Chapter 16 Willow
Chapter Sixteen
Willow
Iwake to one of my favorite sounds in the world… rain. I can hear it coming from outside, but it must also be coming down through the crack in the ceiling. Luckily, I feel completely dry, so it’s not hitting us, but the sound of the water hitting the rock is like music to my ears.
Back at the compound, whenever it rained, if I wasn’t scheduled to be working somewhere, I would find a place to sit and watch it in peace. The sound of raindrops hitting the earth always helped to soothe me.
The cave is pitch black, so I know it’s still nighttime, and as I shift my head to get comfortable, I realize I’m curled up tight against someone.
I must have rolled over because when I crack my eyes open, it’s Ronan’s face I see in front of mine.
And apparently, in my sleep, I have little boundaries.
My hand rests in the center of his chest, my leg is hiked up over his, and my head is resting on his shoulder.
I can feel Hawk pressed up to my back, his arm wrapped around my waist. Which means it’s Ronan’s large hand that’s currently holding my ass.
My body grows warm as I fully wake up and realize how tightly I’m pressed between them.
This position has caused my nightdress to ride up, meaning Ronan’s hand is touching my bare ass.
His fingers twitch, causing my breath to hitch as a wave of desire shoots straight to my core.
His head moves, and I squeeze my eyes shut tight, as an illogical fear of getting caught like this fills me.
I feel his lips press ever so softly to my forehead, and when they pull away, I open my eyes, suddenly desperate to see his face.
When my eyes connect with his beautiful green ones, he smiles at me, causing all sorts of butterflies to fly around my belly. He lifts his hand from my butt and places it on my elbow, then slowly trails it all the way up to my shoulder, and up my neck, stopping to gently cup my jaw.
As he watches me, his thumb tilts my chin up toward him as his head starts to dip down to me. His eyes lower to my lips, and I inhale sharply, realizing he’s about to kiss me. Hope blooms in my chest, making my heart beat almost as loud as the rain outside.
I lick my lips as my gaze drops to his, and when he is mere inches away, my eyes close and I hold my breath, anticipation pooling in my gut as I wait for him to close the distance.
He doesn’t disappoint. Moments later, his lips gently press to mine, lighting me up from the inside. I’d never even wondered what a kiss felt like before coming to Dyconia. There had never been anyone I'd wanted to experience my first one with.
And now I’m glad I waited. Something magnificent blooms inside my chest. It’s not just because this kiss is amazing, it’s because it’s with him.
After a few seconds, his lips start to move over mine, telling me there’s more to kissing than this. I try to mimic his movements and follow his lead, but I feel nervous that I might do the wrong thing and mess this up.
His beard tickles my face, but the feeling just makes me want him even more. Using his hand, he tilts my head a little to get a better angle, and my own fingers press harder into his bare chest.
When I feel his tongue stroke the seam of my mouth, I open for him.
His tongue is tentative at first, as if he’s worried about moving too quickly.
But when his movements have me letting out soft moans that I try to contain or cause my fingers to dig into his chest, I realize he’s figuring out what gets the best reaction from me.
That knowledge causes me to stop holding back, to let myself enjoy this moment with him, and stop worrying about messing this up.
My hand moves up, desperate to feel his beard and his hair. I’ve been dying to sink my fingers into both since the day I met him. I reach his face first, my fingers sinking into his beard and scraping lightly along his jaw, eliciting a moan from him.
I like that.
I do it again, and his chest rumbles, as if he’s growling. He shifts his position so he can press one hand to the back of my neck and the other moves back to my bare ass, but this time, he grips me tight, then slides his hand down my thigh and pulls my leg further over him.
His tongue becomes bolder, and I try to match his movements, but I eventually concede, letting him take complete control of me. A sense of even deeper desperation and desire fills me. I press closer, feeling unable to get near enough to him.
A small whimper escapes my lips, and he takes his time to slow the kiss down until he pulls back completely. Even in the dark cave, I can see his green eyes are bright and heated as they stare down at me. He presses a kiss to the tip of my nose before resting his head back down.
His hand gently strokes down the back of my head as we stare at each other in the dark. Unsure what to say, I’m grateful when he speaks first, whispering so as not to wake the others. “That was better than I ever imagined.”
