Chapter Thirty
Addison
“I hate all of you!” Loxley shouts as The Conjuring plays over Alana’s flat screen. The hide-and-clap scene just jump-scared my friend, and she cuddles impossibly close to me on the sofa as she hides her eyes.
“That was the worst part!” Alana reaches for Loxley’s hands, prying them away from her face. “I promise.”
“You said that two jump-scares ago!” Lox fusses, batting her hands away. My best friend nearly crawls out of her skin as she screams and bolts off the couch.
I side-eye Thalia, whose arm is stretched across the backrest and oddly close to where Lox was just sitting. She gives me a shit-eating grin as my friend huffs.
“That wasn’t funny,” Lox mumbles before plopping back down beside me.
“I thought it was hilarious,” the assassin smirks.
“Can we watch something other than horror movies?” My friend asks. “You’ve tortured me for half the day.”
Alana peeks out at the steadily setting sun, sighing. “Actually, it’s getting late and I have some work I’ve been putting off.”
“Kicking us out?” Thalia nudges the intel expert.
“Until tomorrow,” Alana rolls her eyes. “Then I know you’ll be right back on my doorstep.”
“You can’t get rid of me!” Thalia boasts as she rises from the sofa and stretches her long limbs out. “If you don’t open the door, I’ll use your bedroom window again.”
“Stop breaking into my house!” Alana bites before shoving a finger into the assassin’s chest. “You almost saw something you wouldn’t be able to unsee.”
Thalia only smiles like the deranged human she is. “You were both covered. Relax.”
I chuckle at their antics as I stand. Lox is right behind me, clinging to me as if the demons will crawl out of the TV. She’s never been good with horror movies, and I’m proud she stuck it out as long as she did.
“Do you want me to walk you home?” I ask my friend as I peek at her over my shoulder.
“I’m not walking in the dark by myself,” she frowns.
Oh, boy.
I get to return her to her husband with unresolved fear. Atlas is going to love this.
We tell everyone goodnight before heading out. Luckily for us, Rowan and Atlas’s houses are pretty close, and I already see the massive dark shadow standing on Loxley’s front porch.
“The warden is out,” I jab.
Loxley giggles at my joke. “He’s just protective.”
“And a pain in our asses,” I mutter as we get closer to her cottage.
“They made me watch scary movies!” Lox snitches to her bodyguard.
Atlas’s brows pinch. “Short Stack, you know you don’t handle that stuff well. You could have told them no.”
“No, she couldn’t!” I call back with a grin, then give my friend a tight hug and say bye.
Atlas slings an arm across her shoulder before throwing a wave at me and steering her into their home.
I sigh as I observe the sunset, a lightness making ease stretch over me. When I turn toward Rowan’s house, I’m surprised to see him standing in the doorway, waiting for me. His hip is propped against the door’s frame, and his arms are crossed over his chest as he watches me with a heated smile.
He looks good enough to eat. The t-shirt stretching over his chest only draws attention to the bulging muscles earned through hard labor. The tattoos on his skin add to the danger that seems to surround his being, and my mouth waters.
“Had fun?” He asks, his tone making a shiver wrack my spine.
“Mhm.”
He motions with his chin to the living room. “I have something to show you, Sunshine.”
I lift a brow. “Oh?”
He takes my hand before tugging me along and leading me to the back sliding door. He opens it, revealing a cute little yellow tent pitched in the backyard.
I gasp, excitement bursting through me. “Where did you get that?”
He smiles affectionately. “While we were out, I had Atlas bring me to a camping supply store. It isn’t Montana, but I wanted to give you a little piece of home. How does sleeping under the stars sound?”
I fling my arms around his neck before smashing my lips to his. He makes a surprised sound before circling his arms around my waist and tugging me closer.
“I take it that you like it,” he chuckles.
“I love it,” I gush before tugging him up the stairs. “Let’s get ready!”
He follows behind me, cheesing so hard his cheeks must be hurting as we prepare to camp out under the stars.
An hour later, and we’re lying on our sleeping bags outside the tent’s opening.
Rowan built a makeshift fire pit before starting a small flame for us.
I rest my head on his bicep and curl up into his side as we stare out at the infinite galaxy above.
“Tell me about your dad,” I say quietly.
He clears his throat before the awkwardness of my statement washes over us, and we both chuckle.
“Of all the things I expect to come out of that mouth…” he muses.
I slap a playful hand over his chest. “If you prefer my attitude, I can arrange that.”
He shakes his head before our laughter settles, and he sighs.
“He wasn’t a good person. He started my training when I was only eight.
The first test I ever underwent was starvation.
He put me in the interrogation shed for three days and didn’t check on me once.
While I was writhing with unbearable hunger, I had the realization that my life wasn’t like other kids.
I knew what my parents were, but their title had never affected me until that moment.
Maybe it was the hollow sensation in my stomach, or the sleep deprivation, but somehow I knew my life was going to change after those three days.
I knew I had to be strong if I wanted to survive.
Atlas and Thalia were too little to start their training, but I got a good three years into mine before Atlas joined me.
By then, I had started picking up on what my father considered ‘obedience’.
Atlas struggled a lot with learning the ropes in the beginning.
