25
As it turned out, Zed and I only managed to christen a handful of areas in his house before Lucas got home, and Zed reluctantly disappeared into his shower so I could talk to Lucas alone.
"So..." he drawled, flopping down on the couch beside me. Zed and I had been taking a break, napping and casually watching TV reruns when Lucas had arrived home. "You guys worked some shit out?"
His expression wasn't angry, just curious. With a small dose of jealous, which a shitty part of me actually enjoyed.
"Um, yup," I replied in a hoarse voice. I'd done way too much screaming and moaning for one day, and it was wreaking havoc on my voice box. "We had a really good... talk." I wet my lips, unable to keep the heat from my cheeks at that evasion. But shit, Lucas knew full fucking well what I meant. Hell, he'd had the full audio of our session in the kitchen first thing in the morning.
"How's your mom doing?" I asked, changing the subject away from Zed and me. Sure, Lucas had already given his approval and had even pushed me to give in to what I so clearly wanted with Zed. But that didn't really make it any less awkward. Especially seeing as beneath the blanket I wore nothing but a T-shirt and still had the sticky residue of Zed's cum on my thighs.
Lucas stared at me a moment longer, like his mind was still firmly on the subject of Zed and me fucking. Or maybe he was remembering what he’d heard on the phone, given neither of us had been particularly quiet. Then he blinked and sighed.
"She's okay. No, she's good. I think being at home is going to be really good for her. And the nurse you hired seems really lovely. Mom likes her. They were having tea and chatting when I left." He rubbed a hand over his hair, and I noted how tired he looked.
Shifting in my seat to face him better, I reached out to link our fingers together. "You don't look like you slept much, though. Was something else wrong?"
He shot me a wry smile. "You're one to talk about lack of sleep. Did you two even stop for water? Zed's not exactly nineteen, you know. He probably needs to sleep for a week now to recover."
I snickered, not correcting him. Zed wasn't nineteen, sure. But he was more than eager to fill in his rest time by using his mouth and hands on me instead.
"I've just been studying late," Lucas explained. "I picked up a couple of online courses for personal growth." He looked a little awkward about admitting that, so I decided not to push for more information, despite how curious I was.
I yawned heavily and rubbed my hand over my face. "Fuck. I really am exhausted. Last night was..." I grimaced. "Did Zed tell you we had a run-in with Chase?"
Lucas's brow furrowed. "No, he didn't. But the last thing you said on the phone was that he was there with you. Then you hung up and didn't answer any of my messages for the rest of the night. That's why I ended up calling Zed this morning."
My lips rounded to an O, and I cringed. "Shit, I'm sorry. I totally forgot I left you hanging like that."
Lucas huffed. "Yeah, well, I would have come home sooner, but I didn't have a car and your security team wouldn't let me leave the house. The only thing that stopped me from sneaking out and walking the whole way back was the fact that you'd told Cass you were safe." His glare was hard and accusing, making me feel like a total asshole.
"Technically, I think I intended to send that message to you," I offered with a sheepish smile. "I was sending Cass something else and must have sent both to him instead." Because my mind hadn't been all that focused while Zed and I were leaving the parking lot after clashing with Chase.
Lucas gave a shrug. "I figured. So did he, which is why he forwarded it to me."
That reminded me I needed to call Cass and check that my other attachment had downloaded properly. I hadn't seen my phone all day, but I vaguely remembered leaving it in the kitchen when I'd taken my shoes and weapons off when we got home.
With a groan, I stood up from the couch and let the blanket fall to the floor. Even stretching my arms over my head, Zed's T-shirt was still long enough to cover my ass. Just. But Lucas was still seated and got an eyeful as I rolled the tightness from my shoulders.
"I should get dressed and check my messages," I said with a sigh.
"Or," Lucas murmured, sitting forward to place his hands on my bare thighs, "you could come back here and let me finish what I started at breakfast yesterday."
I shuddered with raw, potent desire at the suggestion, but my core ached and not in a good way. More like an overused, under-rested sort of way.
"I think I need a break," I admitted, pouting as I turned around to place my hands on his shoulders. "Or my pussy does, anyway. Raincheck?"
He sighed but accepted my consolation kisses when I leaned down to seal my lips to his. "Fine," he muttered. "But Zed needs to learn how to share, or he'll wake up to find his balls superglued to his asshole."
My lips parted in shock at that suggestion. "Lucas..." I gave a laugh, not totally sure what to say back to that.
He just shrugged. "What? Cass would do worse."
I cringed because he was totally right. Cass would be so unimpressed if I turned him down because Zed had already fucked me so raw it hurt to walk.
"We'll have to work on that," I agreed. "But not right now."
Lucas nodded, standing up with me. "Cool. Whenever, whatever, I'm game." He shot me a wink, and I shook my head as I headed upstairs to shower and change. Alone.
When I found my phone—after my shower—I only had a handful of messages. One very sweet one from Hannah told me she hoped I would feel better soon and not to worry about work while I rested. There were a couple from Lucas from the night before, and the rest were from Cass.
Rather than texting back, I called him as I headed over to the freezer to fetch one of the small ice packs that Zed kept on hand for injuries.
"About damn time," he rumbled when he answered my call. "I was just about to head back to Shadow Grove and teach you a lesson about ignoring my messages, Red."
I shivered at the dark desire his words conjured up, and then shivered again with cold as I wiggled the ice pack into my panties. My swollen cunt needed it, though. Ho-ly crap, it needed it.
"Promises, promises, Grumpy Cat," I purred back at him, a grin on my face. Fuck, I loved hearing his voice. "Did you get the file I sent?"
"Of course I did." He grunted. "Made me want to break his fucking face over and over. I sincerely hope you made him hurt."
I wiggled the ice further into my panties, getting it into the right place to soothe my raw flesh, then slightly waddled through the house to where music poured out of the gym. "Zed certainly left his mark on Chase's face," I told him.
Cass gave a husky laugh. "Good. You were smart, recording him like that. It'll come in useful, even if he did incriminate you at the same time."
My breath hissed from behind my teeth in frustration. "It's a start. How are things on your end?"
"Slow," he replied, sounding irritated. "Much slower than I want. It's killing me to be away from you, Red."
I bit my lip, my heart racing. "I feel the same." I reached the gym door and peeked inside to find Lucas and Zed in some kind of pull-up competition. They were both dressed for a workout and had their hands wrapped like they were about to work on sparring. It reminded me that I wanted to talk to Zed about tightening up Lucas's right hook.