Page 10 of Sustaining
Barley a second passes, and I just know that I won’t do it right. I should have tried before this. I should have strengthened it just for moments like this when he’s gone and I can’t reach him and I’ll never know if he’s hurt or not. And why didn’t I try this before? Why?
Kain!
His name is a yell in my thoughts as the anxiety in me crushes through my lungs.
What? What’s wrong? Is someone hurting you? I’m an hour away. I’m coming.His voice is a stream of tense sounds spoken in a quick, rough way.
No. No. I’m fine. I just was thinking about you is all.
My eyes close. That sounds…lame as hell.
You were thinking about me so you screamed my name in panic?
I didn’t mean to. I was just worried.
Arlow, I stopped flying and shifted back because I thought you needed me. I’m fucking naked in hay field just because you were ‘thinking about me’.There’s a small amount of annoyance kissing his words.
He’s not even here, and I can picture the frustration in his green eyes perfectly.
I can also picture other things in precise detail.
You’re naked?
A smile tips my lips as a second of silence passes between our bond. His words hum like a caress through my thoughts when he finally replies.
That would be what you pick up on out of that rant, wouldn’t it?
My tongue slides across the smile on my lips, and I can’t help but picture his hard body, his hands probably planted firmly on his hips as he gives me a mental lecture in the middle of the country.
Are you hard?
A groan tumbles through the line linking us together, but he doesn’t immediately reply.
I am now.
My fingers slip beneath the blankets, skimming lightly over the waist of my lace panties as I wait for more details.
Kain?I breathe out his name both in my mind and out loud.
It’s starting to rain,he finally says, sounding even more frustrated.
The faint tapping of gentle water flicking against my window pulls my gaze to the shining stars outside. Water droplets skim down the glass, and I glare at the little trickles as they slide down to the windowpane.
Be careful, Kain.There are so many other things I don’t add to that. Be safe. Come home soon. All the things that sound sweet but are actually just rising fear inside my mind.
I will. I’ll be back before you know it. I love you, Arlow.
I pull the soft blanket up to my chin.
I love you, too.
The pelting sound of water striking against glass picks up. It grows quickly into a violent downpour. A low rumble of thunder slashes down a hard storm of rain, and the tension that had just left my body snaps right back into place. I’m throwing off the blanket and trailing right back to my men in a matter of seconds.
Sinister is already fast asleep, his dark lashes fanned across his sharp cheekbones. I see how much his magic wore on him today, even if he refused to admit it. Chaos only smiles when I walk around the couch and step over him to be safely between them. His palm glides across every inch of my body when I lower myself down between him and Rime. All three of them shift, making room for me. I didn’t realize how exhausted I really was from yesterday as well as today. Sinister said the Dark Seduction would have that effect, but I didn’t notice it until I was settled in surrounded by Rime and Chaos. Their big arms wrap around me, caressing my curves as my eyelids close heavily.
If any hands do slip that night, I’m sadly not aware of it.
Six
