I nod at Lex, understanding his explanation far better than the others.
“Why are we going to the athletic department?” Lex asks.
“There are recovery rooms with king-sized beds for athletes who have been injured near the therapy suites.”
“So what?” Hadrian works my last nerve like it’s his job.
“So,” I answer sarcastically, “Sable needs a place to sleep tonight that’s big enough to fit us all. Plus, there are perks.”
I tug Sable’s hand, and we start moving again. Everyone follows, and there’s momentary silence as we walk the empty halls.
“Why didn’t you tell us, Hadrian?” Orion asks, and the two of them start to bicker. Once they’re fighting, I feel much better and tune them out as they follow me deeper and deeper into the university. Sable doesn’t ask any questions or try to pull her hand from mine, and she’s such a good girl that if I wasn’t already planning on worshipping every inch of her body, I would be now. I squeeze her hand just to reassure myself she’s actually here, and much to my thrill, she squeezes back.
“What are these perks?” Orion asks, staying on our heels and refusing to let Sable get even an inch away from him. He doesn’t realize I’m also angry with him, and fuck if all this rage isn’t tiring.
“You’ll see,” I insist, notasmad at him as the rest of them because I know he really didn’t mean to cause the issues he did. He’s justOrion.
As we get closer to our destination, I can’t wait any longer. I lift Sable into my arms, sweeping her legs out from under her. She laughs, a quick, shocked sound, but it’s a laugh all the same. My half-dead heart races along with my feet. The guys move ahead of us to grab the large cathedral doors leading into the athletic department. This entire part of the collegeis tremendous, but it’s organized in a way that makes getting around fairly easy.
Within five minutes, we’re in the hydrotherapy department, and then I open the door to the?—
“Whoa, is this a church?” Sable asks.
“What the fuck?” Orion echoes the curiosity in his own way.
“Let me show you.”
CHAPTER 36
PARKER
Paintedglass windows point out over the Bellthorn landscape, but the colors are too deep to see out unless you press your eyes up against them. Benches and other features are built into the stone itself, and the shape is awfully similar to a pew. I never really thought of this place that way, but we are here to worship her. Sable walks through the space, a quiet awe lighting her expression, making her so beautiful it nearly hurts to look at her. The pain is entirely different from the pain of missing her, but it’s stained with it. I’ll never be the same again, knowing how much it hurts to lose her.
A pile of wood already sits stacked inside the stove, standing in the center of the space just waiting. I find the long box of matches and light one, tucking it between the logs and watching it catch easily. Someone likely prepped this for tomorrow, but I don’t care much when it comes to spoiling Sable. The flames kick up quickly, so I close the door and turn the knobs to let air in and let the smoke out until all the settings are right. Everyone watches me curiously as I grab a bowl with a handle and dip it into a large stone basin of water. Pouring the water over the plate, steam begins to fill the air.
A few more scoops and the steam is thick and rolling. “Let’s get you out of those clothes,” I say to Sable, but when I turn, I find Orion has already stripped naked.Jesus Christ. The droplets are thick enough in the air that I can see where his dick starts but not where it ends. I roll my eyes, but my enthusiasm isn’t far behind his. The guys haven’t said anything about it, but I’m almost sure from how calm their energy seems that they’ve been with her. That’s yet another reason I want to throttle them all. This is another reason Orion is easier to forgive. He hasn’t had her either.
Resentment flares in me. I should have been with them when they went to find her, and I don’t understand for a moment where this sudden alliance came from. A silent moment passes where Sable touches my hand, and her soft eyes soothe the demons inside me. She spreads my fingers with her own and tangles them intimately. Drawing that hand to her hip, she gives me permission to do what I asked of her.
“Are you sure?” I say, hands and breath shaking because I truly feared I’d never be in this position again. After years of living and breathing for her, I thought I’d failed.
“I’m sure, but you can’t get too upset, okay?” Her voice shakes a little, and that uncertainty nearly breaks me.
“What the fuck does that mean?” I ask her, but there’s a sadness in the air around me that tells me Orion and I are the last to know again.
“I told you he hurt me, but I didn’t say everything.”
My hands shake as they pull up her shirt and reveal a large bandage. “What is this?” I swallow hard as my fingers skate over the cloth so lightly.
“Something that won’t fade on its own,” she says. Her hands move as if she’s going to remove the bandage.
“Don’t,” Lex and I say at the same time. It’s not that I won’t face what’s been done to her, but she seems far too injured.
“You need to keep it covered. An infection would be bad,” Lex tells her as he takes the spot at her back. His hands move to her pants, but she shakes her head.
“That’s Parker’s job.”
“What about me?” Orion pouts as he stands at her side like a dog waiting for a treat. Sable smiles at him like he amuses her, and despite my efforts to dislike him, I have to admit he’s really grown on me, especially now that he’s made her smile. I’m surprisingly willing to forgive him for this mess with Arabella. My anger toward him is nearly entirely gone already.
