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Family stuck together, and they had his back just like he had theirs. He trusted them with his life. And maybe he loved them. Just a tad.
“Parks and Recreation,” Sloan mocked. “You missed my wedding, bras. Not cool. Not cool at all.”
She’d known from the very first moment she’d met him that seduction wouldn’t work on him. Maybe that was when she’d first started to fall in love with him.
He was the lion who caught the mouse, and she found… she found she almost didn’t care that she was about to be consumed because his thick, manly aroma coaxed her into believing she needed him as much as air.
“What are you going to do to me?” she demanded, realizing that he wasn’t letting her go. He looked down at her. “You’re my mate, Alice. I’ll do whatever the fuck I want.”
This morning he’d awoken to the sounds of sex so loud and clear he’d thought it was in the next room. The moment he realized it was in the same building as him, two floors below, he tuned out so fast he became dizzy. The last thing he needed was to hear the sexual escapades of one of his siblings.
I thought it was gonna be Mary and Flint. lol
To create the voice, Parker took samples of the women he knew and blended them. AIMI was a construct of the women in his life. He frowned. He’d even used Alice’s voice. Perhaps some part of him knew what she’d become.
Sinners never married. They never even had relationships. They had relations, and they used it as a weapon. Then they died and went to Hell. Fun times.
The shock wore off, and Alice’s scowl was like a kiss to him. If there ever came a day she failed to revolt against him, he would be disappointed. If this was any other moment, he’d be aroused.
“Wake up, Pigeon,” Despair whispered, using her nickname for him.
When the last pigeon flapped away over the wall, Pride looked at his sister covered in feathers and delight. “Where do you think they go?” he asked. “Who cares? They’re free.”
Crackling from the ceiling speakers was the only warning they received before Marvin Gaye’s song, Sexual Healing, started playing. Goddammit, Sloan.
“Haven’t you been listening?” He threw up his hand, exasperated. “I’ve been listening your whole life, Parker. Maybe it’s time you did the same.”
She’d always assumed it had something to do with his rock-climbing hobby, but now knew about the rope art pictures on his walls… and the bundles of rope dangling on hooks, and the pulleys and bolts in his bedroom ceiling. This must be a hobby of his. Or passion. Or obsession.
The view is better in here and you’re not using it, so it’s mine now. I licked it. Parker.Lazarus@LazTech.com – You licked it?
He doesn’t need someone to help him fly, he’s got that down. He doesn’t even need someone to break his fall. He needs someone strong enough to fly with him into the sun and hold him when it burns. Do you understand?”
I’m not some sort of doll for you to play dress up with.” His voice deepened. “If I wanted to play with you, there’d be considerably less clothes.”
then to the body on the floor, his chest pulverized. “You… ran your hand through him.” “He was in the way,” Parker said, starkly serious.
Never in his life had he wanted to tie up someone so badly. Usually the urge was part of the ritual, the intimate connection between rigger and the model, the absolute trust, the safety. But with Alice, he didn’t give a damn about any of it. He just wanted her safe and secure where he could keep her. Where nothing could harm her.
“Why are you wearing my shirt instead of your own new clothes?” Her breath hitched with a breath, defining hard nipples against the fabric. “Maybe I like the way you smell,” she confessed. “And maybe I kept one thing.”
The last thing she remembered before drifting off to sleep was a low vibrating rumble from the base of his throat that sounded suspiciously like a purr.
“Don’t be a dick, Parker. They’re all mated. No one is going to beat his chest and Tarzan-steal your lady.”
“Alice. I’m going to spend my life proving that you’re not going to Hell and Heaven is here with me. Do you understand?”
He held her by the ropes, her hands pinned to her chest and with him still behind her, cradling with his body. Lips fluttered at her ear. “That sound,” he said, “was your good sound. Am I right?”
Her throat tightened as the truth came to light. “For the first time in my life, because of you, holding me together, I felt like I could finally fall apart.”
You know I’ve never cried over it? I’ve never had anyone to hold my hand or to hug away the pain. Until now. Feeling you against my back, around me, everywhere… I felt safe. I felt as though I could be me. Like I could… sing again.”
Alice was more than his mate. She was his Do Not Resuscitate order.
Why couldn’t she see the truth in his eyes when he told her… but he hadn’t, had he? He hadn’t told her how beautiful she was, not beyond words. Or how proud of her he was, or how smitten, how aroused he felt every time he looked at her. How… comforted. How hopelessly in love.
“You’re a miracle, Alice,” he said. “Not a sin. Not evil. Not anything but pure perfection.”
“I want you, Parker Lazarus. Every part of you.” She unbuttoned his shirt, starting slowly at the top. “Even the parts you think are wrong. Especially those parts. I’ve wanted you like this for years. What you’ve become has only increased that desire. I will never think that part of me needs absolution. You are not my sin. You’re my salvation.
“Assholes! Some of us are trying to sleep.” “Some of us have blue beans over here!” That was probably Mercy. Parker’s eyes widened, and he looked at Alice. She bit her lip to stop a smile. “You could have at least invited one of us to join in!” shouted another. Nope. That was Mercy. Alice giggled.
I mean, a chance to cheat death? Who wouldn’t want that? And the fact the recruiter was hot didn’t hurt things.” “You better not be talking about my sister,” Parker warned.
Is Axel going to be Daisy’s mate?
“Pigeon?” Daisy whispered, her voice a rasp.
When Daisy had seen his arm was missing, and that he’d come back here—for her—pride had swelled in her body. He’d grown into a hero. Her little brother, her Pigeon, saving her.
She’d liked the story because it made her realize what her purpose was. The joy of her family, starting with the obsessively serious, first little brother. Her pigeon. Her purpose. She knew if she could bring joy to his life, she could bring joy to all of them.
It brought tears to Alice’s eyes because she knew, without a doubt, that even though she’d signed on to be the last line of defense against the Lazarus family if they ever turned dark, it would never happen. They had each other’s backs. And they would fight for love until their dying breaths.
