14. Hayden
“You seem like you’re in a better mood,” Cáel said as he helped me into Easton’s SUV.
“And Cill definitely seems like he’s in a better mood,” Knox said with a chuckle.
I fought the blush that rose to my cheeks, but it was no use.
Cáel grinned, pulling me onto his lap and nuzzling my neck. “I’m glad you guys worked some things out.”
I pulled back, staring up at him. “You really are, aren’t you?”
Cáel’s hand trailed up my thigh. “He was upset yesterday. He needed you. I could feel his restlessness, but after you were with him, there was peace.”
My brows pulled together. “You can feel each other?”
“It’s more like a faint echo of a feeling,” Knox explained. “It’ll be stronger once we all bond with you.”
Easton’s fingers tightened on the wheel as he drove away from the house, but he didn’t say a word.
I couldn’t figure him out. Ever since the attack, he’d just gone quiet. He wasn’t being an asshole anymore, but he wasn’t warm and fuzzy either. I was starting to think I preferred the jerk. At least I knew what he was thinking then.
I glanced back at Knox. “Will I feel it, too?”
Knox grinned. “Every time there’s heightened emotion or feeling. I heard it’s great for?—”
Easton smacked him, hard.
“Ow. What the hell?”
“Can we just chill on the sex talk before eight a.m.?” Easton grumbled.
I ducked my head. Of course, Easton didn’t want to think about me and sex in the same sentence. Even if his body might want me, thanks to the mating urge, his brain and heart didn’t.
“When are you going to pull your head out of your ass?” Knox growled.
“Excuse me for not wanting to show up to Mad’s class with a raging hard-on,” Easton shot back.
My stomach cramped. I hadn’t seen Maddox since the council’s visit yesterday. He’d disappeared and hadn’t returned home, as far as I could tell. The cramping turned to nausea as I wondered where he’d stayed last night.
Cáel nuzzled the side of my neck. “What’s wrong, Little One?”
“Nothing,” I whispered.
“I can smell your anxiety.”
“That’s cheating,” I groused.
Cáel grinned against my skin. “I like all the things your body tells me.”
I squirmed on his lap, and Cáel instantly hardened against my ass. Shit.
He only grinned wider. “Tell me what’s wrong.”
Easton’s focus remained on the road, but Knox glanced into the back seat, waiting for my answer.
I finally blew out a breath. These nosy dragons wouldn’t let up until they knew what was bothering me. “I’m worried about Maddox. And I was, um, wondering where he stayed last night.”
Understanding dawned on Knox’s face. “He has a tiny cabin up in the mountains. He goes there sometimes when we get to be too much for him. But he always goes alone. None of us have even been there.”
The relief that coursed through me was both welcome and embarrassing. I didn’t have any rights to Maddox. He’d made it clear that he wasn’t going there with me. How painful would it be if he and Easton decided to move on with different women? Would I still feel the pull toward them?
Cáel nuzzled my neck again as Easton pulled onto campus. “It’s going to be okay.”
I wished I could believe him.
Easton swung into a spot near the science building, our two enforcers, Pete and Terry, parking next to us. Cáel opened the door and lifted me out. Knox was waiting.
He pulled me into his arms and kissed me deeply. I couldn’t help the moan that slipped free as his tongue stroked mine. He growled into my mouth. And as he pulled back, his eyes flashed gold. “I missed you.”
My heart squeezed, and I wrapped my arms around Knox’s waist. He was the one who always seemed to have it together, like he didn’t need me as much. But maybe that wasn’t true. “How about we do something, just you and me, after school?”
Knox’s entire face lit at my suggestion. “You and me?”
He kissed me again and then slid his arm around my shoulders. I reached toward Cáel to take my backpack, but he just shook his head. “I got it.”
I opened my mouth to argue and then snapped it shut. I’d never win anyway.
We headed for the science building, even though Cáel and Knox didn’t have class there this morning. It had become routine for them to accompany me wherever I was going before leaving for their own classes. But the truth was, I didn’t mind it. I liked having as many of my guys near as possible.
My guys.
A few weeks ago, the thought would’ve been preposterous. Now it felt normal. More than that, it felt right.
Easton strode ahead, opening the door. The building was full of students heading to their various classes.
Delaney and Bella strode by as Delaney sent me a look that should’ve fried me on the spot.
“Looks like she didn’t get the message yesterday,” Easton muttered.
Knox glanced at him. “She has Mad’s class with you guys, right?”
Easton nodded.
“Keep a lookout,” Knox ordered. “I don’t like how she’s fixated on Hayden.”
Easton jerked his head in a nod.
We wound our way through the halls until a guy stepped into our path. He licked his lips in an exaggerated motion. “How do I get in line for a piece? Or do you require payment?”
One moment he was in front of me, and the next he was pinned against the wall, three feet in the air. Cáel pressed his forearm to the guy’s throat. “Say. That. Again.”
Everyone in the hallway froze, all stopping to stare at the show.
“Fuck, man. I was kidding,” he wheezed.
Easton strode up next to Cáel, casual as could be. “Does it look like anyone’s laughing?”
“N-n-no.”
“Put him down, Cáel. I’m pretty sure he already shit his pants. I can smell it,” Easton said with disgust.
Some of the students around us snickered, and the guy flushed.
“No,” Cáel grunted.
“Let him go this once, and if he says something again, I’ll let you gut him like a fish,” Easton said casually, as if he didn’t have a care in the world.
The guy’s face went from red to sickly pale. “I-I won’t say anything. Swear.”
Cáel growled low but released his hold, and the guy crumbled to a heap on the floor. I was pretty sure he was crying.
“Shit, man,” the redheaded friend of Knox’s muttered as he walked up. “What’d Erik do to Cáel?”
Knox’s grip on me was just shy of pain, and I saw that he was struggling for control. I quickly slipped a hand under his tee, pressing my palm to his back. “I’m okay,” I whispered.
Knox swallowed hard. “He said some shit about Hayden.”
Jason’s eyes widened, and then he glanced at the fallen guy. “Real dumb move, Erik. Tell all your soccer buddies that Hayden’s off-limits.”
Erik scrambled to his feet, flipping Jason off but jogging down the hallway.
Jason sent me a grin. “Some guys have no manners. I, on the other hand?—”
A hand came out to smack him across the back of the head. Their friend, Frank, shoved him aside. “Did you not just see shit-his-pants-Erik get his ass literally handed to him?”
Cáel stalked around them and into my space, breathing hard. His white-blond hair swung around him with the force of his agitation.
The entire hallway went deadly quiet.
I released my hold on Knox and lifted my hands to Cáel’s cheeks. I pulled his face down to mine so that our foreheads pressed together. “I’m good. It’s just an idiot saying stupid stuff.”
“He can’t talk about you.”
My mouth curved. “I have a feeling he won’t ever again.”
I wanted to kiss Cáel so badly. I knew it was a bad idea. People thought I was with Knox. There were rumors of the other guys but nothing more. If I kissed him, there would be proof. I’d be branded with that scarlet A. But Cáel needed me right then. So…
Fuck it.
And the whispers around us turned to roars.