Chapter 30
Aiden
I woke up to warmth.
I smiled, my eyes still closed as I leaned further into Skye. She pulled me closer, her muscled arm cradling my cheek. I breathed in her scent as she sighed, settling her head on top of mine–
This did not smell like Skye.
This did not feel like Skye.
My eyes popped open, and the first thing I saw was Rafe’s bare, brown pecs.
I sucked in a gasp, flailing and pushing at his chest as I scrambled away.
“Ow, what the fuck?” He grumbled, then rolled onto his stomach.
“Bro, you were just cuddling me!”
Rafe shrugged, then murmured sleepily, “Comfy.”
I shuddered, then turned over to face…
Not Skye.
Skye wasn’t here.
The bed was cold.
I sat up.
“Skyes?” I called.
Rafe grumbled something else from beside me. I whacked him with a pillow.
“Fuck you, Aiden, go back to your room.” Rafe whined, then pulled the same pillow over his head.
I rolled my eyes, but strolled out of the room and up the hall. Things were quiet, but I could hear the shower running in our room. The bed was empty, only unmade on the side I’d fallen asleep in last night before I’d heard Skye whispering into my mind that she needed me.
I knocked on the bathroom door, but no one answered. I waited a moment before knocking again, but there was still no answer.
“Baby?” I called.
Nothing.
I pushed the door open, freezing when my eyes landed on Skye, sitting in the corner of the shower, fully clothed. Her knees were pulled to her chest with her face hidden by her arms, her hair like a slick curtain over her body.
“Baby,” I breathed, my heart leaping in my chest.
I was inside the shower within seconds, also fully clothed but not caring at all. I slid under the spray, wincing at the temperature.
She must’ve been in here for a while if the water had run cold. Rafe made sure we had only the best amenities. I scooted up to Skye’s side, leaning against her and catching sight of her very prune-y fingers. Yep. She’d been in here a long time.
We sat in silence for a minute, then I pushed at her mind like I’d been practicing. Skye opened up for me, though she didn’t say anything.
We should get you out of here, baby. You’re going to get sick if you’re cold and wet for too long.
No I won’t, she grumbled back adorably.
Okay, well you’re scaring me. Can I take care of you?
Skye nodded.
I helped her stand, and then removed her sopping wet clothes, leaving them in the shower along with mine. I dried us off with some of the wonderfully warm towels, making a mental note to thank Rafe again for this ridiculous penthouse.
I lit the fireplace in the bedroom with my finger, then padded back over to the bed before climbing under the sheets next to Skye, who pulled the sheets over our heads.
The two of us stared at each other in the darkness, breathing each other’s air.
“I have to tell you something,” Skye whispered.
“Okay,” I whispered back. I shifted my weight uncomfortably. I’d never seen Skye act this way. “What happened, Skye? I promise. It’s okay, whatever it is.”
Skye’s lip trembled, but then she closed her eyes. “I woke up and I felt sick. So, I went to the woods. To the garden.”
“Okay…” I dragged the word out, urging her to go on. “Last night?”
She nodded. “I saw River. He was there, in the garden.”
I stilled, blinking several times. Anger spiked through me, fierce and hot, and Skye squeezed her eyes shut again, having felt it.
She began to shake her head, and I spoke quickly, “I’m sorry. It’s okay, Skye. I promise. What happened?”
“We talked, and then we argued, and then…I don’t know. He…he kissed me.”
I sat up so fast, the blanket flew off of me, and I was halfway out the door before Skye’s affinity grabbed me.
“Aiden,” she hissed. “Please…please wait.”
“He did this?!” My skin began to crawl. I’d never seen Skye act this way, and now it made sense why. That motherfucker had fucking kissed her? Who did he think he was?
“Aiden,” she tried again. “Please come back in here. Please, this isn’t easy.”
I breathed in and out heavily, realizing Skye had only held me long enough to keep me from running out the door. Static lifted the hair along my arms, and I took one step back into the room, then pulled the door shut.
I turned back to Skye, deflating even further when I took her in. She was halfway sitting up, leaning across the bed like she’d been about to throw herself at me.
“I wanted him to kiss me,” Skye whispered. “I…hekissedmebutIkissedhimback.”
I stared at her. Blinked. Blinked again.
Oh.
Fuck, I was stupid. I was really, really stupid.
“Baby,” I said gently. I scrubbed a hand down my face and perched on the edge of the bed. “Okay. Okay, so you wanted to kiss him. And he kissed you, and you kissed him back.”
Skye groaned. “Yes, and then…and then we sort of…messed around, and then…” She dropped her gaze to the sheets as my eyebrows rose higher and higher on my forehead. “He ran away.”
“He ran away?!” I jumped to my feet again.
Skye wouldn’t meet my gaze, the shame wafting off of her almost palpable.
