“It’s not just that, Dusty. This room isn’t soundproof.” I pointed to the ceiling and he looked up.
“I completely and totally forgot we weren’t the only two people in the world. Well, it was nice knowing you. Renee is probably going to kill me now and chop my body into little equal pieces and scatter them everywhere so no one will ever find me.”
I gingerly climbed over Dusty and grabbed the first thing I found to cover myself with, which turned out to be his shirt.
“Oh, this is bad, bad, bad.” I went to open the door, but Dusty stopped me with a hand on my waist.
“Joscelyn, the only bad thing here is that I can’t take you back to bed right now because I want to. I wish there were some way that we could just stay in bed together forever and never leave this room. I wish we could make these little moments, right here, right now, last forever.”
I turned in his arms.
“Well, I can make this last a little longer. Come shower with me?” His hands dipped under the shirt, eager to get me naked again.
“I would love to. Almost as much as I love you.” He pressed me against the door.
“I can’t believe no one has come down to drag your ass upstairs for a good old-fashioned beat down.”
“Oh, I’m sure that’s coming. So, if these are my last moments, I want to spend them naked with you.” He growled and swept me into his arms and I squealed as he carried me toward the shower.
* * *
“So. You have deflowered my sister,” Renee said, pacing in front of us. Dusty and I were on the couch, hand in hand.
“Renee!” I said, my face going scarlet.
She held her hand up for silence.
After the lovely shower with Dusty, we’d gone back to my room and gotten dressed to face the judge, jury and executioner.
When we’d emerged from the cave, the house had been quiet, but I could hear people talking on the second floor.
“Maybe they gave us some privacy?” I’d said, shocked.
“Or maybe they’re lying in wait,” Dusty had said behind me. “Let me go first.”
He’d sneaked up the stairs, with me right behind him, and we’d found everyone in Darah’s room, except for Mase and Hunter, playing with Napoleon.
The moment Renee looked up and saw me and Dusty, she’d grabbed both of our arms and dragged us downstairs, and here we were. Getting reamed out by the best.
To his credit, Dusty hadn’t run away, which was a plus. It was nice to have someone to hold on to while Renee was on the warpath, even if I was more scared for him than I was for myself.
“So,” she said, pivoting on her heel. “So.”
I waited for her to say something else.
“Did you use protection?” Of course that was her first question.
“Yes,” I said, beating Dusty to the answer. “Condoms and the pill.”
Renee narrowed her eyes and glared at Dusty.
“It’s true,” he said, his hand holding mine a little tight. I almost laughed. The confident Dusty Sharp was scared of my sister. Scared shitless.
“How long have you been planning this?”
I started to answer, but Renee turned the glare on me.
“I want to hear it from him.”
I shut my mouth and looked at Dusty.
“Honestly? I’ve been trying to be with your sister since the first time I saw her. Right about the same time I realized that I loved her.”
Renee nodded and started pacing again.
“You fell in love with me at first sight? Really?” I’d heard of it happening, but always just chalked it up to lust instead of love.
He brought our joined hands to his mouth and kissed them.
“Of course. I told you, it was like I met you and I knew. Took myself a long time to realize it, though. But I told you. It was impossible not to fall for you.” He was so sure of himself, spoke as if it was such an easy thing to say.
Renee started pacing again.
“And how am I supposed to believe that? I mean, it sounds like a really good line to feed a vulnerable girl to get in her pants.”
“If all I wanted was to get in her pants, I would have given up a long time ago. Your sister is...” I waited.
“Stubborn,” he supplied with a grin as he flicked some of my hair off my shoulder. “Comes with the hair, I think. Or maybe it’s genetic.” He turned and smiled at Renee, and she faltered for a second. Ha.
She cleared her throat and tried to collect herself for the next line of attack.
“Be that as it may, I am still not very happy about this.” I started to say something about how I was of age and could make my own damn decisions and after everything Dusty and I had been through to find each other, I wasn’t going to let her stop us, but she kept going and ignored me.
“I trusted you to keep an eye on her. Just an eye, not your entire body. And I’m still not sure if I trust you, and I want to know what happened between you, but...” Dusty and I waited with bated breath. Whatever that means. I’d never understood the phrase before, but this certainly felt like it.
“I can’t stop you from seeing each other. You’re Hunter’s friend, and this is Hunter’s house and you’re going to be here anyway. I also know that if I try to keep you apart you’ll come together quicker than you can say ‘star-crossed lovers.’” I started celebrating in my head, but I knew it was probably too good to be true.
“BUT,” Renee said, as if she sensed my precelebration. She stood in front of Dusty and leaned down until their faces were level.
“There will be rules, and I will get everyone else in this house to enforce them. You will have her home at a reasonable hour. You will not take her anywhere I would not want her to be. You will never, ever, EVER hurt her, because I will come after you and I will make your death slow and painful. Got it?” By the time she was done, their faces were so close I wanted to tell Renee to back it up.
“I am sufficiently terrified,” Dusty said. “So yes, I’ve got it.” He looked away from Renee and at me.
“You okay with those terms, Red?”
“I will agree to them on one condition,” I said, holding one finger up. Renee finally stopped trying to stare Dusty into submission.
“You will be nice to my boyfriend and not threaten him anymore. Got it?”
Renee thought about that for a second, and I could see her fuming.
“Deal.”
“Deal,” I said, sticking out my hand, and we shook on it.