Our Deceptive Heat (When it Raines Omegaverse #3)

14. Envy

Chapter fourteen

Envy

Regret is the heaviest burden, but regretting you is breaking me in two- Envy Fate

Tyr is right behind me as I storm into the hotel room. I whirl on him and shove him back.

“Back off!”

“Not going to happen, not now, not ever.”

I snarl at him, but the asshole just snarls back at me. I’m so mixed up and confused about everything.

He wraps an arm around my waist and presses his face to my shoulder. Tyr is shorter than me but stronger, his body more compact. He didn’t always look like that. When we were kids, he was as scrawny as they come.

But when he hit seventeen, he started growing and growing. Muscles that he keeps effortlessly, with ease. While I have to work out for hours to keep mine.

We’ve known each other forever. I know his thoughts better than he does, but he knows all of my tells.

“I’m sorry.”

I heave a sigh, half exasperated, half amused. Just like that, my anger recedes, and I put a hand over his arm and lean back against him.

“We need to help her.”

Tyr tenses.

“She made our career. Without those songs, we never would have become who we became. We owe our success to her. ”

Tyr is silent.

“How bad was it that night?” I ask finally. I hate to ask, but I need to know. It’s been three and a half weeks of us dancing around the subject. Awkward silences, and tense working environments, and these fucking pictures of these old men hurting my Ryn in my head all night.

“They barked her into stripping and sitting on his lap. She had no ability to fight him. It probably wouldn’t have been much longer, and she would have been…”

He can’t say the words. It’s okay, my mind fills it in for him.

I close my eyes. “Okay. We’re going to help her. Tell Digs and Mako to prepare for some rest and relaxation. We have time in between schedules.”

Tyr reluctantly lets go of me. “We don’t have time-”

“I’m not making a request, Tyr. This is me telling you, we’re going home for a couple of days.” I let out a growl and whirl back. “And buy her another phone. Mako should never have destroyed hers. I don’t know why she hasn’t replaced it.”

“She’s got the work one.”

“Why did she have a personal one, then? She’s got someone who makes her feel safe. We have no right to take that from her!” I say in a harsher voice than I mean to.

I go into the bathroom and peel my sweaty clothes off and step into the shower. I stand under the scorching spray, trying to wash the stress away.

When I’m on stage, I don’t feel the same way that the others do. They feel alive and like they can fly when they perform. For me it’s deeper. I play for one person, and every time I get up on that stage, all I see is that person.

Auryn.

She challenges me, encourages me. She’s intelligent and darkly capable. Her lyrics are genius, and her ability to write music is next level.

Falling in love with Ryn was as easy as breathing.

Falling out of love with her is proving to be impossible.

I groan and get out of the shower, drying myself off before I head into my room. I pull out an oversized jumper and baggy jeans. The more I can disguise myself, the easier it will be to stay away from all the reaching hands of our fans.

Just thinking about the fans makes me shudder. I appreciate them. I do, just not when they can grab me. The pack, my band, and our crew protects me. Everyone we’ve hired knows to protect my space above everything else.

I throw my clothes into my bag and check to make sure I’ve got everything, then I pull my bag into the other room and set it near the door. I wander into the kitchen and sit on the counter and check my phone.

No one calls me. I don’t even know why I have it, but I’ve become addicted to this game where I have to build a city to prevent the zombies from invading. It’s distracting and keeps me from searching for information about the band. To see if there are any more of those hideous rumours.

The things they say about us are horrendous. At the start, when we started getting famous, they loved us, then they loved to hate us. The vile accusations and rumours keep me up late and make me really wonder if this career is worth it.

Tony slams into the hotel room and glares around, stopping when he spots me.

“Where is Mako?”

I shrug. “Signing autographs, I think.”

“I’m gonna kill him,” Tony growls. “Of all the awful things he’s done, this is up there.”

“What did he do?”

“He sent a picture of that really hot rock star you guys are friends with, Locke, to my wife. Now she wants to come on tour with us!”

I study him in silence. He huffs and stomps his feet, but there’s a quiet knock at the door. He pulls it open, and Ryn steps in, her dark hair hiding her face.

“Tony, go get the others. I want to get on the road,” I say abruptly.

Tony opens his mouth to argue, but I hold up one hand, preventing him from saying anything.

He leaves quietly, leaving me alone with her.

