foam. Zy spooned her as if it was the most natural thing in the world. She stiffened, trying not to notice how instantly he warmed her or how perfectly they fit together.

He tightened his arm around her. “Baby, we can do this easy or hard. I know you have a lot on your mind. But as soon as we rescue Hallie, we’re going to hash everything out. That’s a promise. I’m not letting this go.”

Of course he wasn’t. She’d done something truly terrible in his eyes. And he hadn’t hesitated to punish her with sex. Granted, amazing sex. Blow-the-top-of-her-head-off sex. But ultimately, he’d used his body as a weapon. And his aim had been perfect. She was almost afraid to ask what else he had in mind, but she’d deal with that later.

“Just stop talking and go to sleep.”

“As soon as you drift off.” Zy drew her closer against him—for warmth?—and relaxed.

It seemed impossible not to do the same. Despite everything these past few hours, she felt warm, safe, even cared for. Her body started to let go of its starch, and it was so hard not to feel how sleep deprived she was. Her lids got heavy. Her thoughts trailed off.

Next thing she knew, she was opening her eyes to sunshine seeping in between the shutters and Zy behind her, every bit of his body hard as steel, especially the ridge of his cock poking her ass. Morning wood…or actual desire? Not that it mattered. He could clearly want her, even if he hated her.

He lifted the arm he’d thrown around her waist, his hand having drifted breath-stealingly close to her inner thigh. “Sorry.”

As he pulled away and slipped from the bed, Tessa wanted to breathe a sigh of relief that they had some space between them, but her wayward body wouldn’t cooperate. She still wanted him with an undeniable ache. She probably always would. “What time is it?”

“A little after seven. I set an internal alarm for two hours.”

He could do that? “What are we doing first?”

“Let’s go find Cash.”

“I don’t actually know where he is. He went to rehab, and I haven’t heard from him since. He should be out by now but…”