“Elijah called for fresh clothes and a few other things to be delivered here. Is there anything else that you want?”
“Just to be around all of you,” I admitted before looking at Kolvar.
“We are going to run to grab some of our things and change,” he explained easily, looking over my head in the direction of the bathroom. “I think that Elijah needs more than a moment alone with you, and I want to give him that.”
Dakath nodded his agreement before rumbling, “But we are sleeping in here tonight. Hell, I’m ready to move into your quarters permanently if it means keeping you safe and preserving my peace of mind.”
I giggled, shaking my head before my gaze was pulled in the direction of Elijah standing in the door and motioning to me. Standing up, I pressed a kiss first to Kolvar’s lips and then to Dakath’s, sighing happily that I was finally back with the three men who were quickly becoming everything to me.
Chapter Nine
Elijah
As she approached me, I let myself really take in her ragged appearance for the first time. I was in a state of thankfulness and shock when I woke to find that she had been returned to us. The passage of time that I’d been unconscious seemed like mere minutes to me, but I had missed a lot. It didn’t matter to me what happened in the time I’d been unconscious since it ended with her back in my arms.
At least at the time, that’s all that mattered, followed by ensuring she fed and recovered her strength. Now, though? Now I was fucking raging at the sight of the dried blood marring her skin. The sight of her ripped dress hugging her slender hips left me feeling feral.
They had her in their grasp, and they tortured her.I failed to protect her.
“Elijah?” her gentle voice questioned as she drew to a stop in front of me, reaching up slowly to rest her small hand at the center of my chest.
Her eyes peered up with me, swimming with concern as the corner of her lips pinched closer together.
My fingernails dug into the meaty flesh of my palm as I curled them into tightly-balled fists at my sides. After everything she’d been through, and what they had threatened to do to her, how could she be concerned about me right now?
Despite her acknowledging that they hadn’t sexually abused her, the fact that they’d even alluded to it was just…The thought shattered my heart—the very one I thought had died long ago—into a million jagged pieces. She would spend the remainder of her life with the memory of not only the physical abuse she’d endured, but the fear of their sexual taunts and comments replaying in her head.
Leaning up onto the tips of her toes, she slid her hand from my chest to twine around my neck and pulled me down until our chests were pressed together.
“I’m here,” she breathed out, tucking her forehead into my neck and nuzzling against me. “I’m okay.”
I turned to kiss the top of her head but paused at the sight of her dark, wavy hair matted to her head in clumps. It wasn’t the sight that stilled me, but the scent of her, that edged my rage even higher. I didn’t care about the scents of sweat, salt water, or grime. What I did care about was that I could smellthemon her.
The subtle traces of Malakai’s men lingering on her skin and in her hair turned my stomach, and I needed it gone. I had to erase every essence of them from her body and out of her mind. I knew deep down the latter wasn’t necessarily possible, but I’d be damned if I didn’t try.
Without a word, I scooped her up, loving the way she wrapped her legs around my waist in an instant, not questioning what I was doing as she clung to me. After depositing her gently onto the vanity, I quickly raced to the door, pleased to find all the supplies I’d requested earlier waiting outside.
She remained on the vanity, lightly kicking her feet back and forth as she watched me bring bucket after bucket of steaming water in to fill the tub. In a way, I was thankful for her silence, as odd as that seemed. I wasn’t sure what I could manage to say to express my emotions in a way that didn’t end with me screaming or slamming my fist through a wall. Losing my temper was the last thing I wanted to do after what she’d endured. I had to find a way to contain my anger and aggression, but the only way I knew how to do that was with my silence, processing those emotions internally.
After the tub was filled properly, I brought over three different scented oils to choose from. Lifting them to her, I asked, “Which do you want in the water, love?”
A cheeky smirk tilted the corner of her mouth up, catching me off guard as my brows furrowed in question. “What?”
“You started calling me love, and I happen toloveit.”
Her answer left me feeling contemplative about the new development. She was right, I had started calling her that. It simply felt natural, and right. I was falling in love with this beautiful, strong, compassionate woman before me.She was my love.
Leaning forward, she extended her hand and curled her finger in, motioning for me to come closer. Scooting my feet forward until they were against the base of the cabinet, she motioned again and raised a brow. Leaning my upper body down, she gripped the sides of my face and melded our lips together.
For a second, I lost myself in her lips. In her. I could spend every second of the rest of my life with her lips on mine, and it still wouldn’t feel like enough time. Her tongue slipped into my mouth, and my cock throbbed, demanding attention. At least until the scent ofthemsurfaced through the haze. The reminder was like a bucket of ice cold water being dumped over me.
I couldn’t do this right now. What kind of man would I be to do this when she had been through such a traumatic experience? I needed to be here to take care of her, to console her if she needed that from me.
Ripping my head back, I took a few deep breaths and held up the oils once more. “Which one?”
Her sweet face hardened at my retreat, and a small growl rumbled from her. “Why did you break away from me, Elijah?”
I couldn’t answer that without the fragile dam holding my emotions at bay blasting itself to pieces. It wasn’t fair of me to emotionally dump all of this onto her. I needed to handle my shit on my own time.
