Blacklisted (Loveless, Texas #3) - Jay Crownover Page 0,112

to the transplant. I literally had a piece of him inside me, keeping me alive. There would never be a big enough way I could show him my gratitude; luckily he was pretty selfless about the whole thing. I often teased him that it was having some of his wildness inside of me that made it possible for me to handle being with Shot. The biker and the rodeo rider were cut from very similar fabric, and now that the two had spent some time together, they got along pretty well. They weren’t exactly friends, but they were something close to it, which made the big gatherings less stressful. Case and Hill still watched Shot like a hawk, but there was a level of begrudging respect, and relief that everyone was alive and well, that permeated through any animosity these days.

We were family—a dysfunctional one, but a family nonetheless.

When the backs of Shot’s legs hit the side of the bed, I gave him a little push until he fell over onto his back. I brushed some of the white dust out of his black hair and dragged the tip of my finger down the bridge of his nose and across his lips. I traced an outline around his mouth and grinned when his dark eyebrows danced upward. He wasn’t the only one who could take initiative, at least not anymore. He taught me how to be bold and to be fearless. He taught me to see all those things he loved about me on a regular basis, and I did my best to put them into action.

He stacked his tattooed hands behind his head and watched me with unreadable obsidian eyes as I reached for the hem of his T-shirt. I admired the delineated lines of his cut abs and the sharp V on either side of his hips. I took in the designs marked onto his skin, which I had memorized with my mouth and hands. He had added some new ink since I’d been released from the hospital. He had a guardian angel on his ribs and a single heartbeat across the side of his neck. He said it was the same beat that registered when I finally opened my eyes after being unconscious. I appreciated the raised scars on his flesh that reminded me how lucky I was to have him, and I knew I would never squander a single minute of being with him because he could be taken away any second of any day.

“Aren’t you going to be late picking up Kody?” The question was asked in a gruff tone as I moved my hands to the buckle of his belt and started working the leather free. I could feel that he was already hard and see the way his muscles had tensed in anticipation.

“She won’t mind if I’m a little late.” In fact, she would probably appreciate it. “She understands I’m all about seizing the moment.”

I was going to seize more than the moment as soon as I got his pants and boxer-briefs off. I tugged at the fabric that was in my way, urging him to lift his hips so I could slide everything down his thighs. His ruddy erection pointed upward, already looking slick across the smooth head. I stuck my tongue out to lick across my suddenly dry lips and heard Shot groan in response. Swallowing back a laugh, I leaned forward so I could drop a kiss on his mouth. He tasted like coffee and cream. Sweet and bitter, which was a perfect representation of him. I kissed him again, this time flicking my tongue against his until both our lips were wet and slippery.

When I pulled back he groaned his complaint, only the sound quickly shifted to a gasp when I started to kiss my way down the center of his body. I dragged my teeth over his Adam’s apple and stopped to circle each of his flat nipples with my tongue. I licked my way down his tattooed chest and across the rock-hard plane of his stomach muscles. I let the tip of my tongue dip into the indent of his belly button and tickled the fine hairs of his happy trail with my fingertips. By the time I reached my destination, I could practically feel the way his cock was throbbing and when I circled the hefty length with my hand, I felt it kick in response to the light touch.

Shot swore softly when I lapped at