“Auryn Raines,” I say quietly and look down at my phone. There’s a message from Locke Raines, one I’ve been thinking about a lot. Something that doesn’t make sense. Especially not the reason he sent it to me. Locke and I aren’t friends, not really. So, why is he telling me about omega purrs? And what even is it, anyway?

She throws herself down on the couch. I slide off the counter and stalk towards her.

As soon as I’m close, she glances up and narrows her eyes. On the other Raines offspring, these eyes look plain, ordinary, but on her, she’s a turquoise and teal ocean. Her dark hair is a shade of black that is almost blue and so glossy. It’s thick and begs for me to run my fingers through it. Her lips are plump and always pink. She has this habit of twisting just one side of her lips when she’s thinking, and when she smiles; she gets a dimple on her left cheek.

I move around the couch and sit beside her. “We’re going to help you.”

She jolts. “You are?”

“Of course, we are, Ryn. I’m not sure why you’re surprised. We just needed time to talk about it.”

She doesn’t believe me, but that’s okay. She doesn’t need to know that I’ve made the decision alone. The others will follow where I lead. Especially on this .

Ryn sags, and all the fight goes out of her. I scowl and get up on my knees.

“Don’t do that.”

“Do what?”

“Don’t give up, don’t quit. I know you, Ryn, and I have never seen you look like this.”

She casts a quick look at me but then looks away just as quickly. “I’m not giving up.”

I grip her chin, turning her face towards me.

All at once, I forget what I’m doing. Images slam into my brain. Memories I’ve replayed a million times.

She inhales, just a slight, sharp little inhale that draws my eyes to her lips. I know she’s remembering that night, too. If I’d have known what would happen, would I still have done it?

Yes.

“Tell me to stop,” I breathe and lean in really slowly.

“Stop,” she says, but there’s no conviction.

“Tell me you don’t want me,” I whisper against her lips.

“I don’t-”

I press my lips to hers. She’s softer than I remember, and she tastes incredible. Coconut and this flavour that is distinctly her. She responds instantly, putting a hand against my neck and one to my shoulder. Her fingers curl as I kiss her deeper.

Still just as responsive as she was the night we both gave in and betrayed everyone we love.

I yank back, tearing free from her.

“Fuck!” I breathe in horror. “I have no control around you.”

She looks down but the hotel door opens. I turn away, wiping my mouth, and pull my hood up.

“Hurry, go shower, dress, do whatever you need to do. We have a plane to catch!” Tony barks out.

Mako saunters past him like we’ve got all the time in the world. Tony growls and whacks him hard on the back. “Moron. Apologize to the poor girl for not replacing her phone. I was sure you had!”

“I’m really so sorry, Ryn,” Mako says. “I’ll get you another phone.”

“It's all right,” Ryn says, but her head is down, and she’s refusing to look at him.

I wonder if she doesn’t want to look at him because we’re being deceitful or if her lips are puffy and she’s trying to hide the evidence of our betrayal.

I walk away and stand against the window. My heart is thudding. They know. The bonds between us are always wide open. They know exactly what I’ve done. I can feel their searching gazes .

Digs in particular gets ready extra quickly and then comes to stand beside me.

“You want to explain?”

I shake my head.

Digs growls. His hair is wet and looks darker than normal.

“Envy-”

I step into his space, putting my body against his. He’s softer than us, all thick and totally man shaped. I love the feel of him.

“It’s okay, I won’t do it again.”

Digs finally lifts his arms and hugs me. I glance over his shoulder at the girl sitting quietly on the couch.

“We’re going to take her home with us.”

“What?” Digs chokes on air. “We can’t, that’s, no, just, no.”

“She needs some TLC from the mamas.”

Digs groans and thinks about it for a long minute. “Are you sure?”

“Yes!” I snap. “I’m not asking. I’m telling. That beta needs our mamas and if any of you try to argue with me, I’ll let Gran know.”

Digs gasps. “That’s just cruel and unusual.”

It was cruel, but it was the right thing to do. Something is very wrong with Ryn’s life, and I have no doubt that she’s barely telling us the truth about anything.

The taste of her lingers on my tongue, and the memories surge up again. The pack knows about this kiss, but they don’t know about the first one. And they don’t know that the reason Ryn disappeared is because of what we did that night.

They don’t know that my actions drove her away from us. That we almost betrayed everyone.

I should never have touched her.

I need to make this right.