CHAPTER 29 #2
So completely blissed out, I had my first full out-of-body experience.
From an orgasm, anyway. I was lighter than air, floating in the tumultuous sky without a care in the world.
My earthly body gave out on me halfway through the experience, forcing Thorne to catch it.
He gathered me against him, tucking my head beneath his chin while I came down.
When my breaths and pulse evened out again, he slid my dress back into place and collected my underwear before standing with me in his arms.
I snuggled against him, still a mile high as he carried me down the steep pathway. A sudden rustle of wings announced Comet’s presence as he swooped down and gracefully landed on Thorne’s shoulder. Only when we were nearly to the dorm building did my common sense start to return.
“Someone will see,” I whispered, squirming in his arms to be put down.
He tightened his grip and rumbled back, “Then cloak us.”
Okay, so he was feeling a bit possessive, apparently. Not that I minded at the moment. After what he’d just done, he deserved to carry me for as long as he wanted.
Doing as he suggested, I gathered the shadows around us, which wasn’t hard this time of night.
They easily rose to do my bidding, shielding our forms from prying eyes.
It was still early enough that we could have returned to the gala, but it was clear I was done, and Thorne didn’t even bother to ask.
I let him carry me inside, listening closely for anyone roaming the halls.
All clear. If Thorne was bothered by the feel of my cold shadows surrounding him, he didn’t let on.
“Is she still here?” I quietly asked, and he immediately knew who I meant.
“No. Your grandmother left right after you did. So did my family.”
Relieved, I sank into him a little more. “I didn’t expect to see Sterling.”
“Neither did I. He made a last minute decision to come.”
Well, that would explain why Thorne hadn’t warned me. I’d really assumed the worst about him. Feeling bad, I couldn’t help but say, “I’m sorry I accused you of lying and stabbing me in the back. And starting that rumor.”
I’d really been a jerk to him.
“It’s okay,” Thorne replied. “I understand why you did. You were stressed, humiliated, and there’s a lot of unresolved history between our families.”
To put it lightly.
Biting my lip, I dared to ask, “Are they mad?”
“About the rumor?” He paused before admitting, “I don’t know. I told them it wasn’t true, but they seemed troubled by the thought of us together.”
Oh. I shouldn’t be surprised, of course. Hearing that the heir to the Hudson legacy might be screwing his sister’s killer would concern me, too. I’d downright forbid such a heinous thing if I were in their shoes.
Still, I found myself not wanting to dwell on the consequences of what we were doing.
Not right now, not when being in Thorne’s arms felt so good, so comforting.
After the stressful day I’d just had, I really, really needed this.
Which was why I changed the subject, saying as nonchalantly as I could, “The girl you were dancing with seems nice.”
“She is,” Thorne replied without missing a beat. “Yumi is Riku’s cousin but is more of a sister to him. You’d like her.”
I raised an eyebrow at that. “Did you two ever date?”
The moment the words came out, I knew they were a mistake. I sounded jealous. Was I jealous?
“We briefly had a thing last year, but we’re just friends. She’s a lot like Riku in that way.”
Oh, that was reassuring. Not.
When I didn’t respond, he asked, “Does that bother you?”
Yep.
“Nope.”
Yeah, he wasn’t convinced. I was acting weird, and it was annoyingly obvious.
Turning another corner, he made sure the coast was clear before saying, “What I said at the gala about not having someone special in my life wasn’t true.
I only said that to protect you. Even though this thing between us is complicated, I think it’s more special than either of us realizes. ”
I blinked. Blinked again.
Did he just . . . confess that I was special to him?
At a loss for words, I didn’t respond, but I felt the jealousy fade away.
He’d probably had sex with several girls over the years, but that didn’t mean he was going to jump into bed with them now.
I was the one currently in his arms with my lady bits still blissfully tingling from his thorough attention.
A comfortable silence lapsed between us, but when he rounded the corner that led toward Jade Wing, I blurted without thinking, “I don’t want to be alone tonight.”
Oh, wow. I’d gone and said it just like that. No taking it back now.
Thorne slowed, and I stopped breathing, worried that I’d allowed myself to be too vulnerable.
I’d stayed strong all these months, insisting on remaining in Jade Wing Tower no matter how miserable I was.
But now that my trial was looming before me, only hours away, I didn’t .
. . I didn’t want to spend this time alone.
Would Thorne consider that weak?
Nervous that he was about to lecture me, I opened my mouth to retract the words when he suddenly turned and headed the opposite direction.
Toward Sapphire Wing.
A heavy dose of gratitude spread through me, and I reached up to twine my hands behind his neck.
Without a word, he ducked his head and ghosted his lips over my forehead, making my toes curl again.
By the time we reached his dorm, I was relaxed enough that I could have fallen asleep in his arms. But when he uttered the spell to open the door, we were greeted by two familiar faces. Two worried faces.
Comet launched off Thorne’s shoulder, and I released the shadows just as Riku and Oz stood from the dining room table to approach us.
“Is she okay?” Oz asked, and the genuine concern in his voice melted me.
“She will be,” Thorne responded for me, and I was okay with that. Now that the blissful high had worn off, all I wanted to do was curl up on his heavenly mattress and sleep like the dead.
“Bamb—” Riku started, then paused, something akin to pain tightening his features.
“You can call me Bambi,” I said. The pain on his face melted away, and his mouth curved into a soft grin.
Thorne didn’t stick around for further talk, somehow knowing that I needed to be alone. Alone with him. He carried me into his room and nudged the door shut, plunging us into darkness once more. I didn’t mind, and neither did he, familiar enough with the room that he maneuvered around it with ease.
When he finally set me down, he immediately got to work undressing me.
The sodden dress was pooled on the floor in no time, leaving me in nothing but my heels.
With my nakedness concealed by darkness, I didn’t feel awkward.
He left me standing there for a moment but came back seconds later, slipping one of his shirts over my head.
Kneeling down, he unstrapped my heels, then slid a pair of his boxer briefs up my legs.
The act was so intimate, so caring that I felt a telltale burn behind my eyes. I blinked, blinked again, trying to ease the burn, but as he began to undress himself, it wouldn’t go away.
By the time he was in a fresh t-shirt and sweatpants, I was more than ready to crawl into bed and shut my gritty eyes.
I doubted even the unfamiliar sensation of sleeping beside someone would keep me awake, regardless of how sexy my bed companion was.
When Thorne pulled the sheets back, I gladly climbed in, then felt the mattress dip as he climbed in after me.
For a second, I wondered if he planned on doing more than sleep tonight.
But as I settled down and the room fell into silence, he simply curled an arm around my middle and pulled me back against him.
His body lined up with mine, cocooning me inside its larger shape, and my senses sprang awake once more.
No doubt feeling how alert I’d suddenly become, he placed his mouth near my ear and breathed, “Sleep, Snowflake. You’re safe here.”
The soft reassuring rumble sank into my bones, and faster than I thought possible, I started to drift away.
I didn’t know how long I slept, but I suddenly woke up with a gasp. Thorne violently reacted to the sound, springing up to brace his body above mine in a second flat. “What’s wrong?” he said, his frame taut as if prepared to shield me from an attack.
I didn’t respond right away, uncertain at first what had startled me awake. Something tickled my cheek, and I reached up to swipe at it. And that’s when I knew. A sound left me, half laugh, half sob. “Nothing’s wrong,” I whispered as another tear slid onto my cheek. “I’m crying.”
“And that’s a good thing?” Thorne asked, sounding confused as he lifted a hand to wipe the tear away.
“A very good thing,” I sniffled, feeling another tear, then another slide down my face. “It means I’m finally starting to heal.”