The Moth and the Flame (When Rivals Play #2) - B.B. Reid Page 0,70

seen enough. I directed the cabby back to New York.

I’d always known Danny Boy wasn’t who he claimed to be, but I hadn’t expected some rich prick looking for a thrill. For a second, I suspected him of being just another Thirteen spy. He was just too damn good at being bad to be anything else.

I chuckled and told myself I wouldn’t be back.

Unfortunately, I already knew it was a lie.

Danny Boy wasn’t who I thought, but the current pulling me toward him didn’t abate. It only grew stronger.

Lou didn’t awaken when I climbed through her window, weary and angry, late the following night. My prediction had come true. I’d gone back to Blackwood Keep, and against my better judgment, I confronted Danny Boy.

Or rather Ever McNamara.

Heir to a multibillion-dollar hotel empire.

And the only son of Thomas McNamara.

Surprisingly, what bothered me most wasn’t Danny Boy or his double life. Something about his father had seemed familiar to me. As if I’d known him in another lifetime.

I shook my head as I toed off the black and white striped Adidas Lou had picked out, swearing the sneakers almost made me look normal. I snorted, and with a moan, she shifted in her sleep causing the sheet covering her lower half to slip dangerously low. Before I could rethink it, I ran my fingers over the curve of her naked hip now bare to me. Thoughts of Ever McNamara fled to the recesses of my mind as I marveled at the smoothness of her skin.

It was a surprising contrast to her hardened demeanor, but I always knew it was a front. She was a pillar, no doubt standing tall and appearing strong, but one day, her cracked foundation would crumble, and I’d make damn sure I was around to pick up the pieces.

Even if she didn’t want me to be.

There were times when she didn’t appreciate just how seriously I took my role as her best friend. She claimed I acted like her father rather than her friend. If that was what she called making sure no one ever hurt her again, then sure—I’d daddy the fuck out of her.

Another moan slipped from her lips when my fingers reach the edge of her frilly blue panties, but this time, it was the sound of my name on her lips. For a second, I panicked, thinking she’d caught me perving on her, but when her even breaths continued, I realized she was still very much out of it, and a smile slowly formed as my fingers dipped lower.

“What are you dreaming right now, Lou?”

Her breath seemed to catch as I continued to toy with the seam of her panties.

“Are you dreaming of me?”

She sighed in response.

“You are, aren’t you?”

A low whine escaped her.

“I know what you’re after, little Valentine. I’ve known all along.” We both seemed to stop breathing when my fingers dipped beneath her panties and I felt her smooth skin. “How can you be sure you can handle me when I haven’t even kissed you yet?” I swallowed, cursing myself but then decided to allow myself honesty. At least this once.

She was writhing now, attempting to relieve the ache I knew was building, but we both knew it was useless. Nothing short of getting me inside her would ever do.

“You want to come.” It wasn’t a question but a statement of fact. “But you don’t get to come. You’ve been bad, Lou. This is how I’ll punish you.” I freed my fingers from her panties and stepped back. As if I’d snapped my fingers, breaking her from my spell, she jackknifed from the bed, breathing hard and looking around in confusion. When her gaze pierced the dark and found me, I remain perfectly still, my hands already in my pockets, pretending my fingers weren’t burning with the memory of her soft skin.

“Wren?”

My eyebrow rose. “You expecting someone else?”

“Oh, I don’t know,” she said as she began playing with the ends of her hair. “Miles said he’d stop by.”

She peeked at me from under her long lashes, and my teeth gnashed together as a smug smile broke apart her sleepy pout. She knew exactly how I felt about that prick who was always sniffing up her ass.

“Did you warn Miles that I’d have a bullet waiting for him if he does?”

Her smile turned coy as she peeked at me through the hair falling over her eyes. “Jealous?”

I didn’t answer her. Instead, I snatched the thick blanket neatly folded at the end of