Page 65 of Our Deceptive Heat

“How do you know me so well, Auryn? How can you see parts of me that no one else can?”

“I don’t know, I just see you.”

She tugs her arm, but I refuse to let her go

Instead, I crush her to me and lift so her feet dangle off the ground. Anything to stop her escape. She wraps her legs around my hips as I carry her back up to my suite. She makes a tiny noise of protest that I silence with a low grumble.

In the low light, I shuffle past everything until I’m in our bedroom, staring at the mass of bodies I can just make out in the dark.

Mako lifts his head. “What’s going on? Is everything all right?”

“Ryn can’t sleep.”

Envy and Digs lift their heads, and now the whole pack is watching us. I wait to hear any protests, but none come. Good.

I carefully put her in the middle of the bed. They roll and shift, and then she’s wrapped up in a mass of arms and legs. I hear a murmur of voices as one of the alphas soothes whatever uncertainties she might have.

Everything settles down, and the silence stretches, going from tense to comfortable. I walk around the bed, ready to climb back in, when I stop dead. My ears strain, listening for the sound.

Digs is purring. I mean, it happens, but it hasn’t happened in years, not since we met her.

Envy reaches out, grabbing my wrist and tugging me towards the bed. He knows how monumental it is that Digs is purring. We all know.

“Alpha, come to bed.”

And how could I refuse that request? I slide into bed, but my brain is still going a million miles an hour. Digs is happy again. It’s been forever.

Envy turns and wraps himself around me, content. He’s not having nightmares. In fact, he hasn’t had nightmares in weeks. Mako isn’t antagonizing everyone.

I am tired, maybe now, I’ll finally be able to sleep.

How did I miss all this? My exhaustion gives way to the comfort of having the pack near me. I turn my face into Envy’s throat, kissing the bare skin there.

I’m so tired.

I close my eyes, giving in.

I wake up andstare at the ceiling. My pack is asleep, and Ryn is still here. I can smell the coconut. It’s faint. I know she’s using all those deodorizers and suppressants again. I hate it, but I can understand why.

I’m just surprised she didn’t run.

I wince when I remember the events of yesterday, and that takes the sweetness out of the morning. I roll out of bed and head to the shower. We’d caught the plane back to Greyshore, our next stop, and sat in silence, unwilling to let anyone outside of the five of us know what occurred. We didn’t talk about it, we always communicate, so why didn’t we this time? That’s the source of the issues. We don’t know if Envy is hurt, if she is scared, if everyone is okay, and no one seems game to bring it up.

I gnash my teeth, frustrated for not pushing the issue yesterday.

Tony has been cheerful and inquisitive, but even he’d picked up on our mood and left it alone.

Perhaps time will wash away the need, the desire to have her. Bringing her back to sleep with us isn’t going to make that easier, though. I turn the shower on, strip off, and get in.

The hot water sloshes over me, but it doesn’t take away any of the stress.

The bathroom door opens, and to my surprise, Ryn is shoved in here, naked.

“Ryn was dreaming of you,” Digs shouts with a snicker and shuts the door.

Ryn tries to open it, but it won’t budge.

She’s naked. I stare at the ample curves of her ass and trail my eyes up to the snatched waist. She is all woman, she is all omega. So lovely. My mouth waters.

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