Chapter 42
42
T onight was something beyond all my imaginings.
I didn’t expect Poe to be so eager to be with all of us in that way, let alone for us to end up here… in my room.
We’ve all long since had a chance to shower and clean up, with each of us taking time to check on the girl who has become more important to any of us than we could have imagined.
It’s more than just sex, where she’s concerned. That might have been the thing that drew us all together in the first place, but we’ve all had ways that our connection has grown deeper. Admittedly, any act of growing closer to Poe still has my own bullshit in the way, but tonight has certainly been so much more intimate than I ever planned on.
Now, we’re all lying here together in my room, with fresh sheets and the soft snores of Grey and Angel filling the night.
I’ve got a low light on at the lamp by my side of the bed, and even though there’s a book laid across my lap, I’ve spent much of the last hour just stroking Poe’s dark hair. She’s curled into my side, face softened with sleep and pleasure, her body wrapped from behind by Angel .
“Are you nocturnal or something?” Poe’s voice is a raspy whisper against my torso. Her eyes are still closed, but she flexes those tiny fingers against my stomach. “Is this your time of night to feed on souls?”
“Aren’t you supposed to be sleeping?” I smile inwardly, continuing to glide my touch over her cheek, tracing the softness and warmth of her flushed skin. After everything tonight, and then spending an age under a hot stream in the shower, I would have expected her to be out cold until morning.
“I asked you first.” Keeping her voice hushed, she stifles a small yawn as her sooty lashes blink open. There’s such a softness to her expression as those rich, brown eyes tilt up to mine.
“I don’t sleep much. The stories help.” I gesture with my chin at the collection of books lining the walls. It’s almost a library in here, with shelves on three sides and the expanse of this mattress set into the cushioned headboard against the fourth wall.
“But you haven’t been here this whole time.” Poe’s brows crease. “You must have missed your own bed.”
“There are times when I’m not here. When I’m not around much. It’s all part of the job.” Doing my best to convince myself of the lie, I pluck the novel out of my lap and slip the bookmark inside before setting it on the nightstand. “Do you need some water?” I rest the backs of my fingers on her forehead.
“I’m fine. Honestly.”
“We weren’t too rough with you?” It’s partly a force of habit, the years and years of inbuilt knowing to ask the questions that another person might try to avoid letting you know about. Yet, in this case, there’s something much deeper there.
“It was perfect.” She carefully readjusts her position, which brings her closer to my side. Automatically, I draw us nearer, tucking her under my arm and sinking down a little so her head can rest against my chest.
I don’t hate it.
In fact, as we lie here—the other two are passed out with the quiet surrounding us—it feels like something settles in my bloodstream that I don’t think I’ve ever experienced before.
A past version of me would have flung this sheet aside and raced out the door. Yet, in this moment, I’m content to sit here and let Poe trace her fingers over the line of the tattoo crawling up my chest—the thorned vine and tendrils reaching for my heart that I had inked for my brother. He had a hawk done at the same time, when we both knew we’d made the decision to go all in on our plan to survive the Noire family line and destroy them all.
Nothing like a pact made in ink to guarantee we’d find a way to burn it all down, and that we’d be by each other’s side every blood-stained step of the way.
“What do you like most about having the books in here with you? Most people put them out on display in their house, you know.” She teases me gently in that hushed voice that tells me it’s some hour long past midnight when the rest of the world is sleeping like the other two men in this bed manage to.
“That house out there is a place the rest of the world gets to see. It’s the mask.” I let my free hand slide down to interlink our fingers over my chest. “But in here… this is my little escape. This is the slice of me that gets to exist without anyone else peeking in. And these books, they’ve got happy endings and examples of characters who made it out the other side. Some days it’s the only little glimmer of light to remind me it’s not all fucking hopeless.”
Poe lies there quietly for a moment. “What Grey said earlier… about your clothes…”
I swallow, rubbing my thumb absently against her palm. “I don’t—I don’t usually do that.”
“Getting undressed?” She snuggles in closer .
“Yeah.”
“Is that because of the book where things didn’t have happy endings?”
I exhale a long breath through my nose. “That’s the book I tossed on a bonfire a long time ago, but the scars are still there. They remind me of all the years I was engulfed in the flames.”
“The ones on the inside are the hardest to heal,” she murmurs.
“You’re certainly correct there, princess.”
I feel her fingers thread tighter with my own. “I think you’re doing better at healing than you give yourself credit for.”
We lie there as my heart beats a steady thud inside my rib cage, fully captivated by how good it feels to have her ear pressed up against that spot, where Poe can hear each dull thump of it beating. How much I like the feel of her hearing my blood pulsing through my veins, flowing around my body, reminding me, and us, that I’m here and alive and able to hold her close… how much I enjoy that is startling.
“Are you hungry?” I ask.
She makes a little scoffing noise.
“Get your eyes off my dick.” My thumb strokes against her hand as I chuckle quietly. “I mean real, proper food.”
Poe stretches a little and hums contentedly. “Is Hawke Calliano offering to cook for me? A blow job, riding you in the backseat, followed by anal… and now a midnight snack date… don’t you know the way to a girl’s heart.”
“Cheeky.”
“What are your specialties? A gal’s gotta know what she’s agreeing to.”
“Oh, I’m an absolutely shit cook.” I shake my head with a wry grin. “My brother stole all the talent where the kitchen is concerned.”
“Can I let you in on a secret?” The girl at my side lets her lips slide into a grin. “Angel made this amazing chicken and rice thing yesterday. There’s plenty left.”
“No need to convince me. I’ve missed eating his cooking.”
“Are you taking me on a date to forage for leftovers, Mr. Calliano?” Her eyes sparkle at me.
“Looks like it, princess.”