“My best friend is getting knocked around by a psychopath right now, and my entire job is to sit here and stay safe.”
I sit down on the mattress next to her and pull Faith’s head into my lap. “You’re a fucking bookstore owner, not a commando. What do you think you can do that your father and his men can’t?”
Faith closes her eyes and turns into me. “Care about Nicky. But that makes me stupid. I guess. Sorry.”
Alpha growls deep in his throat. “Never fucking apologize for being loyal. I love that you’re brave and crazy enough to want to do anything for your friend, but you aren’t alone. It might piss you off, but in this world? Talk is cheap if you can’t back it up. We’d break the fucking world for you, so you can’t ask us to trade you like a bargaining chip.”
“He’s right,” says Blade with that icy calm of his.
Faith looks up at me, with her father’s steel gray eyes. “I hate feeling helpless. Am I supposed to just sit here and wait to find out if my friend dies? Or Dad?”
“Fuck no. You take that feeling and you squeeze it into a ball and form it into the knife that you’ll eventually bury in Crows fucking face. You’re not alone.”
“It feels it,” she whispers.
“Then we’re not doing our job,” Alpha says, raising an eyebrow.
“You think she’s ready to take on the whole team?” I grin at Alpha and Blade. “We have ways to help you relax.”
“How can you think about sex at a time like this?” Faith sits up just in time to see Alpha hanging his cut on a chair and peeling off his shirt. In spite of her protest, her cheeks turn pink and her eyes follow him closely.
Not to be outdone, I strip mine off as well. Faith licks her lips. “Guys, you don’t have to have sex with me every time I’m not feeling quite stable.”
“Are you worried about all three of us?” Blade puts his hands on his belt. “Don’t. You call the shots with this. If you want me to leave—”
Faith shakes her head. “No, I… I don’t know how to do this, but I’m not going to pick and choose between you.”
I let out a breath of relief. The three of us? We’re a package deal. A part of me has known since I saw how the other guys have it with Emily and Alessa, but nothing ever felt right, not until we found Faith. If she’d only wanted one or two of us? Fuck, I don’t know what would’ve happened.
I strip off my jeans and slide onto the bed next to Faith. She’s so fucking beautiful. It doesn’t seem real that she’d want a bunch of mangled fuck ups like us. She glances shyly down at my cock, which is already up and ready, eager for attention. I put my hands on her waist, right on the hot strip of bare skin between her jeans and her shirt. Not pushing yet, but stroking her in small circles.
“Trust us?” Blade asks.
Faith nods, already squirming a little. Damn I love how responsive she is.
Alpha kicks off his pants at the end of the bed, and Blade strips on the other side. Faith watches them, and I watch her. She runs her fingers down my arm, not flinching or hesitating when she comes to the rough patch of skin covering my amputated wrist. Even in this lifestyle, where the girls seem to like a few scars, not everyone is equally accepting of missing an entire fucking hand.
I joke about it because what else is there to do? It’s not coming back, and it’s been gone long enough that I don’t usually give much of a fuck anymore.
But screwing someone who won’t even look at it? Or who cringes away from that side so they don’t have to feel it? No fucking thanks. Her hand continues down past my arm, her curious fingers finally closing around my cock.
“There’re no guarantees,” says Blade as he slides a hand underneath Faith’s shirt. “This could get completely fucked.”
Alpha spreads Faith’s legs and kneels between them. “So we should make sure we enjoy the time we have. Don’t you think?”
Faith looks back and forth between us. “Let’s do it.”
26
FAITH
As soon asthe words leave my mouth, they’re all over me. And they weren’t exactly being shy before.
I have to let go of Ripper as they pull my shirt over my head, and then lift my hips so Alpha can yank my jeans down. My panties go with them, just as Blade slips a hand under my back to release my bra hooks. He’s obviously done it before, because before I know it, I’m completely naked for them to roam their hungry gazes over. The last thing I reach for are my glasses.
“Leave ‘em on,” Alpha says with a grin as his gaze rakes over my bare form like a predator trying to decide where to start its meal. He puts his big hands on the outsides of my thighs, his strong fingers digging into my flesh. “Curvy. Soft. So perfectly fuckable.”
“She is,” agrees Ripper. He captures one of my breasts, then leans in to kiss it right on my nipple. It crinkles up at his touch, and a tiny zing travels straight to my rapidly warming core. Blade grips my other breast, his touch a lot rougher, squeezing it as he buries his face in my throat, kissing and nibbling his way up to my jawline.