12. Kovu
Ilike the way she holds on to me like I’m the only thing keeping her from falling apart behind me. I generally don’t like people touching me, and I’ll do just about anything to avoid it, but when Camilla gripped the back of my shirt and held on for dear life, the panic that normally accompanies someone putting their hands on me was missing.
Instead, I was met with another emotion entirely. Protectiveness. And although it’s an unfamiliar feeling, I lean into it until I’m sure Kaos and Bishop no longer pose a threat to my little lamb, and even then, I remain in front of her.
The interest in Crew’s eyes when he looks at her is interesting, something I haven’t seen in a long time. After she died, he pulled away from the rest of us. Not physically of course, we all live and work here, so there are not that many places he can hide, but he’s no longer interested in having a drink at the end of a day and shooting the shit. He’s much more content sitting in his office all day and only leaving to eat and sleep, and even then, he seems more content to sleep in his office than in his bedroom. But the way he’s looking at Camilla, there are flickers of the old Crew cracking through the surface. Perhaps my little lamb is exactly what we need to bring us back together. Or maybe she’s going to tear us apart.
Crew looks at me with his brows raised expectantly. “Bed, now,” he orders.
I give him a quick nod before turning to Camilla, who finally releases the back of my shirt from her grip. Tear stains track down her cheeks, and her eyes are bloodshot. She’s trembling like a leaf, my oversized shirt the only thing covering her bruised skin. “You must be freezing,” I say gently. No one who’s ever met me would describe me as gentle, but I’m doing my best not to frighten her. The last thing we need is a houseguest who’s going to flee at the first opportunity because she’s terrified of all four of us.
Her eyes meet mine, and she gives me a small nod. When she came out and stood up to us, my cock immediately hardened. I’ve never been much for strong women, but my little lamb facing four big bad wolves was the sexiest thing I’ve seen in my life. Images of the four of us taking her immediately filled my mind, of us showing her unimaginable pleasure. But we’re not there yet, and the way things have gone tonight, we’re a long fucking way from there right now.
My eyes flicker to the cast on her arm, and I grimace. Both her hands were holding on to the back of my shirt in a death grip, which means she may have hurt her broken arm. “No more holding anything with your left hand,” I tell her.
“What?” she whispers.
“Your arm. It’s not going to heal if you keep using it.”
She opens her mouth to respond, but I quickly lift her into my arms and stride back into the guest room. “What the fuck are you doing?” she hisses.
“Crew doesn’t want you walking around, and frankly, neither do I. You look like you could blow over with a stiff breeze.”
“I do not.”
“Oh, Little Lamb, you do. Your body needs time to rest, and that’s exactly what’s going to happen.”
Before she can argue any further, I carefully place her on the bed and pull the sheets over her, tucking in the sides to make sure she can’t make an escape for it.
I’m vaguely aware of the other three lingering by the door, watching, but I don’t pay them any mind. My little lamb is my only priority right now, the others can fuck off if they think I’m not going to protect her from them.
Crew takes measured steps into the room until his thighs hit the edge of the mattress on the other side of the bed. “Are you hungry, Little Menace?”
She looks up at him, equal strength and fear shining in her gray eyes and nods. “A little. I haven’t eaten anything since…” she trails off. “What day is it?”
“We found you yesterday,” Bishop tells her as he strides around to where I’m standing.
She nods. “I haven’t eaten anything since yesterday morning, then.” Sadness fills her face, and for some reason I ache to take it away from her, to replace it with a smile, or a laugh, or a moan. Anything but the look of dejection clouding her pretty face.
Crew pulls his phone from his pocket, types out a few words, and then shoves it back. “I’m having some soup brought up for you. Do you need some pain medication?” He turns to me. “When was the last time she had some?”
“About twelve hours ago, Bishop gave her some morphine,” I tell him.
“I don’t need any more,” Camilla says quietly. “It doesn’t hurt that much.”
Crew’s eyebrows raise, and his deathly stare falls on her. “Don’t lie to me, Little Menace. If you’re going to remain here while you heal, you’re going to take the appropriate medications, you’re going to eat and sleep, and you’re not going to do any of those things while lying through your teeth.”
Her mouth drops open, her perfect pouty lips falling until the most delicious “o” forms. Fuck, she’s delectable, even when she’s covered in the marks of another man. The only reason that doesn’t make me want to scrub her skin clean so I can mark it up again is because she didn’t choose this. The men who did this did it out of anger, not to bring her pleasure, and that’s what sets us aside from Davenport and his men.
“You three have lost your fucking minds,” Kaos growls.
“You don’t have to stick around if you don’t want to, K,” I say. “I’m sure there’s some work to be done.”
He glares at me but doesn’t move from his spot, leaning against the doorframe. He may want us all to think he despises Camilla, but what’s becoming painfully obvious when it comes to my best friend is that he’s actually much more intrigued by her than he’s allowing himself to admit.
“Did Rogers leave anything less potent than morphine for her?” Crew asks.
I nod and cross to the vials and pills he left for us, along with instructions on how to use each one. “There’s these pills she can take, but it says here she has to have them with food because they might upset her stomach otherwise.”
“Very well then.” Crew turns his attention back to Camilla, who’s looking around at each of us like we’ve lost our minds, which isn’t totally off the cards right now. “You will eat your soup, and then you will take the medication that Kovu gives you. Do you understand me?”
She nods once, her lips falling into a hard line. “I understand.”
“Good girl. I’ll come check on you a little later. Be good.”
He turns on his heel and strides out of the room without so much as a look over his shoulder, but we all watch him go. I’ve never seen Crew act like that, and by the looks on Kaos and Bishop’s faces, I don’t think they have either.
When my eyes settle back on Camilla, her brows are furrowed, and she’s still staring at the doorway Crew disappeared through. “Is he always like that?” she asks.
“Nope,” Bishop and Kaos answer at the same time, and she looks between them with wide eyes.
I chuckle. “I’m going to send someone to collect some things for you, Little Lamb. What do you need?”
“Oh. I uh…I guess some clothes? I probably can’t keep wearing your shirts.” She laughs, but the sound is uncomfortable. I don’t blame her for being nervous. She’s surrounded by scary looking men, and the power dynamic is clear and most definitely not in her favor.
“We’ll see about that.” I smirk. If I have it my way, all she’ll ever wear is my clothes because she looks so fucking good in them.