for yourself.”
Your girl? I’d give anything for that to be true again.
Biting back a sob, I cupped Syd’s cheek and brushed a kiss over his mouth. Another moan rumbled up from his chest and pulsed against my lips. Suddenly, I felt his hand cup my nape before he pressed his mouth firmly to mine. When he slid his tongue along my seam, I didn’t hesitate for a second. I simply parted and welcomed the glorious sweep of his tongue.
“Thank god,” Mia choked out on a watery laugh. “You should have tried giving him mouth-to-mouth when they first put him in the limo, Caris.”
He was awake…alive! Inwardly screaming in elation, I greedily savored his slick, hot tongue and kissed him back with all the passion I’d kept locked inside.
“I must be dead, ’cause I’m kissing an angel,” Syd murmured, lips still pressed to mine.
“I’m no angel, and you know it.”
“You’re my angel. That’s all that matters.”
The conviction in his voice, wrecked me, melted me, yet at the same time, I wanted to slap him for frightening ten years off my life.
Sinking my teeth into his bottom lip, I tugged sharply. “Don’t ever scare me like that again, Sydney Joseph—”
“I’m sorry I scared you, Caris,” he said, cutting me off before I blurted out his real surname. “But you weren’t the only one scared. When I heard your scream, I was fucking terrified that Zattman had you…terrified that I’d failed you all over again.”
Biting back a howl of shame, I shook my head. It was plain to see that the guilt I’d heaped on him in LA had been festering and eating at him. The only thing my foolish payback had netted was more self-deprecating shame for both of us.
It was time to set the record straight.
“You didn’t fail me, Syd,” I sobbed. “I’m sorry for every vile word I said back in LA. I was just as scared out of my wits as you were the night we got caught. If I had turned and hauled ass like you—”
He pressed his fingers to my lips, darted an uneasy glance at the others, and gently shook his head. “We’ll talk about it later, angel.”
Shit. This wasn’t the time or the place to work our shit out. What the hell was I thinking?
“I’m sorry. Just…don’t take ownership of it, okay?”
“I won’t if you won’t,” he challenged with a crooked smile, then cringed as the limo hit a pothole.
“Don’t you have any pain meds you can give him?”
Brad shook his head. “He’ll have to wait until… Ozzy, where’s that hospital you found us?”
“Little Rock.”
“But that’s hours away,” I screeched.
“Not in a jet,” Ozzy replied. “It’s a matter of minutes.”
In all the commotion, I’d totally forgotten about flying to Texas.
“Speaking of jets…” Cole nodded toward the window. “We’re pulling onto the tarmac now.” He sent Syd a pained expression. “Sorry in advance, but we’re gonna have to move you, man.”
“Oh boy,” he muttered with zero enthusiasm.
“If you promise not to cry like a bitch, I’ll ask the nurses at the hospital to give you a sticker and a lollipop,” Ozzy smirked.
“I better get more than fucking stickers and suckers, asshole.” Syd cupped my face and studied my lips. “I’d want another kiss from this angel right here.”
“I think that can be arranged.” I smiled, heart soaring.
“What if I want more than kisses?”
My cheeks caught fire, and his words ignited a raw, hungry need to lick my body.
Chapter 11
Syd
“Cocksucker, motherfucker, and the raging fire of chlamydia,” I roared as Cole and Ozzy helped me from the limo.
“How do you know what the raging fire of chlamydia feels like?” Ozzy teased. “You always brag that your dick tests come back clean.”
“Suck my dick,” I growled between clenched teeth.
I was drenched in a cold sweat, and my legs felt like rubber, but nothing compared to the red-hot poker of pain stabbing my shoulder.
“No, way. My mouth’s not getting anywhere near your chlamydia-dripping inferno.”
“Shut it, cockbag, before I snag Cole’s gun and shoot you in the shoulder.”
“Syd Wilson, you shoot my man and you won’t need any more dick tests, because I’ll shoot your junk off,” Mia chided.
The stairs of the jet were only a few feet away, but they might as well have been miles. Squeezing my eyes shut, I sucked in a ragged breath. “Caris might bitch-slap you if you do that. Usually, I like a good catfight, but I’m in too much pain right now.”
It took an interminable number of agonizing minutes to climb the stairs.