The tattoo on his ribs made much more sense now, the flames roaring up the side of his abdomen. I mean, when I’d first seen them, I had suspected it was because he was a blacksmith. But maybe it had more to do with his magic, and the way his kisses set my body on fire.
“Like what you see?” He winked at me, catching me staring.
I winked right back. “Checking out that tattoo. Thinking about the first time I saw it.”
His smile was slow and deadly for my rapidly beating heart. “You mean when I was naked?”
I patted his cheek—the cheek on his face, I mean, I’m not quite that brassy. “You had a sheet on.”
A sudden pounding on the door rolled me to my feet, knives in my hands. I barely remembered reaching for them. Apparently, the training was finally catching up to my reflexes, or maybe it was the other way around?
The door burst open and Corb stood there, eyes wide, a gun in one hand and a knife in the other, his eyes finding me first. “Bree, are you okay?”
I tucked my own knives back into their sheaths. “A little late, man. You missed the party and the after party.”
Corb slowly lowered his weapons, and although I couldn’t see where he’d put them, or even where he could have put them, they disappeared. “Everyone’s okay?”
Crash brushed past me and headed for the kitchen. “I’ll make breakfast. And you talk in your sleep, Bree.”
Oh, that last shot was definitely for Corb, but he just breathed a sigh of what I could only assume was relief. “What happened?”
I turned as Suzy stood, her long hair braided back from her head in a bunch of braids that told me Kinkly had been at work while she was sleeping. I touched my own head and found the same look had been woven into my own hair.
“Someone set my powers loose,” Suzy said softly, totally not her usual self, but it wasn’t like she’d lost confidence. More like her own near-death experience had made her more mature overnight. “They did it so I would kill whoever I was with.” I noticed that she didn’t say it was about me, which I was grateful for.
We had to keep our cards close to our chests.
I turned back to Corb. “We figured you might be able to help her. Seeing as you brought her into the Hollows and all.”
Corb’s eyes were locked on Suzy. “How long did you have to fend off the urge? Twenty minutes?”
Suzy looked at me. “Four hours.”
Corb sucked in a sharp breath. “That’s impossible. You . . . Suzy, how did you survive?”
She didn’t look away from me. “It’s not my story to tell, not really. I just hung on, and Eric, Feish, and Bree, they threw me the lifeline that pulled me out.” She shrugged and then grinned. “I will say that they are all excellent kissers.”
I laughed and Feish giggled a funny warbling laugh that only made me grin wider. The smell of bacon tugged at me and I limped toward the kitchen. Every step reminded me that not only had yesterday been one of my longest nights in a long time, but it had also ended up with all of us sleeping on the floor.
“Why didn’t you answer the phone sooner?” I asked as I stepped up next to Crash and shooed him from the frying pan. “You chop the stuff for omelets.”
Corb moved to stand across from me and Crash as we prepped breakfast. “The phone was off. I was on a job that couldn’t be disturbed.”
“Delicate,” I said. “You don’t get many of those. Or was this something for Davin?” I wasn’t intentionally poking at him. But I wasn’t going to avoid the subject either. Crash’s muscles flicked like a fly had landed on him, and then he relaxed as if I’d said nothing.
“It was a job, pertaining to the O’Seans and the mess they left behind,” Corb said. “And the remainder of the details are confidential.”
Crash shot him a look. “Their sister causing grief?”
Corb’s jaw ticked. “Something like that.”
“Be careful, she’s quick with a gun,” Crash said.
Damn it, they both knew? And I couldn’t know, of course, not. Jerks.
I nodded. “My new job is like that too, delicate and confidential.” I couldn’t help but lock eyes with him. Because yesterday he’d been all about honesty and transparency, but here we were, less than twelve hours later, and he refused to be honest with me about a stupid job. Okay, maybe that wasn’t fair. Work was work, but in the shadow world, work had a nasty habit of showing up at home and trying to kill you.
And no, I did not feel bad for not telling him about the whole goblin situation.
Clearing his throat, Corb offered with a motion of his hand to take over the eggs, as if that would win him points. Well, it would, but not enough. I let him take my spot, stepping back with a flourish that would have made Vanna White proud. “Go right ahead. Far be it from me to say no to two gorgeous men cooking me breakfast. But maybe you should take your shirt off, too, so I can really compare.” Laughing, I turned my back on them as Suzy and Eric stepped into the kitchen. Kinkly fluttered in above Eric’s head and then she shot down to me.
“Do you like the braids?”
“They’re great, thanks.” I put a hand to them, already knowing that getting all the miniscule braids out was going to be a massive pain in the ass. But I wasn’t going to burst Kinkly’s bubble. Feish was the last to enter the room, and she was still giggling, whispering under her breath, “I’m a good kisser.”
When I turned around, it was my turn to catch my breath.
Corb had stripped off his shirt and tucked it into his back pocket.
Both men were naked from the waist up, and I wasn’t sure if I could breathe anymore. Kinkly shot forward and plastered herself to Corb’s back. “I call dibs on this one.”
He jumped and looked over his shoulder. “You’re a bit tiny for me.”
She bobbed her head. “Yes, agreed. If Bree is your type, you like ’em big.”
I sunk into a chair and lowered my head to the table, mostly because I wasn’t sure I could look without drooling. And I definitely couldn’t look away.
Suzy sat next to me. “You did tell him to take his shirt off.”
“I was joking. I mean, kind of.” I lifted my head, grinning wide and not blushing a bit. “Maybe I should have a harem.”
Crash twisted around first, but Corb was right behind him. Corb looked at Crash. “I could share. But I don’t think you could.”
Crash shook his head. “Not the way she means.”
The sound of skeletal feet on the wooden floors turned me around again. Robert shuffled in, and when his head swung toward the two shirtless guys making breakfast, he growled.
“Oh, Robert, you’ll always be my favorite,” I said, and for just a moment the swaying slowed, and I saw him as he had been when he was alive. Icy blue eyes that locked onto mine. But the image faded and he was just Robert again, swaying.
The two guys served up a big breakfast, and amid much ribbing, laughter, and side eyes around the table, we were . . . happy. That was the only word for it. In that moment, contentment filled my heart, and I felt more at home than I ever had before.
Because I was with the family who’d chosen me, and I’d chosen them.
Unexpected tears pricked at my eyes and I stood. “I’m going to shower.”