Chapter 79
CHAPTER SEVENTY-NINE
ASTRID
By the time we finished, my trembling legs completely gave out. I gripped on to Arch’s biceps just to keep myself upright, pressed my thighs together from being used over and over tonight, and whimpered into his shoulder.
To my surprise, Arch scooped me up in his arms. No teasing. No scolding. No smug smirk. Just me in his arms as he headed through the mansion as if he knew exactly where we were, his footsteps slow.
I curled up into his chest and rested my head on his shoulder, enjoying the moment before he turned all cold again. Arch couldn’t be nice for long. At least not with me, not in the several years I had known him.
But something had been changing with him lately.
And honestly? I kinda liked it.
When the sound of The Crew’s voices drifted down the hallway from what I remembered as the movie room, Arch continued past it and didn’t even look inside. No, we kept walking until things turned familiar, and then he stepped into Cairo’s suite.
Cairo poked his head out of the bathroom and offered me a soft smile. “There you are.”
Once Arch stepped into the room, a wall of steam hit us. The lights were dim, tiny candles flickering around the tub’s marble edge. The Jacuzzi tub was filled with bubbles. The scent of lavender and roses drifted through my nose.
“You ran a bath for me?” I asked, peering at Cairo.
“It was Arch’s idea,” Cairo said.
My eyes widened even more, and my chest filled with warmth. Arch clenched his jaw and set me down gently in the bathtub. Before he could let go of me completely, I grasped his forearm, brows drawn together.
“Did you really?” I whispered.
His jaw twitched, and he looked away. “Don’t get used to it.”
When he went to pull away, I tightened my grip on him to keep him here. “Thank you.”
I didn’t even get a gruff groan before he ripped his arm from mine and headed to the bathroom door. The water melted away all my stress, and while I’d have preferred that Arch stayed, I knew he couldn’t be that soft for that long.
He wasn’t ready yet.
“Do you need anything?” Cairo asked once the bedroom door closed.
My body sank deeper into the water, and I closed my eyes, feeling them swell. Arch had been so brutal, so rough, so hard on me, and then … he brought me to Cairo’s room. He’d told him to run a bath for me before he caught me, making me feel … all these feelings.
“Take a bath with me, please,” I murmured. “Arch …”
“Doesn’t know what aftercare is,” Cairo said, tugging off his clothes and slipping in the bathtub. He pulled me toward him, letting me lay against his chest. “He’ll come around eventually. He’s just confused.”
“Yeah, confused …” I repeated.
His hand came up, and he cupped the back of my neck, his fingers massaging softly, slowly, in a way that made it easier to breathe somehow. I let my shoulders roll forward and a tear slip down my cheek.
I didn’t know why I was crying. I had just had the night of my life.
But still … I wished Arch had stayed with me for a bit more time.
“You’re not,” I whispered. “Are you?”
“I’m not what?” Cairo asked.
I sucked in a sharp breath, unsure if he was really into me like that or if this was all just fun and games for him. But here he was, taking a bath with me after his friends fucked me because he wanted to make sure I was okay.
A guy who didn’t care wouldn’t do that, right?
“You’re not confused about …” I started, heart racing. “About us?”
He tensed for the slightest moment, his fingers stilling. “No.”
I turned around in the tub, some water sloshing over the edge, and then I wrapped my arms around his shoulders, staring at his torn expression, though … it was softening by the moment. I glanced down at his lips.
“You’re not confused about my relationship with your friends? You don’t mind that I like being with them too? That I love them?” I asked, really wanting to know how this affected him. Because while he hadn’t admitted his feelings, I had feelings for him too.
And I wanted him to be okay with it.
“No, I’m not confused about any of that,” he said.
“But …”
“No buts. I’m not confused. I get it.”
“You do?” I asked, searching his eyes for anything. “Why?”
He pushed some hair off my forehead. “Because I … I love you.”
Warmth exploded through my chest, and my lips quivered. “You love me?”
“Yes,” he said, looking away. “And you don’t have to say it back. You don’t have to—”
Before he could finish his sentence, I crashed my lips onto his. “I love you too.”