I chuckled. “What a shame.”

She dragged her finger over my chest. “Did you go somewhere when I fell asleep earlier? I thought I felt you leave the bed.”

Surprise shuttled through me. I had left briefly so I could feed. “I met with Basil for a few moments.” Which wasn’t entirely a lie. I had met with him on my way back. Josie hadn’t asked about the whole feeding thing, and I was hoping she wouldn’t—at least for the time being while I figured out how to explain that I still needed to feed. “I’m surprised you even noticed me gone. You were snoring so loudly—”

“I was not snoring!” She slapped my chest. “That’s insulting.”

“It’s nothing to be ashamed of,” I teased.

She shot me a dirty look. “You’re a jackass.”

“You love me.”

“You’re lucky that I do.”

My damn heart clenched in response. Fuck. I couldn’t help it. I was lucky. Hearing her say that did things to me I couldn’t even begin to describe.

Reaching over, I tugged on the thin straps of the tank top she was wearing. I knew that, under the blankets, she wasn’t wearing any pants, and I struggled not to focus on that little fact. I was behaving myself. Toying with the strap, I thought about what Aiden had told me upon bringing him and Alex back. A community in East Texas had reported a larger than normal number of pures going missing. Hopefully that was our lead and Hyperion would be found nearby. I’d close out the week by turning that fucking bag of dicks into nothing but a smear on the ground. Maybe, if I killed Hyperion, then Josie wouldn’t be so haunted, so terrorized.

“You look like you’re about to break your brain,” Josie said.

I raised a brow, but the smartass response died on the tip of my tongue. “I want to help you.”

Her gaze flicked to mine as she placed her palm on my shoulder. “You are.”

“Really? I’m not so sure about that. You have nightmares every night, sometimes twice a night. You’re still exhausted all the time and you’ve been sick.” I drew in a shallow breath. “I just want to help you. Tell me how I can.”

Josie didn’t respond for a long moment, and I knew she was trying to think of a way to change the subject. Talking about her time being held captive wasn’t something she wanted to do. Couldn’t really blame her for that, but I also knew just how badly unspoken words and unwanted memories could fester.

“Distract me,” she whispered finally, running her hand up my chest and around to the nape of my neck. Her fingers slid through my hair and then over to my cheek. “Kiss me.”

I didn’t hesitate.

There was no way I could deny her.

Ever.

~

Josie

Seth lowered his head, his eyes lit from within by an amber fire. The moment his lips brushed mine, I wasn’t thinking about the way the packed, cold dirt floor felt against my skin.

The kiss started off sweet, a little bit of pressure that left me aching for so much more than just a sweep of his lips on mine. When he started to lift his head, I caught him around the nape of the neck and held him there.

“More,” I whispered in the space between us.

His chest rose sharply. “Are you sure?”

I started to frown. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

Seth’s eyes searched mine. “You’ve been through a lot. I’m trying not to rush you into anything—”

Lifting my mouth to his, I cut his words off. He was startled for a second and held still. I wasn’t exactly great at initiating the whole kissing thing, but I touched the tip of my tongue to the seam of his lips and he opened immediately for me. I deepened the kiss, hoping to show him that what I needed right now was for him—for us—to be like the way we were before he left, before Hyperion reappeared. Since we’ve been reunited, all we’d done was kiss. Nothing more. He’d just recently started holding me in bed instead of making sure there was space between us. And I needed more.

Seth’s hand tightened on my shoulder, and I felt the tremble rock his body. I almost held my breath, fearing that he would pull away, but he didn’t. He made this sound that came from the back of his throat, a sound that was animalistic and purely sexual as he finally, really kissed me. His hand slid down my arm and found its way to my stomach. “Okay,” he murmured. “Distraction is something I excel at.”

“I think there are a lot of things you excel at.” Thrilled that I wasn’t going to have to beg, my bones liquefied as his hand coasted up over my ribcage.

His tongue flicked over mine, and he drew out the kiss until I was practically panting for breath, and only then did he lift his mouth from mine. He chuckled when my fingers tugged on his hair. “Like what? Don’t be shy. I love it when you list all the amazing things about me.”

His hand slipped over my breast, and I gasped. His nimble fingers made their way under the hem of my top and found the aching peak. “You’re . . . you’re really good at that.”

“But do I excel at it?” he asked, catching the nipple between his fingers and tugging gently.

Back arching, I moaned as I slipped my hand down to his shoulder. “Yeah. Yes.”

He dragged the neckline of my top down, exposing the area of his current fixation. “And how about this?”

Before I could respond, he closed his mouth around where his two fingers had been and sucked deep, hard. A strangled cry ripped from me as heaviness filled my breasts and tiny coils formed low in my stomach. Pleasure darted through my veins.

Seth lifted his head and moved to the other breast. His warm breath danced over my skin. “Do I excel?”

“I . . . I think you know the answer to that.”

His tongue flicked over my nipple. “I think I need to hear you say that.”

My fingers dug into his skin. “You do.”

He rewarded my answer with another swipe of his tongue and a quick nip that melted my insides. He rose, his tongue dragging across my mouth as his hand drifted down my stomach and the tips of his fingers slipped under the band of my undies. He stopped as his mouth played over mine, and for a moment, I worried that he wouldn’t go any further than kissing and heavy petting. But then his hand moved and one long finger was slipping over the very center of me.

“Oh God,” I whispered against his mouth.

“Yes?”

I laughed softly.

“I can already tell this is something you believe I excel at,” he said, voice deep and rough.

Running my hand down his muscled arm, I curled my fingers over his forearm. “I do. I really, really do.”

“Then I suppose I should prove my talents.”

Seth did just that, sinking one finger deep inside me. My hips bucked as raw sensation poured into me. His thumb circled and pressed down on the bundle of nerves as he eased another finger inside. His finger moved slowly at first and then he did something with that finger, hooking it in a way that caused me to lose control. No, that was a lie. I never really had control when it came to Seth and to this. I held onto his arm as I ground against his hand and clutched at the strands of his hair with my other hand. His kiss swallowed my cry of release.

My body collapsed back against the bed. For a moment I just lay there, letting the sweet aftershocks ripple through my body. He slipped his hand from between my thighs, and with half-open eyes, I watched him lift his finger to his mouth.

Holy crap.

Everything about me clenched. I reached for him, grabbing at the loose pants he wore. He came only so far, stopping as he hovered above me. “You’re not done distracting me,” I told him.

“Mmm?” He gripped my hip. “That was all about you.”

I tugged on him, wanting his body flush to mine, but he didn’t budge. “I want this to be about us now.”

He kissed me and then made that rough, raw sound again. “What I just did was about us,” he said.

I could feel his arousal against my hip, so I knew he wanted this—wanted me, but he was, like I had suspected, holding back. “Seth, I . . . I want you.”

His eyes drifted shut. “I will never get tired of hearing that.”