Total pages in book: 114
Estimated words: 105815 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 529(@200wpm)___ 423(@250wpm)___ 353(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 105815 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 529(@200wpm)___ 423(@250wpm)___ 353(@300wpm)
“I think Junjie would point out here that he’s a grown adult and can look out for himself,” Leo groused as he paced to the door and gazed out the side window.
Chen and Moon were forgotten as soon as he reached the window. He saw the double doors at the end of the driveway opening to allow in the Zhangs’ SUV. Leo ripped open the door and zipped outside, jogging down the stairs and along the path to meet the vehicle as soon as Junjie stepped out.
“What’s wrong? Did something happen? Is Erik okay?” Junjie spat out questions at an astounding rate as he leaped from the vehicle.
“Erik is fine. What’s wrong is that you were gone for hours, and I didn’t know if you were dead or captured,” Leo snapped. Junjie’s dark eyebrows shot up to his forehead and his lips parted, forming an O of surprise.
Fuck. That was a little much. Leo needed to rein it in.
But he didn’t want to. He’d been worried about Junjie, and that had morphed into actual fear verging on terror as the hours ticked by. It wasn’t a feeling he’d had for anyone before, and he didn’t much care for it. The only thing that was going to make things better was getting Junjie inside. They needed to be away from all these prying, judging eyes.
Leo wrapped his fingers around Junjie’s wrist and pulled. “Come. I’m sure you’re eager to see Erik.”
Junjie grunted in agreement but said nothing else, for which Leo was grateful. It gave him a chance to get his emotions under control. Otherwise, something else embarrassing was going to slip out.
When they reached Erik’s bedroom, Leo was careful to push the door open without making a sound. A bunny nightlight glowed off to one side, filling the child’s room with soft light. They stepped inside, and Leo looked up in time to see the most tender smile spreading across Junjie’s lips.
“How was he?” Junjie asked in a whisper.
“An angelic terror.”
Junjie tipped his head so that he could see Leo’s face, his own expression twisted in silent question.
“Apparently he wasn’t in the mood for what Ming Yu made him for dinner, so there was some screaming and thrown food until we convinced him to try a little. He might have also devoured two hot dogs.”
Junjie’s gaze zipped back to Erik’s sleeping form. The child had never thrown a tantrum before, and Junjie’s concern was palpable in his taut muscles.
“I think he missed you,” Leo continued, and he almost kissed Junjie’s throat when the vampire swallowed hard. “But I read him a bedtime story at his request, which made Chen pout. It was amazing. After that, he went right to sleep.”
“I’m glad he didn’t have too bad of a night.”
“What about you? Did—” Leo cut off his words when he placed his hand on Junjie’s arm and found his shirt to be soaked and ice cold. He’d forgotten about the fierce storm that had blown through. At the time, he’d hoped that the team had made it to the car ahead of the storm breaking, but it was clear they hadn’t.
Frowning, Leo grabbed Junjie again and dragged him across the hall to his room. “Get undressed and in the shower this second,” he ordered as he shut the door behind them.
“What?”
“Out of those clothes! They’re soaking wet and cold. You’re…”
A slow smile spread across Junjie’s lips and laughter brightened his dark eyes. “Going to catch my death?”
Leo growled and shoved Junjie farther into the room. “Shut up.”
This reversed-roles thing sucked. It was better when he was the one screwing up and getting into trouble and someone else did the worrying. All he was doing was making a jackass of himself.
He tried to give Junjie another push, but the vampire caught his hand and pulled him in close until their chests bumped. A shiver ran through Leo, but it had nothing to do with the cold that came off Junjie.
“I’ll jump in the shower to warm up, but I don’t want to be alone.”
Was it opposite day and nobody had told him?
The world was fucking upside down. He was being the worrywart, and Junjie was the flirty one. Nothing was making sense.
Fuck it.
“Sounds amazing,” he purred. There was no way in hell he could walk away from a flirty, sexy Jun-Jun.
They rushed and stumbled into the bathroom, where Junjie reached inside the shower to turn on the water to get it heating up as Leo stripped off his clothes and tossed them about. The second he was naked, he began “helping” Junjie get out of his.
Not that he was a great help, since his mouth latched on to the vampire’s bare chest. He licked, nibbled, kissed, and sucked on anything he could reach, loving the way Junjie’s breath caught. Those normally nimble and brisk fingers fumbled with buttons. He grabbed Leo and shoved him against the wall. Hard lips captured Leo’s mouth, and he could only moan into that hot kiss accompanied by the cool press of chilled flesh.