I was happy to let her lead.

I’d already tasted her once, but the kiss had been too fleeting. Now as she pressed her mouth against mine, I took in everything about her. Her taste, the warmth of her breath, the softness of her lips, the slight hitch in her throat as she hung over me. Then she was kissing me harder and I knew what she wanted. I opened for her and she tentatively stroked inside. My body lit up like a wildfire and it was all I could do not to grab her and roll her beneath me. I moved my hand, but not to reach for her.

Cash’s fingers linked with mine as Daisy and I kissed and suddenly everything made sense in my world.

The kiss didn’t last much longer than Daisy and Cash’s, but it was enough to know that all the feelings I’d been trying to deny were very real.

For her.

And for Cash.

I wasn’t in love with Daisy like I was with Cash… not yet, anyway. But it wouldn’t take much. I suspected the only thing holding me back from falling head over heels for her like I had Cash was the self-preservation instinct that’d had me keeping Cash at arm’s length for so long.

Cash kissed me softly and said, “How about some breakfast?”

I was hungry, but I needed something else first. I sat up and linked my fingers with Daisy’s so she wouldn’t flee, but I turned all my attention on Cash. I cupped his cheek with my hand. “I love you so much, Cash. So very much. I should’ve said it sooner—”

He kissed me to silence me. “You did, baby. Maybe not with words, but I heard you just the same. I love you.”

We held there a moment, just staring at each other. Cash broke the silence between us with a quick kiss for both me and Daisy. “Breakfast,” he said, then he was climbing out of bed. He was only wearing a pair of jeans. I couldn’t help but ogle his ass and his broad back as he went to the dresser to find a T-shirt.

I heard Daisy’s breath hitch as the muscles of his back flexed when he put the shirt on.

I stifled a smile and then leaned in to kiss her cheek. “I know, right?”

Her cheeks went bright with color and she let out a little gasp, then gave me a light shove. She was laughing as she hurried from the room. Cash watched her go, then looked at me and gave me a wink before he left the room.

Smug bastard probably did the whole little show on purpose.

And fuck if I wasn’t happy about that.

“You know I didn’t mean to do it, right?” I murmured as Cash examined the wound on my arm. It had only taken two stitches to close it up, but the jagged scar that ran the length of my inner forearm was like a calling card.

Cash and I were lying in bed facing each other. It’d been a really good day, mostly because it had been so uneventful.

After a quick breakfast where the three of us had chatted about nothing at all, Daisy had gone to the den where we’d set her office up and gotten to work. Cash and I had done some much-needed repairs around the house. While Cash had been preparing dinner, I’d run to the grocery store – something Cash hadn’t exactly been happy about, since he was still worried I’d have another setback.

But I’d been feeling much lighter.

The fact that Cash and I had slipped back into our old roles hadn’t hurt.

And better yet, we’d done it around Daisy.

It hadn’t been anything dramatic or extreme. Just Cash making some household decisions like when we’d discussed whether we should replace the furnace in the house or just have the old one repaired. Like with most big decisions, I’d deferred to him and it had felt right, normal even.

I hadn’t been feeling stressed enough that he needed to actually give me any orders, a sure sign that my head was back where it needed to be.

For now.

“I was back in that room and—”

“I know,” Cash said gently as he lowered my arm and began running his finger up and down the scar. “I know you aren’t looking to hurt yourself, Sage. But the fact is that’s almost what happened last night. If I hadn’t looked over at that exact moment…” He shook his head. “I can’t fucking lose you, Sage,” he whispered, his voice breaking.

I closed my eyes because it hurt too much to look at him. I wanted to tell him he wouldn’t, but he was right. I’d been so far gone the night before that I would have cut my arm with no forethought whatsoever. Between the knife, my strength, and the resolve my teenage self had been experiencing, I could have done some real damage.

Tags: Sloane Kennedy The Protectors M-M Romance
Source: readsnovelonline.net