Jake breathed deeply, reveling in the scent of Delilah’s perfume mixed with the scent of her body and sex that lingered in the room. The night was almost over and neither one had slept. His exhaustion was finally catching up, so he rolled off her and hooked his arm around her midsection, drawing her close with heavy-lidded eyes.
He was still reeling a little from the strength of that orgasm. Delilah had felt different from the moment he’d laid eyes on her but still, the sex had been like nothing he’d ever experienced. His urge to claim her somehow—to spill himself inside her—wasn’t something he’d ever felt before. Even now, after he’d finished with her, he still had to fight the overwhelming sensation to somehow mark her. To make her as his in a way that would let the world know. But doing that with a human was dangerous. Delilah was much more fragile than she knew. A bite like that would turn her. Or worse, kill her when she failed to change.
He’d have to talk to Xavier about that. Hell, he’d have to talk to her about that. Tomorrow. Right now, they needed sleep. Already, he felt her relaxing against him, her breaths evening out as she drifted off beside him.
He rubbed absently at her breast with his thumb and she sighed in contentment. “I’m glad you’re still here,” she murmured.
He tightened his hold on her, drawing her in against his side. “I’ll always protect you,” he said, his words slurring as he drifted off.
A few short hours later, his phone woke him.
He reached for it, barely managing to snag it before he knocked it to the floor. Xavier. He sat up, feeling hung over until he remembered everything that had happened last night. That asshole Tim from Lyle’s bunch had tried to set him up—and almost hurt Delilah in the process.
He glanced over at her sleeping form as he answered Xavier in a low voice. “Hang on,” he said simply, barely above a whisper. He threw the covers back and crept to the bathroom, shutting himself inside before he resumed his conversation with his alpha. Over the line, he could hear the buzz and background noise of papers shuffling that let him know he was on speaker.
“Okay, yeah?” he said.
“Noticed you didn’t come home last night,” Xavier began. “Just checking on ya.”
“Yeah, wanted to make sure you weren’t getting chopped up on the side of a road somewhere,” Nash called out, clearly fishing and Jake rolled his eyes. He didn’t wake up just to be hassled.
“Nah, he’s not roadside. He’s bedside,” Harley put in.
“You sleep okay out there at the love motel?” Lucas asked and Jake shook his head.
“Funny, guys. I actually didn’t sleep much at all on account of someone trying to kill our new PI last night. So if that’s all, I’m going to get back to sleep.” He emphasized the last word, not willing to admit anything even if they already knew.