Anger surged through me once more. My arms began to glow again, and one even sparked, which was new.
That fucker had been looking at Skye like he wanted to eat her alive for weeks, then he’d sort of helped her save Rafe and Wyatt at the Palace, and now he had his chance to have her and he ran away?
I turned away from Skye, my gaze set on the door.
I was going to fix this.
“Aiden,” Skye grabbed my arm, trying to tug me back to her. “Aiden, it’s…it’s not that.”
“So he didn’t run away?” I rounded on her, pausing only when I saw her falter. “What, Skye? Tell me.”
He…teleported away.
I stared at her with wide eyes before shaking my head quickly, like I’d somehow imagined her voice in my mind saying those words. When she continued staring at me, her eyes wide and pleading, the weight of what she’d said began to sink in. The glow in my arms faded, and my anger washed away.
“You’re…sure?” I asked uneasily.
“I…” Skye shook her head, looking pretty unsure. “One moment he was there, and the next, he was gone. I didn’t sense him nearby.”
“We gotta tell the guys,” I said immediately.
I would never hesitate to keep a secret for Skye, but she wasn’t only connected to me anymore. Rafe was in equal standing with me, and Wyatt’s time was close. We were on the edge of becoming a real Chain. We couldn’t start keeping secrets again.
Skye buried her hands in her hair, groaning. “I know. I knew you were going to say that.”
“Why don’t you want to tell them?” I asked. “This seems…relevant.”
“I…I don’t know how to explain the kissing part. I don’t even know how you’re okay with this. The other two are gonna be…”
I chuckled. “I know.”
Rafe would probably come around.
But Wyatt…
“I’ll tell them, I just…I need time.” Skye pulled the ends of her damp hair. “I don’t know what to think. I don’t understand what I saw, and I know I need to talk to him again, I just…I don’t know. His life hasn’t been easy, Aiden.”
“And ours has?” I shook my head. “I’ll…I’ll try to give him a chance. But only because he’s probably my Link-mate.”
“God, this is awful.” Skye hid her face with her hands.
“The teleporting is weird. We should definitely look into that, but…but okay. So you like him,” I said. “When did that happen? Before or after you had the moment?”
“I don’t know. Before?” Skye flopped back onto the bed, laying like a starfish as she stared at the ceiling. “You hate him,” she said flatly.
“I don’t hate him,” I muttered, flopping down beside her. “I just…don’t know him, I guess. But there must be something good in there if you like him.”
Skye turned onto her side, resting her head on her hands and looking at me as if she’d never seen me before.
I turned on my side as well, the two of us so close we were breathing the same air.
“What?” I whispered.
Skye shook her head. “A year ago, the idea of a Chain scared me so bad. I used to…I used to fuck with Zephyr’s things so he wouldn’t go out to the bars. What would happen to me if he found his Chain? What would happen to Levi? How could I explain him to someone?”
I reached out and pushed her wet hair over her shoulder, breathing deeply. This was one of several reasons why Skye had been so afraid of having a Chain.
“And then I had to come here, and…now I have you. I have Wyatt somehow. And I’m in a goddamn Royal Chain,” she groaned, squeezing her eyes shut for a moment. “And now there’s this random fourth man I can’t get out of my head. He has to be one of my Links, there’s no other explanation.”
“I don’t know, baby.” I replied softly. “According to Levi, Lucille is not the Key to my family Chain. How can Harper just stand by while my mother…is my mother?”
Skye chewed her lip. “She’s affectionate with them?”
I scoffed, and she grinned. “I don’t think she has an affectionate bone in her body. Unless her love language is physical abuse.”
Skye breathed out slowly. “River…told me he’s taken hits before.”
I almost rolled my eyes.
“So have I,” I replied. “Obviously.”
“I know, I just…how sad,” Skye whispered, then reached out and tugged at a curl near my temple. “How could a woman so evil and unfeeling create such a perfect man?”
“I’m not perfect,” I said softly.
“Perfect for me,” Skye corrected, twirling her finger through my hair.
“You’re perfect for us, too, baby. That includes him. We’ll figure it out.”
“Where the hell is everyone?” Rafe’s voice came from the hall, drawing our attention.
Skye’s eyes widened, and then she teleported into the bathroom. I leaned back in bed, completely naked under the sheets. Rafe walked into the bedroom a moment later, his hair sticking up in odd angles.
“Morning,” I said.
Rafe narrowed his eyes at me. “Where is my darling?”
“Right here?” Skye walked out of the bathroom in nothing but a towel.
Rafe’s whole face lit up when he saw her. “My love. Where did you go?”
Skye’s smile was brittle. “I felt like I was sleeping in a furnace.”
Rafe shot me a glare. “Maybe someone should’ve stayed in his own bed.”
I scoffed. “I don’t have my own bed, bro. I share her bed.”