“But I like being bad,” he protested with a grin.
“You’re good at it,” I teased, then cupped his cheek. “While we’re here, just—be less bad. Please.”
With all the drama he was capable of, he clutched at his heart. “You had to say the magic word.”
Behind me, Milo chuckled. “You’re terrible.”
“The absolute worst,” Ezra agreed before he focused on me again. “And yes, I’ll be mostly not bad.”
“Hmm… why don’t I believe you?”
“Because you are brilliant as well as beautiful,” Ezra said. “And you know me too well.”
“I’ve got him,” Adam reminded me and the flash of delight in Ezra’s eyes gave him away. He grinned at me, then winked. Too soon, they were out the door and it was just me and Milo.
I twisted to glance at him before I scooted back to lay down. He wrapped his arms around me and rolled me over so I was pressed against his chest. Tucking my nose against his neck, I smiled.
He stroked his hand against my back, rubbing a slow circle. “Going back to sleep?”
Another yawn worked its way free. Tracing my fingers over the ivy inked into his skin, I considered my response. “Tired?”
“Some,” he admitted, cupping a hand over my shoulder. “You and Ivy didn’t stop all day yesterday, and you were both at the theater until late.”
“Wanted to go over everything.” It was fascinating. “I think it’s genuinely the first time I got to see everything she does or has to review before they set up, then after setup begins. She also wanted to test the load on the silks and we had to wait for Vaughn. The crew wouldn’t set up until he was there.”
Em’s irritation when the crew informed her that they weren’t allowed to set up until Vaughn got there had also been entertaining. Still, I couldn’t blame anyone for being overprotective where she was concerned.
There had been accidents in the past. Whether because of sabotage or carelessness, she’d nearly been hurt before. No one wanted to take any chances.
“How are you doing?” I tilted my head back so I could study him. From this angle, the bristles along his jaw and cheeks gave him a roguish look. It didn’t make him any less pretty though.
“I’m fine,” he murmured, the husky note in his voice a reflection of his own tiredness. “Worried about all of you.”
“All of us?” I pushed up a little so I could meet his gaze. The heat of his skin scorched next to mine. I would never be cold when Milo was there. “What about you, Pretty Boy?”
“Me?” A smile tipped his lips.
“Yes, you. Why aren’t you worried about you?” I could probably answer the question myself, but I wanted to know what was going on inside his head.
He ran his hand down my arm. “I have the most beautiful woman in the world so in love with me, she takes my name.”
Amusement sparked in his eyes and I raised my brows. “Em told you?”
“Bodhi.” He circled my wrist with his hand and then lifted me almost bodily until I draped him like his favorite blanket.
The smug response made me laugh. “I didn’t realize he’d heard.” I probably should have. Of course, he had. Very little escaped Bodhi’s notice.
“Hmm,” Milo hummed a little, as he ran his hand along my back to the hem of my t-shirt. He lifted it easily and then clasped his palm against my ass. “I think he didn’t want me to miss being claimed.”
Shifting, I straddled his waist and tilted my head. “We didn’t want me to be Lainey Benedict here. On the fly, I said ‘Elaine Hardigan’.” Scraping my teeth over my lower lip, I studied the smile softening his mouth. “You don’t mind, do you?”
“Why would I mind?” Pretty Boy settled his hands on my hips. “We can make you Lainey Hardigan anytime you want.”
It was my turn to straighten a little and to raise my brows. “Are you proposing?”
“No,” he said slowly. “Before you think I’m rejecting you… I’m respecting the fact that we’re not just a couple. If it were only you and me? I’d have put a ring on that finger the day you killed King.”
Possessiveness swarmed through his voice.
“You… have taken my breath away since the moment you strutted out of that car in the warehouse and told me to have a little more shut the fuck up while you spoke.”
I had to bite back my own smile. “Not the exact wording.”
“Eh,” he said with a shrug, running his fingers along the hem of my panties beneath the shirt. “The sentiment was the same, Mayhem. You walked in, in charge, and ready to go to battle.”
“I mean…”
He chuckled. “Don’t apologize. You were gorgeous. Filled my head with all kinds of inappropriate thoughts.” The fact his cock was growing steadily stiffer where I straddled him served to illustrate the point.
“Then you locked me in your room.”
“Well, you were being stubborn. I had to keep you safe.”
“Locking someone up isn’t necessarily considered keeping them safe, it’s generally called kidnapping.”
“Potayto,” he teased. “Potahto. As I recall, you got even by stripping off that towel and letting me see every inch of this gorgeous body.” His little groan at the end tickled me. Then he gave a little bump with his hips.
“One must always wage battle with the weapons at hand.” I dropped my hands to the hem of the shirt I was wearing… oh it was one of Adam’s. I didn’t even know when I grabbed it. For now, I tugged it up and off to toss behind me.
