15. Nix
Nix
“Care to tell me why our mate is drowning in your scent?” I asked, bounding into Greylen’s office, buzzing with excitement.
Having finished in the cabin for the day, I had made a beeline for the den the moment I was able to.
I had questions. When I had pulled Rowan in for a hug earlier, her smell had been downright intoxicating, as always, but it’d also been a little different—Greylen different.
It wasn’t overpowering. Not everyone would be able to sense it, but up close, I could tell she had been with him.
My question was answered pretty quickly without looking at him because, as soon as I entered the office, a large cloud of Rowan’s scent hit me. The entire room was saturated in it like someone had opened a fresh can of strong cologne and doused the space in Rowan.
Greylen, who was working behind his desk, gazed up at me, his ears turning red as he cleared his throat. He didn’t say anything, and I raised my brows at him.
“Office sex?” I asked with a choked laugh.
“Yes,” Greylen admitted, dropping his head and not meeting my eye.
“Well, hot damn. Things are definitely looking up around here, and I don’t just mean all the boners.” I laughed to myself, plopping into the chair in front of Grey’s desk. “I’m happy for you. Really. And Rowan, too. She deserves the release. She’s been working her ass off.”
Grey rolled his eyes this time, shutting his laptop. “Gee, thanks. But… I suppose you’re a little right. Rowan has been getting along with us better. Maybe not Bastian, but… yeah.”
“That’s because he’s an asshole with an entire tree shoved up there.” Grey snorted under his breath. We both knew I was right. “I’m just happy things are moving along. I want our lives back.”
At that, Grey sobered, eyeing me with his brow deeply furrowed. “Don’t get ahead of yourself, Nix. You know as well as I do that things aren’t going to be just like how they were. They can’t be. Even if she magically got her memory back, there’s too much trauma that can’t be ignored.”
I stiffened. I wasn’t a moron, despite what others might have believed.
I knew that what’d happened had changed things.
I loved Rowan with all my heart. She was my mate; I didn’t care if she’d been gone or needed new things.
I would give her whatever she wanted to make her happy, to keep her safe, to keep her here.
“Don’t go raining on my parade, dude. I just got excited about all the possibilities.”
Shrugging, Grey dropped his stare again before meeting my eyes once more. “I just mean… This doesn’t mean she’ll be jumping into bed with all of us. That’s Rowan’s decision.”
“Duh. It means she’s warming up to us, though, and that naked fun time isn’t completely out of the equation. If we give her enough orgasms, she’ll be too exhausted to leave. That sounds like a solid plan to me.”
She can’t leave. She just… can’t.
Greylen shook his head, smiling. “A good plan, but a dumb one. We need her to stay because she wants to, not because you’ve stopped her legs from working.”
I thought about that for a second. My clanmate may have had a point, sure. But there was no way orgasms would hurt our chances. And they were a lot of fun.
“Fine, but I still think copious orgasms should be part of the plan.”
“I’m not disagreeing. We’ll just… We’ll see how it goes.”
“Fine, fine. So, how was it?” I waggled my eyebrows at him, getting comfy to listen to all the juicy details.
Speaking with Grey had been amusing and enlightening.
It had given me a fair number of ideas for what I wanted to do to pass the time.
Rowan was working, but visiting her for a short break seemed like a great idea.
She worked so hard, and afternoon delights aside, giving her a moment to breathe was definitely something I could do to show her I cared.
Because, boy, did I.
The walk was quick enough, and I waved to Nina as I stepped inside. “Hey, can I sneak in for a few minutes?” I asked, holding up the cold can of soda I had brought with me.
Nina smiled at me, then checked the calendar. “She has some free time. Go for it.”
“Thanks.” I strolled past, heading to Rowan’s office, and knocked on the open door to get her attention.
She looked up, an air of what now, which quickly softened when she saw it was me. “Oh, Nix. Hi. What are you doing here?”
“I wanted to come say hi to my favorite human. Figured you could use a break for a few minutes. Plus, a cold soda never goes amiss.”
