She smiles. “Your morning skate was okay?”
It’s a deflection, but I don’t push her on it. She’ll tell me when she’s ready, especially if it’s something to do with how Paxton has been jumpy the last twelve hours or so, flinching and scenting from something clearly happening in one of his bonds. I kiss her temple and ease around the island, grabbing the protein shake I’d made this morning and drinking it down.
She eases to her feet, her hand gripping the counter as she leans a hip against it, while I slowly wash out the the cup and place it in the dishwasher.
“Billie’s back,” she says.
She might as well have pulled the pin on a grenade and set it on the island. I whirl around, my eyes wide, my scent exploding around me with my shock.
“What?”
She flinches, her teeth digging into her bottom lip. “She came to the shop right before I closed and asked if we could talk. So I took her back to the apartment.”
She carefully edges the neckline of her henley down and twists away from me enough I can see her back. There’s long scratches covering her shoulders and upper back, deep welts that were definitely made my nails. I’d know those types of welts anywhere, even if she tends to scratch up my scalp rather than my shoulders. Not all women do, though, some grab shoulders and sides and sometimes even hands. It’s easy enough to picture it, Carys’s face between Billie’s legs, her eyes wide with nerves but hot with interest.
A low growl rises in my throat, rumbling through my chest at the thought. She fixes the shirt and turns back to me, tears lining her lashes as she swallows heavily.
“She said she doesn’t want to tell anybody, that she doesn’t want anyone to know that she’s come back,” she says, the words rushing out of her like wind out of a sail. Her scent snaps out from her, edged in her fear and worry. “I didn’t get a chance to talk to her about anything, really. She’s still wearing her ring, though. Does that mean she’s planning on staying? I should have asked her that before she… we…” She makes a noise in her throat. Well, that would explain Paxton’s twitchiness. Fuck, that must have been a trip, feeling both of their pleasure while trying to focus on the game. “And now I’ve made out with both of them, havesleptwith both of them, and I don’t know what to do, and they’re probably both going to be fucking pissed and?—”
“Carys, enough.” My voice is nothing but a low bark full of command. She sucks in a startled breath, her mouth snapping shut. “You need to breathe, baby girl. Breathe for me.”
Carys’s entire body shakes, her eyes wild like a caged and cornered animal. I don’t try and close the distance between us, not entirely sure she won’t run out of here the minute I attempt to touch her. Even at her most vulnerable, when she was straddling Paxton, her heat so painful she was still crying despite being knotted and bonded, she hadn’t seemed this… delicate. One sharp word, and she’ll probably crumble.
“I just keep messing everything up. First I make out with him, ready and willing to knot him in his car, so much so that he’s the one who has to stop it to keep the lines we agreed on,” she whispers. The tears spill over, falling in long lines down her cheeks and over her chin. Some fall onto her blouse while others make it all the way to the floor. “And now he doesn’t even know she’s back. He doesn’t know, and I have bruises on my legs from…”
She sucks in a gasp and the tears fall even faster. My restraint collapses. I palm her cheeks as I step into her, moving her until she’s pressed against the kitchen’s island and my hips are wedged against her belly. My erection sits hot and heavy against her belly button. Her breathing stutters as she feels it, her scent flashing around us raw and unfiltered before the tang of her fear warps it again.
“You’re not messing anything up.”
She shakes her head. “Iam, Rhett. I?—”
I kiss her, holding her chin in place when she tries to duck away. It takes nearly a full minute for the distressed edge of her scent to fade away. When it does, I end the kiss. I don’t pull away from her, though, instead keeping my body pressed flush with hers, my arms caging her in against the counter. Her cheeks are a deep red, and her pupils are blown wide. Orchid weavesaround us, mingling with my own lemongrass in a blend that’s literal perfection.
“Carys,” I whisper, “do you feel this?”
Her pulse flutters in her throat, so fast it’s practically a hummingbird. “Your dick?”
Said dick twitches at the way her lips wrap around the word. Her flush darkens even more, trailing down her neck. I want to follow it, trace it with my lips and then my tongue, but I force myself still.
Stay focused, James.
“Notjustthat,” I say with a smirk.
She starts to say something, but I cut her off before I can actually get derailed.
“Do you feel the way I can’t keep my hands off of you? The way I need you pressed up against me to be able to think halfway straight?” I lace my fingers with hers and then kiss the back of her hand. “Do you feel the way I’ll need you until I’m dead and in the ground?”
Her eyes grow glassy with tears again.
“You’re not messing any of this up, baby girl,” I say, filling the words with every ounce of devotion in my body. “Not between us.”
Her lips tremble. “It feels like I am. It…” She sucks in a breath and then closes her eyes, a single tear dropping down her cheek. “I’m scared I’m going to end up alone because I keep making the wrong choices.”
I wipe the tear away. “Baby girl, I’m not going anywhere, all right?” I wait until her eyes are open again. “Whether you fuck Billie every night for the rest of our lives, or we have to move to Sweden to get away from them both, I’m here with you.”
She flinches just a fraction, and I squeeze her fingers tighter. I let my teeth scrape across her delicate skin. Her breath catches a moment before her scent washes over me, drowning me moreeffectively than any ocean. I wrap my arm around her, soaking in her feel and scent and warmth. My purr kicks up. She slowly relaxes, her racing heart slowing. She presses her lips to my chest.
Eventually, I break the silence. “What do you want to do?”
