Page 231 of Infernal Bonds

CYN

Telling Rae how I felt didn’t exactly go as smoothly as I’d hoped.

I’d thought about it. Thought about how I’d tell her everything. How I’d apologize again for being a fuck-up and hurting her. I’d even planned to do it while helping her make her grandmother’s biscuits.

I’d worked the whole thing out, swearing that if we got her back in one piece, I’d tell her. But it didn’t go the way I planned.

Even if I’d managed to set the perfect scene, I suspected I’d stumble over my words and make a fool of myself anyway.

I hadn’t messed it up when I’d told Zeke how I felt. With him, he needed me to lead, and it made it easier to channel confidence—even when I lacked it.

Rae was different.

Not only did she push back, but she also made me nervous.

Zeke helped her out of her shirt as I peppered her skin with open-mouthed kisses, letting that realization sink in.

Once I started being honest with myself, I realized how much my need for her to understand me ignited my short fuse. I wanted her to understand me, but I also didn’t want to explain anything.

It scared the shit out of me.

But I’d still made a promise to myself that I’d tell her how I felt.

When Ezra pushed her, I realized waiting for the perfect opportunity wasn’t the right call. She needed to know someone wanted her now, not when I could set the mood.

Zeke needed to be there too. This wasn’t just about my feelings.

At least she understood my piss-poor confession.

And she’d felt the same.

Fuck.

She felt the same.

“Zeke,” she pleaded as his hands slid around her waist, dragging over her stomach up to her ribs in a slow caress.

“Yeah?”

“I need more.”

He kissed her temple. “I know.”

Aside from the one time she’d let him play with her nipples, this was the first time Zeke had done more than hold or kiss her. And judging by the way his fingers trembled against her stomach, he wasn’t feeling too confident.

I tugged down her bra, attacking her nipple with my tongue, swirling it around her piercing. She shivered when my tongue piercing brushed against the hardening bud.

When her hand tugged on the front of my shirt, I pulled away.

“You’re wearing too much,” she said, lifting her hand to run her fingers into Zeke’s hair, making him groan.

I smirked and pulled my shirt over my head, tossing it off the bed. I groaned when her nails dragged down my chest, tracing a path over my skin in the same spots she’d marked me when we’d made cupcakes in the kitchen.

She moaned when I tightened my grip on her hips and arched upward, making her acutely aware of the impact her touch had on me.

“Take her skirt off,” I said, shifting her off my lap to balance on her knees on the bed. I reached up and made quick work of removing her bra. We didn’t need that.

After we got her undressed, Zeke took off his shirt, then the rest of his clothes when I did the same.