Page 58 of Little Wing
Mateo leaned past them to look at me. “Wait, can they do anything?”
All I could do was shrug as I honestly didn’t know. What I did know what that I was not going to let anyone take her away from me. Her brother was at fault for a legitimate double homicide while Lotus had taken a life out of a bloodlust that she fought against for nearly a month. I’d find a way to punish Luca, even if its delivery would have to be brought by my own hand.
“Lotus will be staying with us,” I announced to which Quinn and Mateo nodded. “I’ll be back at Little Wing soon, but we just need to figure out how to go about this.”
Lotus turned and shook her head slowly.
Her alarm used to scare me, but I grabbed her hand and smiled the fanged smile I knew she loved. “We’ll figure this out, Lo. You’re mine, and I’m not going to let anyone else get their hands on the woman I love,” I said.
Quinn gasped and clasped her hands together. “Oh, my gods!”
Lotus grinned and lowered her gaze. Her feigned sheepishness doing wonders to wake my cock.
“Alright, alright—” Mateo smirked and gave us both a wink before ushering Quinn out of the living room to the other side of the house where their room was. “We’ll leave you horny kids to it.”
“You’re a horny kid, too,” I pointed out.
“Exactly,” he said over his shoulder. “That’s why we’re going to our room so we can fuck like rabbits.”
Lotus covered her mouth and stifled a giggle. Fuck, it was the sweetest sound, but I got up and led her back to my room so we could get some rest. I needed the peace of mind knowing that she was beside me while I slept. Until tomorrow, the only thing I wanted to think about was whether Lotus felt satisfied and safe beside me. Because I would make damn sure that the answer would always be “yes”.
You never seem to realize the weight that stress and fear have on you until you finally feel safe enough and sleep. After the heavy events of the previous evening, I fell into such a deep slumber that I did not wake once. When I finally opened my eyes, the sun was already beginning to set and I felt incredibly rested. I didn’t know if I could recall the last time I felt that way. Turning my head, I smiled at the sight of Silas turned to me with his arm draped over my waist. With gentle strokes, I brushed his messy chocolate curls away from his forehead and rubbed his temple with my thumb.
I loved this beautiful man, and what a gift it was to be loved by him in return.
When Silas did not wake, I reached across the nightstand beside me to drag my cell phone closer. Before I even looked at the screen, I saw that my inbox was flooded with messages from Kait and Reina.
Just checking if I need to bring Kait's bat to Silas's house?
Reina, I swear… stop taking Betsy out of the bar! But seriously, Lo, checking in to see how it went! I can still come pick you up if you want.
Hiii! I'm here with Kait and Betsy. We're drinking cocktails and manifesting only good stuff for you! Silas texted us that you're safe. We like him!!!
I touched the screen as if I could feel the warmth of their care through the digital image. My responses were sent, yet I couldn’t stop grinning at the fact that at some point between me arriving to Silas’s home and us spending hours worshipping each other’s bodies, he took a moment to text my friends who he knew were worried about me. I looked at him again and set my phone down to enjoy the moment of Silas at peace. This exact moment had me wishing I could send my brother a message to leave me alone. If I could feel his connection in the tether that tied me to him, I had every right to make him feel the anguish he was putting me through. Three hundred years of being stuck to him—wasn’t that enough?
“I can hear you thinking,” Silas mumbled, not giving me a chance to respond before he pulled me on top of him.
“No,” I giggled, pressing my lips to his neck. “You cannot.”
“No? Maybe it was the snoring I heard.”
“What?! I don’t snore!”
“Whatever you say, Everett,” he said sleepily.
I hushed my laughter at the sound of my name, my true name, not realizing how it would make me feel. He said it so casually. It had been such a long time since I heard it spoken outside of true crimedocumentaries and out of the mouths of angry vampires. It was—beautiful.
I enjoyed the feel of Silas’s hands running up and down my back that I almost drifted off again, but our day had to carry on. As much as I wanted to spend eternity in bed with him, my arrival was not to put life on pause.
“Are we going to Little Wing today?”
Silas stirred and angled his head to look me in the eyes. “Are you sure?”
I gave him a short nod, with my chin against his chest. “Yes.”
He carefully helped me off him so that we could both sit up. I immediately felt the change in his mood complete with the visible tightness in his jaw.
“Lotus,” he started, taking my hand in his. “I love how passionate you are about helping, but the last time you were there you…” He looked at me before lowering his gaze to the bed. “You got hurt.”