He was falling behind, and Jack was growing angrier by the day.
He didn’t tolerate failure, and I knew I had to do something before he hurt my only brother.
So, I acted out. I would sneak food from the kitchen in great quantities to make it noticeable.
I would laugh anytime Dad would scold me until he was seething with so much rage that I feared for my own life.
I did everything I could to take my brother’s pain away…
” his voice cracks with emotion, and I feel the bridge of my nose sting with unshed tears.
“When Thalia joined us, I had gotten so good at being numb to the torture. When I was with them, I was all smiles, but the moment Jack closed me in the shed’s hatch… ”
A tear slips, tracking down my cheek as I sniffle. The pain he suffered all for the sake of making sure his siblings were safe is something no child should ever face. He lost his whole childhood because of those monsters.
“Hey, Sunshine,” he says gently as he wipes at my cheeks. “No crying over the past. It was a long time ago—”
“But it still happened to you, Rowan.” I press as I rise onto my elbow so I can see his face.
The campfire’s light dances across his strong features, lighting him in an orange glow.
My heart swells with something overwhelming as I hold my ground.
“You can’t expect me not to shed tears over what happened to you.
You were a kid. You shouldn’t have had to face that alone. ”
He gives me a soft smile, the weight of a thousand lifetimes behind his stormy eyes. “My sunshine girl. I would do it all again if it led me back here to you.”
My lips part as a low gasp leaves me. Heat spreads through my cheeks as my heart slams in my chest. He cups my face, giving me an expression so full of warmth and devotion that it renders me utterly speechless.
“You’ve seen all of my nasty scars,” he whispers. “I was so scared of you seeing them, then looking at me differently, but you aren’t. You still look like you’re falling irrevocably in love with me.”
“Rowan,” I mumble in a prayer.
“Shhh,” he coos, leaning close until our foreheads touch. “Let us have this. Let me be selfish with you, my sunshine girl.”
I swallow and nod. “Why do you call me Sunshine?”
He chuckles deeply, the sound going straight to my bones and settling into the fiber of my being. “Because when I’m with you, there is no darkness. You take it all away, and that’s why I can’t let you go. I’ve never felt so connected to someone in my whole life…”
His speaking it out loud is like the inevitable being cemented between us.
It’s a little frightening just how strongly I feel for this person despite only knowing him for a week, but it’s also exciting and fresh.
This whole new life I’ve been introduced to has been like living a dream.
It isn’t the future I imagined for myself. It’s far better.
“I know how you feel,” watery laughter leaves me. “We’re insane.”
“Most likely,” he chuckles. “But I wouldn’t trade any of it, Sunshine.”
“Neither would I,” I whisper before my lips find his and we share a slow kiss that’s binding—like a promise of what’s to come for us.
Rowan’s hand curls around my waist as his tongue sweeps over mine. I lift my leg and toss it over his hip as he growls into my mouth. His hand reaches between us before he collars my throat tightly, and he pulls me over him.
He rolls onto his back as I straddle his hips and place my hands on his chest to steady myself. His hard cock grinds into my core from below, and I gasp as his fingers bite into my hips.
“You’re salvation,” Rowan growls in a deep rumble as he moves my hips over his. “Do you hear me, Addison? You’re what binds me to this fucking Earth. Without you…”
I place a hand over his mouth, enraptured by his confession. “I’m here.” I breathe hoarsely. “I’ll always be here.”
In his own words, I was caught in his web long ago, and I don’t want to be released. I’ve always been a believer in faith, and I think I’m exactly where I’m meant to be. Something led me here, and I’m taking the reins.
Rowan’s hand works between us as he unbuttons his jeans. I shove my tights down, shifting my weight until I’m bare to the nighttime air. His thumb finds my clit before he circles it slowly, pulling a moan from me.
“Sunshine,” he praises. “Always so wet for me.”
The arousal coating my folds is evidence of what this man does to me. The barest of touches, and he lights desire within me.
He notches himself at my entrance before I rise to my toes and sink down on him. The stretch takes my breath away as if every time is new and awakening in its own way.
“Fuck,” Rowan curses in a rasp.
Having him beneath me and hearing what I do to him sparks confidence in me as I rock back. A whimper falls from me as I slam down on him and take his full length.
“That’s my girl,” he praises as he grips my hips and helps me move. “Take it all, Sunshine.”
I bounce on him, incoherent mumbling, leaving me as our hips slap together. Rowan watches me with heat and awe as I move over him. To be seen by him is to be worshipped, and his harsh praise has my climax cresting as I writhe.
Spots dance behind my eyes as my core clenches around him, and I faintly register him joining me in my bliss. When we both come down, our pants fill our secluded campfire, and Rowan lays me down on his chest before using part of the sleeping bag to cover my exposed backside.
His fingers brush through my hair as I listen to the sounds of his calming heartbeat. For a second time, I wonder if mine beats just the same. I could only hope to be half the person he is, but being here with him makes me feel connected beyond our bodies.
I lift my hand to his chest before he grabs it and drags it to his lips.
“Get some sleep.” He purrs into the night.
Security washes over me as I allow exhaustion to drag me under, and I fall asleep in his arms.