He nodded, a smile touching his lips. “You’re…” his voice trailed off. Then gave a slight shake of his head, as if he didn’t know what to say.
“Did I do it right?” I asked, a new concern blossomed inside me.
Zilan chuckled, resting his forehead against mine. “You’re my entire world, Bronte. Thank you. I just needed comfort for a minute.”
“I’ll give you whatever you want. All you have to do is tell me,” I said.
He hugged me tightly, pressing his lips to mine. Letting me feel how much I meant to him. “I know. I won’t put that kind of pressure on you again, though.”
“It’s okay,” I said. “I don’t mind, as long as you tell me what you need. Tell me what to do. I liked holding you when you needed it.”
“Did you?”
“Yes. I want to be here for everything. Including when you need to take a breath and let out your stress and fear.”
He didn’t answer for a minute, but when he picked his head up, he was smiling again. “I can do that.”
“Now you can hold me, though,” I told him. Him being scared had me completely and utterly fucking terrified.
Zilan wrapped around me tightly, pressing me into the lounge, and we laid there like that until the sun went down.
Hadley
I sat nervouslyon the same couch I’d been on when I last video chatted with my friends. Reba and Dallas would be calling soon. I wasn’t sure about Simms. She was apparently happy I wasn’t dead, but that’s as much as she’s said over the last week and a half.
The conversation where I explained the truth of my life played through my mind all too clearly. While Reba and Dallas had been surprised, they’d recovered fairly quickly. Simms. She had not. Her gaping face stared at me through the screen. But I’d have dealt with her silence anytime over the conversation that followed.
Because I was nervous, Notus and Taranis sat on the couch across from me. The sight of them leaning companionably against each other reminded me of the painting of Nephele and Tempest. My cheeks heated at the image that flashed behind my eyes.
They were sitting close, but in a much more romantic position. Notus leaned back in the corner with Taranis’s back against his chest. Notus had his phone in hand as he scrolled, but Tara had a book. I watched Notus’s fingers move across Tara’s chest absently.
Tara wasn’t naked right now. He wore jeans that were low on his hips but the only reason he was dressed right now was because we were heading to The Harem Project to talk about Silence in a couple hours. He needed to be dressed for that.
They must have felt my gaze on them because both sets of stormy eyes glanced up from where they were looking.
“You okay, sweetheart?” Notus asked.
I nodded. “Haven’t really talked to them in a while,” I said. Texts here and there, yes, but I haven’t had a conversation with them in weeks. I was sure they’d been talking to Simms, so I could only imagine the things Simms was telling them. It made my stomach flip uncomfortably. She couldn’t sway them, right?
“We’ll be right here,” Tara said, giving me a sexy smile.
Sighing, I relaxed a little against the couch. Just as I was pulling my legs under me, the messenger rang on my laptop. Taking one last deep breath, I clicked the ‘accept’ button and a second later, Reba and Dallas’s faces popped up on my screen.
They were grinning widely. Their smiles looked genuine. And they appeared to be in good moods. Was there tension in their shoulders? Hesitation in their eyes?
“It’s so good to see your face!” Reba said.
“I was serious about the hug, though,” Dallas added.
Tears were already stinging my eyes to see them. I laughed and it sounded watery. “We will get together soon. I promise.”
“You can invite us there,” Reba said, grinning mischievously. Dallas’s eyebrows waggled.
I laughed again, wiping at my eyes. “Sure. You can come here. But they’re all mine. All of them.”
Reba sighed dramatically. “Fine. But just so you know, I’ve been dreaming about glorious ass cheeks.”
Tara snorted. My gaze flickered up to see him grinning into his book.
