Tempted & Taken (Men of Haven #4)(59)

Another chuckle sounded on his right, followed by another nudge. This time his brain managed to categorize the voice. “Hey, get your woman in bed,” Beckett said. “You two will sleep for shit out here.”

Knox’s addled mind finally got in the game enough to realize Beckett was probably right, then followed up by pointing out just how much of his woman’s legs were on prime display for Beckett’s appreciation. Cranking out the mother of all ab curls, he carefully cradled Darya against his chest and stood with her in his arms. “Thanks, man.” He paused as he rounded the edge of the oversize sofa. “Can you get the TV?” he said quiet enough not to wake his sleeping cargo.

“Already on it,” Beckett fired back.

A second later, the screen went dark, leaving only a single stream of light filtering from Beckett’s suite at the opposite end of the loft to guide Knox to his own rooms.

Darya inhaled deep and shifted her head against his shoulder, her warm exhalation whispering against his bare chest and neck.

This is what you were waiting for.

It was a random thought. Completely out of left field and the absolute last thing he’d expected his drowsy brain to conjure up, but deadly accurate. Holding Darya—feeling her weight in his arms and seeing to her comfort—felt right. Like after years of hacking and kicking a firmly locked door, he’d finally unlocked an elusive place inside himself and gained a whole new level of balance.

Beckett’s deep voice crept through the darkness a second before he shut the door to his suite. “Hey, Knox.”

Knox backed up enough to bring his brother into view and raised both eyebrows in silent question.

The shadows were deep, but there was still enough light to show a deadly seriousness on Beckett’s face. “Not sure it’s registered yet, but you were asleep.”

One heartbeat.

Then another.

Only on the third did Beckett’s emphasis finally connect.

He’d slept.

Not because of sex. Not because of booze or one of those soul-freezing pills. But just nodded off like a normal Joe, loaded on pizza, laughter and all that was Darya.

Slow and featherlight, a comfortable peace settled over him, so profound in its impact all he could do was stand rooted in place, dumbfounded.

“I wished someone like her for you almost my whole life.” Beckett’s mouth crooked on one side, a shaky smile riddled with a solemnness equally reflected in his raw and grated voice. “Happy for you, brother.” With that he ambled toward his suite, closed the door behind him and left Knox standing speechless in the dark.

Happy.

The word resonated hard. Right up there with content, settled and every other pansy-ass word he’d lobbed at Jace, Zeke and Trevor the last year and a half. But now he got it.

His arms tightened reflexively around Darya’s boneless weight and he hefted her higher against his chest, a surge of protectiveness burning through his otherwise relaxed muscles.

Carefully, he made his way to his bed and laid Darya in the center.

She stirred as he pulled his arms from underneath her and her eyelids fluttered open, bright blue eyes reflected in the soft moonlight. Pressing one hand into the mattress, she levered herself up and scanned the room. “I missed the end?”

He shucked his jeans and crawled in beside her. “We’ll watch it again in the morning over donuts and coffee.” He drew the covers over them and pulled her close so her head rested on his chest. Her hair spilled like silk against his arm and her soft breath whispered against his sternum. Hell, he could have gone without any covers at all and been content with just her weight to warm him.

“Knox?”

He closed his eyes and savored her soft voice. “Mmm?”

“You’re okay? To sleep?”

Outside his windows, the drone of cars speeding up and down the interstate hummed one step up from generated white noise. For once, it didn’t bother him. Didn’t grate his nerves and prod him to get up and pace. He traced his fingers up her arm and let them tangle in her hair. “I’m good.”

“You’re sure?”

He smiled into the darkness, the fog of sleep creeping in just enough to make his cheek protest the response. “I’m absolutely sure.” His heart slowed and his muscles uncoiled. Whether or not he spoke the words that filtered through his head after that he wasn’t sure, but they were the last he had before the darkness took over. “I have you.”





Chapter Twenty-Three

“So, now all you do is click commit and your code will merge into the main branch,” Katy said, her attitude as blasé as if she’d asked Darya to pass the salt instead of potentially hosing the core code from Knox’s top ten selling app.

Darya slid the cursor to the bold green save button and hesitated.

Beside her, Katy chuckled. “Really, it’s not that big of a deal. If you don’t think His Royal Highness doesn’t have at least ten backups stored in at least that many different places, you’re nuts.” She waved her hand toward the screen. “Go on. Click it.”

Well, she had a point. She’d heard the expression a belt and suspenders guy before, but never had she met a man who fit the description better than Knox. Before she could overthink it, she clicked the button and waited. When the confirmation message popped up on the screen she barely bit back a self-satisfied whoop and ridiculous fist pump.