Sighing, Rowan leaned back in her chair, the exhaustion behind her smile peeking through. “Man, that’s accurate. It’s been busy today. I don’t know what it is about people or fate or something, but it’s like everyone decided to get sick or hurt on the same day. I’m exhausted.”
“I wasn’t going to say anything, but the energy is definitely low in here.” I gestured around her office as I spoke. Rowan laughed, shaking her head.
“You’re not wrong.” When she looked up at me, she cocked her head. “Did you really just come in here to say hello?”
“Yeah. I like seeing you.” I smiled, leaning forward so that I could take her hand over the top of her desk. “And you have a habit of not resting, even when someone tells you to.”
A sarcastic scoff left her as she took the can, cracking it open and taking a long drag. “Who, me? Never. I’m excellent at taking breaks.”
The room was silent as we stared at each other, and then we both burst out laughing. I rubbed my thumb across the back of her hand.
“So, when was the last time you ate? I feel like some food would do you good. Oh! I could have them bring it here so you don’t even have to move.”
Rowan grinned, squeezing my hand. “That’s really thoughtful of you, but I should probably eat at the house. If I tried to eat it here, I’d let my food get cold because of all the paperwork.”
I bobbed my head, looking at her desk, at the pile of notes, and then at her computer. “There’s a lot, huh?”
“Understatement of the century. I need to get records of everyone I’ve seen logged, and then I need to make sure it all goes into the computer.
I’ve been tracking symptoms and trying to integrate the shitty job of recording Jenkins was responsible for, too.
So many tests and measurements don’t mean much when it’s just one reading.
It’s a person’s history you need to look at—and Jenkins hardly made records, so I’m mostly starting from scratch.
So much of caring for someone is building a puzzle, but you can’t start with edge pieces or corners. ”
I blinked. There was so much I never would have thought of. Rowan’s job wasn’t just treating someone that day. And, sure, I knew chronic conditions existed, but it was eye-opening realizing that check ups could establish a pattern that Rowan, as a competent medical professional, could track.
She grimaced, running a hand through her hair. “I’m sorry. You look like I just spoke Latin to you or something. That was way too much of an info dump.”
“No”—I shook my head—“it’s all good. I see what you mean about there being so much. I like having the perspective.”
“Thank you.” Rowan sat back, looking pleasantly surprised. “It feels nice knowing someone else gets how hard this can be.”
“Of course. And, hey, it’s quieted down. Why don’t you come back with me to get some food? You need to eat. Dinner is important, after all.”
“Oh, no.” Rowan looked genuinely nervous, and I was confused. “You shouldn’t have said that. Whenever someone says it’s quiet—”
“Rowan!” Two seconds later, Nina appeared in the doorway. “I need you. We have a situation with one of the dragons working on the cabin remodel. Bad fall, and he landed on his tools.”
“Shit.” Rowan shot up from her desk, rushing out of the room as she called out, “Later, Nix, okay?! I have to go!”
She ran to the door and pulled it open as an older dragon was rushed inside.
He was seriously banged up. I knew to stay out of the way while Rowan worked.
It would definitely be a minute before she could take a break again.
My gut tightened at the thought, but I couldn’t deny how much she was needed.
Rowan’s skills were crucial, especially right now.
For a moment, I just watched her work, utterly blown away by how she handled the situation.
Hell, Nina, too. The two of them were a well-oiled machine, capable of turning a life-and-death situation around.
It was damn impressive. Still, I knew it had to be draining.
The moment I tried to collect her after one crisis had been resolved, another one popped up.
“Just go, Nix. You don’t need to stay here and wait for me. I’ll find you when I can, okay?”
I nodded. I didn’t want to make Rowan feel worse. “Totally. Remember to breathe when you can, all right?”
Rowan offered a halfhearted smile. “I’ll try.”
Part of me believed she meant that, but the other part knew it wasn’t entirely her choice. We needed more help. She needed more help. And it was about time someone talked to Bastian about it because his stubborn ass, along with his father’s, was what had gotten us into this mess.