Wild and Free (The Three #3)(126)

And I did.

I just worried he was wrong.

He tightened his arms around me, slid his lips back down to my neck, and I’d find it would be a while before we made it to the bed because Abel was in the mood to take his time.

And he did, going slow, being sweet, not f*cking but making love to me. Again giving me what I needed but didn’t know I’d need. A long, intense orgasm that left me sated and languid and meant, once he’d tangled himself up in me, on the eve of a day that would end with fighting, I didn’t have to search for it.

I fell fast asleep.

*

“I can’t believe f*ckin’ vampires have a f*ckin’ non-smoking policy.”

It was the next night and this was Jabber complaining about the state of affairs not only in the compound but also in the safe room in the bunker below the compound where we were all hunkered down, waiting out the fight that was either happening above or imminently going to happen.

That “we” included Leah, Sonia, Jian-Li, and me. With us was Regan, a beautiful, dark-haired woman who looked like Callum’s sister but was actually his mother. Under Callum’s orders, she’d arrived at the compound several days earlier. She was sweet and nice and openly adored her family, so, obviously, I dug her big time.

The “we” in the bunker also included a seriously ticked off Chen (who was better but not better enough that Abel would let him fight, which was not a decision Chen agreed with, but his other two brothers and mother did; hence, he was there). And lastly, an also better-but-still-not-great Jabber, who never liked being cooped up, and doing it knowing my dad was somewhere close and in a hairy situation, he liked it less.

Moose had yet to return and this freaked me out, but I couldn’t think on that.

I couldn’t because I was freaked out about whatever was happening above us. We’d been there hours. They’d been reporting in that all was clear but way too infrequently to my way of thinking.

Now they were not.

We had guards in the room, guards outside the room, guards stationed in the hall, and guards securing all the routes to the bunker. These guards were being led by Caleb, who surprisingly didn’t bitch about this assignment but, instead, took it seriously.

That was nice and even flattering. Callum’s brothers were definitely action wolves so that said a lot.

But I was not thinking about how flattering Caleb taking his assignment without bitching was.

I was worried about what was happening that meant they were no longer reporting in.

The good news: I was not reacting physically to whatever it was and I was hoping this meant Abel was not in danger.

I didn’t get agony in my gut when Callum or Lucien were in danger so I couldn’t help Leah or Sonia with their own worries. Sonia was actually being very cool, acting calm and collected, and her being this way helped me not to totally lose it.

But she’d had experience waiting out Callum in battle. It was Leah and I who were the newbies. Neither of us liked this much and neither of us bothered to expend the effort not to show that.

Therefore, I wasn’t totally losing it. I was close to totally losing it.

“It’s not like they can die from secondhand smoke,” Jabber went on.

“I believe,” Jian-Li began, “even if we don’t share your habit, at this juncture, we can all appreciate your need, Jabber. However, voicing your objections will not change their policy at this time, seeing as they’re all rather busy with something else.”

Jabber glared at Jian-Li.

“I could actually use a cigarette and I’ve never smoked,” Leah muttered to me, but her eyes were on the door.

I had, though only while acting out against my mother, but I knew having a smoke now wouldn’t help.

Only our men walking through the door would help.

“I’m thinking we need tequila shots,” I muttered back.

She looked to me. “Lucien isn’t a big fan of secondhand drinking, that being feeding from me after I’ve become inebriated.” She shook her head. “Actually, that isn’t true. If I drink champagne or vodka, he quite likes that. Tequila…” She trailed off and made a face before carrying on. “When this is all over, we’re celebrating and I want him to enjoy that to its fullest. So no tequila for me, even if we did have it.”

I was with her.

I was also interested in what she’d said about drinking.

So I asked, “Really? He doesn’t like it when you drink?”

She shook her head.

My eyes wandered to the door as I mumbled, “I wonder how Abel feels about it.”

“Everyone is different,” Leah noted, and I hoped she was right because Abel and I hadn’t tried drunk sex. I figured drunk sex with Abel would absolutely rock, and therefore, that was something we’d be rectifying immediately.

Namely, when he showed, healthy and intact, in the door I was staring at.

“Have you seen a golem?” I asked the door.

“No,” Leah answered.

“Abel said they’re large and hard to kill,” I said softly.

“Lucien told me the same thing.”

We went silent, both staring at the door. We stayed silent for a while and our silence was only broken when Jian-Li moved from the couch where she was sitting with Sonia and Regan to the couch kitty-corner to where I was sitting with Leah.