A smile tugs at my lips. “Me too.”
“That was your first kiss?” he asks, making me feel a little self-conscious that he could tell.
I nod as I ask, “Was it that obvious?”
His hand moves around to cup my cheek, and he shakes his head. “Not at all. But I just wanted to know. It was mine too.”
“Your what?” I ask, not understanding.
“My first kiss.”
I think my brain stops working for a moment, his words rendering me speechless. “That’s not possible.” Even in the dark, I can make out his frown. “How have you never kissed a girl when you look like this?” I ask, waving my hand up and down his body and face.
His frown disappears, replaced by a satisfied smile. “Am I pleasing to look at, my tiny treasure?”
I’m glad it’s dark so he can’t see my heated cheeks. “Yes. You know that.”
“Not really,” he says, losing a bit of his confidence. “There aren’t many women in Redmere, and those that are there, and of the right age, have mated the men with multiple brothers.”
They talked about this earlier. The whole loneling thing seems to be a huge deal in this world, but I still don’t really understand why. These three can clearly take care of me better than anyone else, related or not.
“Wait—” I say, realizing what this being his first kiss might mean. “Are you saying that the three of you have never been with a woman… at all?”
Surprising me, he leans toward me and presses his lips to mine in a soft kiss before pulling back to answer. “Sorry, I couldn’t resist doing that again. You’re correct. We’ve never kissed a woman, had sex with a woman—”
“Cuddled with a woman,” Hawk suddenly adds from behind me. His hand that’s been around my waist this whole time, gently moves up and down a little, as if to remind me he’s still holding me.
“You’re awake,” I whisper in surprise, and I feel him nod against my back.
“Hard to sleep with all the little noises you were making.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to wake you.”
“Don’t apologize for that,” Ronan tells me. “Now close your eyes and try to get some more sleep. There are still a few hours before sunrise.” My eyes instantly shut, and I allow myself to snuggle in and get comfortable against him, feeling for once that I’m not overstepping myself.
It’s clear that he wanted that kiss just as much as I did, maybe even more. And if he didn’t want me to sleep so close to him, I think he would have made that clear. Every signal he’s given me, they’ve all given me, tells me I’m welcome to get as close to them as I like.
And although I refuse to forget that Izzy is out there somewhere, wondering what happened to me, I also don’t want to miss out on what’s in front of me.
Hawk readjusts his body behind me, pulling himself even closer until something hard presses against my thigh, and as I try to figure out what it is, I fall into a deep sleep.
“What the hell?” Bo’s exclamation has me bolting upright as my head whips around, looking for the danger. Before my eyes can even focus, someone lifts me into their arms, protecting me from the unknown threat.
“Unbelievable,” Ronan says, his tone sounding more surprised than worried.
Realizing it’s Hawk that’s holding me in his arms, I let out a yawn as I motion for him to set me down. After gently placing me on my feet, he presses against my back, with one arm wrapped around the front of my shoulders, like he can’t help but keep me close.
I like that.
When I finally get a chance to look around, I gasp. A large portion of the cave floor is now covered in grass and wildflowers. The wall closest to us has something that looks like moss covering the bottom few feet.
“It’s beautiful,” I whisper, taking in where the edge of the grass reaches the pond that Hawk and I swam in yesterday.
“I don’t trust it,” Ronan says, frowning down at it.
Pulling away from Hawk, I step off the blanket and into the grass beside where Bo stands.
The soft blades feel much better on my feet than the cold, hard stone, and I’m grateful it’s given me a path to one of the ponds.
I notice it’s stopped raining, and part of the cave is damp from where the rain came in from above, but it doesn’t align with where the grass has grown.
Bo bends down and strokes his hand through the grass.
“It feels normal.” He plucks a small purple wildflower and stands up as we both stare at it, as if waiting for the grass to grow angry and respond somehow.
He twirls it in his fingers and holds it up for Ronan to see.
“I really don’t think this is caused by anything sentient. ”
“Then why does it keep happening wherever we go?” Ronan asks, not looking appeased.
Bo tucks the flower above my ear, smiling at me as he answers him. “Maybe it’s part of the Hunt. Like they somehow enchanted the land.”
“They wouldn’t do that,” Hawk says, shaking his head. “Magic is forbidden here.”