Liar (Madison Kate #2)(56)

He winced as he moved his arm, and I frowned at him in concern. I couldn't see any bandages, but he was fully covered up in a hoodie. They were probably still there. "Steele, why are you down here and not resting?" I moved closer to him, tugging the zipper of his hoodie down and confirming my suspicions. Thick, white bandages covered his left shoulder and upper chest, and I scowled at him in reprimand.

He gently removed my hand and tugged the zipper back up again. "It's not as bad as it looks, gorgeous. Just a few scrapes, thanks to Archer's shitty driving while I was hanging out the door to shoot at your attacker." I gave him a small frown of confusion, and his smile grew wider, self-deprecating. "Arch turned sharply to avoid hitting something, and I sort of, uh, tumbled out of the car. At high speed. On gravel."

I winced just imagining that, and he laughed.

"Seriously, it's far from the worst I've ever suffered. The bandages are way overkill. But Arch got all fucking alpha about it, so I'm humoring him." He slipped a hand around my waist and tugged me closer to him, peering down at me from the shadows of his hood. "And as for why I'm down here and not still in my room? Because if I had to listen to Kody making you come one more time, I was going to break down the damn door and either punch him or demand to join in. Neither of which I'm in any state to do right now."

I wrinkled my nose but couldn't fight the grin on my face. "Can I be honest with you, Max Steele?"

He let out a small groan. "I swear, you're the only person who can ever make my full name sound sexy. Go on, then."

I stepped in closer, tentatively looping my arms around his neck and hoping I wasn't hurting him. He didn't flinch, though, so I relaxed a little. "Honestly? I'm not totally sure which of those options turns me on more."

Steele's grin was pure smug satisfaction, and his gray eyes flashed with desire. "I knew fighting got you hot, Hellcat, but I had no idea you were down for a three-way."

I snorted and rolled my eyes. "Yes, you did, you liar. You've seen my vibrator collection, and you deliberately dropped that into casual conversation specifically to see what my reaction would be."

His grin just spread wider, but he didn't deny it.

"Where is Kody, anyway? When I realized it was a snow day, I didn't think he'd let you out of his bed for hours yet." Steele's brow creased with a small frown. "Lucky prick."

I shook my head in a small amount of disbelief, biting the edge of my lip. "I think he knew I wanted to check on you," I admitted, "and... you know... talk about recent developments."

Steele made a noise in his throat but brushed the damp hair back from my face with his fingertips. "You mean the fact that Kody finally talked his way into your pants? You know that has to be the longest any girl has made him work for it?"

I blushed. "There wasn't a huge amount of talking involved," I mumbled, remembering the angry way we'd hate fucked on the kitchen counter while Archer watched. Ugh. That was another complication that needed dealing with soon. "But yeah, that's what I meant."

Steele leaned down and kissed me softly, all lips and lingering touches, then sighed. "It's hardly a new development, gorgeous. Kody's had a hard-on for you since Riot Night. But I guess you're asking if I'm cut up about the fact that you guys fucked?"

I arched a brow and gave a small nod. Steele took me by the hand and started leading me back through the garage toward the house. I thought he was going to keep talking while we walked, but after a few moments it became clear he wasn't.

"Uh, are you going to answer that question?" I prompted him as we passed back through the foyer and started up the stairs. Not that I had any objection to following him back up to his room. Despite what he'd said, I had no doubt he was supposed to be resting.

He glanced at me over his shoulder, a small smile playing over his lips. "I am," he replied as he opened his bedroom door and stood aside for me to enter.

"And... we needed to relocate to your bedroom for that?" I raised my brows at him, but sat down on his bed anyway while he closed the door and shrugged his hoodie off. Underneath he was shirtless, covered only in bandages and ink, and my breath caught.

He gave me a sly smile as he crossed the carpet and stopped directly in front of me. It put his chiseled abs directly in line with my face, and it took all kinds of willpower not to strip his jeans off and take him in my mouth.

"We relocated to my bedroom because I was cold as shit in the workshop, and I didn't want Archer crashing in on our conversation and killing the mood." He ran his fingers through my hair, then cupped my face to tilt it up. His gaze met mine, and my hands went to his waist on reflex.

"He does have a bad habit of doing that," I muttered in agreement. I licked my lips, wetting them and trying really hard to be less of the open book Kody accused me of being.

Apparently, I failed. Steele's gaze intensified, and he caught my chin in his fingers as he leaned down to me. "Stop looking at me like that, Hellcat. You're making me want to do things I shouldn't be doing right now."

I couldn't help myself. "Like what?"

His response was a frustrated growl and a hard kiss, claiming my mouth in a harsh and demanding way that promised far more than his injuries were likely to sustain. Damn. Then again, if he just lay back and let me do all the work...