14. Hank
fourteen
Hank
My fingers test the water until I’m sure only cold is coming through, and then I turn on the other faucet to speed the process.
Once the bath is filled with water, I stand at my full height and shoot a text to Nash to remind him to pay for this room for a little longer and get one for us too.
I’m sure Indigo only had money for one night, and this won’t be fixed so easily.
I doubt she wants us in her room longer than necessary.
My body freezes as I watch the water fill up the tub and I scent her approach.
She’s quiet as a mouse, but I’m tuned to her, pulled to her orbit.
Her presence makes me vibrate with want, tangling every thought in my head until there’s nothing but unintelligent murmurs.
Things have definitely changed since we last saw her.
Every emotion is at its highest. Every word out of her mouth, I feel as if she’s whispering against my skin.
“Is that going to work?”
I glance her way, finding her leaning against the banister, hands protectively around her midsection and eyes on the cold bath between us.
“It’ll help.”
The certainty in my tone is fake. I have no idea if this will even relieve her, but she’s not so scared since Nash offered this option, and that’s a win in my books.
“My thoughts are scattered,” she confesses. “It takes me a lot to think.”
“Your body doesn’t want you to think right now. The hormones are against you.”
Her mouth closes in a flat line, and she looks at me for the first time. “It’s not fair.”
I nod, though it feels wrong to stand here and shit talk scent-matching. I love that destiny picked her for us. There’s no one better. The only problem with this situation is that she doesn’t want me.
“Got a shit ton of ice,” Cassidy announces as he barges in.
Bucket in hand, he doesn’t look at us as he drops the ice in, wincing as the ice cubes float. It’s going to be hell for her.
“We’ll give you space,” I say, leaving the bathroom, and Cassidy follows me.
My hand closes around the knob when Indigo turns on her heels, with a scared expression painting her gorgeous features.
“It’s cold.”
“It’s a cold bath, Sour Peach.” Cassidy nods.
The nickname gets her to scowl, and it’s absurd that I breathe out in relief. I like her prickly much more.
“What I mean is that… it’s going to be horrible.”
She doesn’t need us to reply. She knows it. I can almost see the gears turning in her head as she weighs the alternatives, and with a nod of her head, she decides once again that nothing is worse than being with us. Great.
This impossible woman has the power to slay me with one hard look. I never thought I’d be this comfortable letting someone destroy me, but it seems it’s my fucking fate to let someone walk all over my heart.
“Let us know if you need anything,” I say before closing the door.
We wait with a breath stuck in our lungs, eyes trained on the door, but nothing happens. Not a sound comes from the bathroom. Nash comes in with a bag full of supplies, but says nothing as he takes a spot on the bed and watches the door with the rest of us.
After ten minutes and no sound, we start wondering.
“Indigo?” Nash knocks. “You can’t stay in for long. If you get too cold, your body will find a way to heat you up. It does the opposite and makes things worse.”
Nothing.
“Indigo?”
Before he has a chance to knock again, the door opens, and Indigo greets us in nothing but a towel.
Fuck me.
My brain short-circuits as I try to choose a path to follow with my eyes. The delicate curve of her shoulders? The hint of cleavage disappearing down the towel? The shapely legs and delicate feet?
“I can’t do it,” she confesses.
Nash clears his throat. “What can’t you do?”
“Go in. It’s cold.”
“It’s just for a second,” Cassidy says.
She bites her fat bottom lip, and I want to die. Die by her hands, die for her, die in peace knowing I belong to her.
“It’ll feel like an eternity when I go in.”
“Do you want to leave it?” Nash asks. “I have other stuff here—”
“No. I just need help. Can I trust you?”
The question lies heavy on the floor between the four of us. All I want is for her to trust us, and just the insinuation that she might gets me harder than ever before. Is that normal? I don’t only desire the sexy parts of her. Her attitude is a turn-on, her brain and stubbornness.
“What do you have in mind?” Cassidy asks when Nash and I can’t answer.
“If I can trust you not to touch me inappropriately, I’d like help getting in and keeping me there for as long as necessary.”
My eyes fall close, and words fail me. Of course I won’t ever touch her without consent, and at this point we also agree not to touch her at all because it might be the heat talking. But that doesn’t mean I won’t fucking die if I help her bathe.
“Come on, we can help,” Nash is insane enough to answer for us.
He moves to the bathroom, and she nods, coming in a little farther and turning back to the tub with a worried gaze.
“It’s not a big deal,” she whispers, and I don’t know if she means the cold water or getting naked in front of us.
“What do you want us to do here?” Cassidy asks.
It’s good that my packmates are asking the important questions because sure as fuck my tongue is glued to the roof of my mouth. Does she want me to physically grab her and drop her in the water? Do I need to keep her there too if she struggles? I don’t think I’m capable of doing that.
Thankfully, that’s not what I had in mind. “The peer pressure helps. If my mind goes blank, you let me know when it’s time to stand and get me the towel.”
She gives the instructions without looking at us, her eyes still focused on the water, but the clock is ticking, and the ice is melting. I lick my lips to point it out when she drops the towel.
Beautiful soft curves, small waist, and a mouthwatering ass blind me for a second there. An inhuman sound comes out of my throat before I have the chance of holding it together. My vision wavers, and I have to hold the banister so as not to fall to her feet.
My head swims, all the blood in my body goes straight to my cock, and I stand there like an absolute idiot as she lifts one leg, intending to get into the water, but because she can’t even dip a toe, she changes her mind and shakes her head.
“It’s really cold.”
She turns, giving me a glance of her dusty pink nipples, and all thoughts run from my head. There’s not enough air in the room. I’m about to fucking faint like an idiot.
Indigo shakes her head, grimacing and talking herself into the whole ordeal. Her skin glows with the sweat from her heat. You’d think she wanted nothing more than to dunk into cold water.
She doesn’t move, doesn’t make a sound, and we continue in this torture for however long until I break. I march to her, hands balled into a fist by my side until I’m within reach to place them on her waist.
Indigo yelps, her big eyes watching me in surprise, and with one quick move, I lift her and place her over the bath. Her jaw drops, and I think she’s going to curse me out, but her hands grip my shoulder, and I lift my eyes to her.
“Ready?”
She nods, clearly terrified, but I don’t let her think about it for a second longer.
I move my hand from her waist to her back, and tip her back.
She goes easy, and finally I’m able to make her sit in the water, completely submerged.
She hisses when the cold water hits her skin.
I do the same. Even though it’s just my arms, it’s cold as fuck.
The water is crystal clear, so I don’t dare gaze anywhere but her bottomless blue eyes.
She grips my arm, not letting me move, and I don’t think she fully notices what she’s doing.
I level her with a look, breathing deeply, showing her the way.
She sucks in a breath, trembling, but one turns into two, and soon she’s relaxing her back against the bath.
“Okay?” I whisper.
Her luscious lips curve and she nods timidly, “Okay.”