Page 64 of Five Brothers

“I hate that feeling,” he whispers. “I don’t want to go there.” And then he looks up at me. “Macon’s right. Why don’t I listen?”

Yeah, Macon doesn’t know everything, either. And neither do I.

It’s three and a half years. Not life. Iron will be back.

I step up to him, threading my fingers through his hair, and feel his shoulders slowly relax. His forehead falls against my stomach.

I don’t want my key anymore.

“I didn’t want sex,” he says, his breath warm on my skin. “I wanted a woman who gives a shit about me to look at me tonight.”

He inhales and exhales several times, and I know he’s trying not to lose control of his emotions.

I stroke his scalp, dragging my nails gently as his breath grows hot. “You mean a friend?” I ask.

He keeps his eyes downcast.

“Are we friends?” I whisper.

Tilting his head up, he looks at me. “Friends.”

My face relaxes, and I soften my strokes in his hair, watching his eyelids start to close with how good it feels.

I like this Iron. He’s better when he’s serious.

And I want to be the one who looks at him tonight, because tomorrow night no one will.

“Eleven,” I murmur.

He cocks his head, peering up at me.

“I’m not so fast after all,” I tell him, looking down at my clothes.

“I got handed eleven times.”He holds my gaze.

“Shoes.” I hold up two fingers. “Socks, hat, coat …” I count off everything I’ve lost so far, moving to the other hand. “That’s six,” I say.

He watches me, and for a moment, he stops breathing when I slip a button out of the loop on the vest.

He waits.

I undo the buttons one by one, seeing a lump move up and down his throat and fire light in his eyes.

Peeling off the vest, I drop it to the ground, his gaze falling to my naked top half. The cool rain makes the flesh of my nipples harden into points, and my insides warm in anticipation.

“That’s seven,” he says so quietly.

Two more.

Reaching behind me, I unzip the skirt, holding his gaze as I push it down my hips. It falls to the wet deck. “Eight.”

He can remove the last piece himself.

But he doesn’t.

He whips me around, my breath lodging in my throat as he pulls me down into his lap.

I drop my head back against his shoulder as he slips a hand inside the front of my panties, teasing my entrance with two fingers.