The Sinners of Saint Amos - Logan Fox Page 0,84

for Apollo. He just shrugs, quirking an eyebrow at me as if he has no idea what Reuben’s doing.

Reuben crouches in front of me, one of his knees clicking. He pulls down the bodice of my dress and slips the device between my breasts. Then he uses his thumb to smooth the fabric over my breastbone.

I look down. And then up at him.

“If he’s the saintly priest you say he is, then he won’t be staring hard enough at your tits to notice it,” Reuben says.

“I can’t wear this dress around Father Gabriel.” Just the thought makes my cheeks heat up. Which is weird, because Reuben’s touch hadn’t.

“He’s not going to find it.” Reuben stands, putting his crotch directly at eye level. I hurriedly sit back and bury my face in my mug as I take a sip.

“Why are you helping me?” I ask quietly, glancing between them. “Why not just get rid of me like Zachary wants?”

At this, they share another look. Apollo drops his head, avoiding eye contact. Reuben doesn’t say anything.

“Why?” I ask. “Tell me.”

“Because we’re all coming undone,” Reuben says.

“And as much as Zachary likes to think getting rid of you will help, it won’t,” Apollo adds.

“Only one thing will,” Reuben says.

“What?”

“Finding our Ghosts,” they chorus, faces deadpan.

Apollo leaves first to check if there’s anyone in the hallway. As I wait for Apollo to come back, I peek at Reuben standing in the doorway. He’s resting his shoulder against the jamb, arm barring my way as if he’s worried I’ll bolt out before the coast is clear.

“Thank you for helping me,” I say.

He glances at me and then does a double take. I stiffen when he reaches for me, but it’s only to slip the blanket off my shoulders. “They’d ask questions,” he says with an apologetic shrug. “Else I’d let you keep it.”

I don’t know what comes over me. Maybe it’s the alcohol that’s still flowing through my veins or surviving Cass’s attack with my virginity intact.

More likely it’s the simple fact that Reuben’s always been kind to me. Taking into account how his friends treat me, I’m starting to think it’s something I shouldn’t take for granted.

I step forward, go onto my tippy toes, and immediately realize my mistake when I pucker my lips a good two inches from his jaw.

I forgot how tall he was. Other than kissing the side of his neck, there’s no other way to express my gratitude.

My cheeks catch fire. I sink back to my heels, dropping my gaze as I pray for the earth to swallow me.

A hand slips around my waist. Before I have a chance to protest, Reuben presses me to the wall beside the door.

I lift my legs and wrap them around his waist, if only so I won’t hit the floor if he decides to let me go.

But he doesn’t drop me.

He pins me to the wall with his body and uses his hands to smooth my curls out of my eyes.

“I wish you weren’t part of this. You’re too innocent to be mixed up in this shit. But then I wouldn’t have met you,” he murmurs.

My heart twists as he comes close enough for me to feel his breath on my lips. “And I can’t imagine not having met you.”

His lips crush mine.

I have time for a gasp, but then I’m swept under. His commanding lips fight mine, urging me to open and let him in, but I’m so terrified that I’m doing this wrong, that I taste gross, that he’ll stop…

He makes a sound deep in his throat. Somehow, my body takes it as a signal. Resistance flees. My lips part to let him in and it’s like stepping into the middle of a raging river. In an instant, I’m swept under.

Electricity courses over my lips as our kiss slows.

Seconds—centuries—later he pulls away, grabs my ass in both hands, and slowly lowers me to the floor.

I swoon like some corseted lady from the eighteenth century about to succumb to a fainting spell, and lean against the wall before my legs can buckle.

“You two done? Because we gotta go.” Apollo’s standing about a yard away, a deep frown creasing his brow.

Did he see everything?

I press the back of my hands against my hot cheeks. “Sorry,” I murmur, yanking the hem of my dress down my legs and dropping my head as I hurry out of the door.

Behind me, Reuben lets out a throaty chuckle that does sinful things to my insides.

I breathe a