“Does this feel weird to you?” I whispered into the dark.
Everyone had found somewhere to sleep a while ago. Nate was in his room, hopefully not with Chloe. Although after the way she’d cuddled up beside him during the scary movie, I wouldn’t be surprised. Zane and Kye had crashed on the sectional in the games room, and I had no idea where Miles and Celeste had disappeared to.
“You’re supposed to be sleeping,” Nix said, his voice gravelly as if I’d woken him.
“My mind is too busy.”
He shifted onto his side, toying with the ends of my hair. “Want to talk about it?”
“I thought we agreed no talking tonight?”
“Technically it’s a new day.” I heard the smirk in his voice.
“Technically, I said I didn’t want to talk about it yet.”
“B?” He pressed a finger against my mouth.
“Yeah?” I breathed, my heart beating furiously in my chest.
“Stop talking.”
“Okay.” Rolling away from him, I shrieked when he banded his arm around my waist and rolled me underneath him.
“Hi,” he said, his eyes twinkling in the dark.
“Hi.” I felt giddy. Drunk on him. On lying here with him in the shadows.
Leaning down, he ghosted his mouth over mine, a whisper of a kiss.
“Tease,” I said, a little breathless.
“You’re right, we should get some sleep.” He started to roll away from me. “It’s late and I—”
I grabbed his arm and pulled him down on top of me, wrapping my legs around his waist.
“B…” he warned, his voice cracked with lust.
“I want you, Nix. More than anything.”
I’d spent the last nine months uncertain of everything. The people around me. The staff at Albany Hills. My own thoughts and emotions. I’d almost forgotten what it felt like to believe in something real. To want something so much you felt like you wouldn’t survive without it.
“Not like this, not in Miller’s fucking guest room.”
“Please…” I lifted my hips, rubbing the growing bulge in his boxer briefs.
“Who’s the tease now?” He gently nipped my bottom lip, grazing it with his teeth, sending a violent shiver down my spine.
“This feels right,” I admitted, pressing my hand to his heart. “Me. You. Together in the dark.”
His eyes narrowed, a conflicted expression there. “You deserve to live in the light, B.”
“Maybe, one day. Now make love to me, Phoenix Wilder. Make me yours.”
“Fuck,” he breathed, sliding one of his hands down my waist and clamping it around my hip. “You deserve better, B. So much fucking better.”
I laid my palm against his cheek, and said, “It’s not about what I deserve, it’s about what I want. What I need, Nix. And it’s you. It’s always been you.”
Nix kissed me, sliding his hand in my hair and angling my face right where he wanted me. I loved the weight of his body on mine, the way our legs tangled, how hard he felt at my stomach. A thrill went through me as I glided my hands over his shoulders and down his back, feeling his muscles ripple and contract beneath my touch.