26. Hayden
The three SUVs pulled to a halt in front of the house, and everyone piled out. My muscles were wound so tightly it was difficult to get them to move. When they finally obeyed, it was in a tripping sort of fall that had me landing with an oomph against a hard chest.
Strong hands grabbed my arms. “You okay?”
Easton’s deep rasp swirled around me, and I struggled to straighten. “Sorry, I?—”
My words caught in my throat as my gaze met his. I couldn’t help but trace the gold pattern in his green irises. It was so different from Knox’s, but just as hypnotizing.
“Hayden—”
A phone rang out into the quiet night, and Easton dropped his hold on me as if he’d been burned. He took two giant steps back, each one a knife to the chest. I’d thought our talk tonight had brought us closer. Thought it had changed things. But apparently, I was wrong.
“Tell me you got him,” Cillian snarled into a cell phone.
There was silence as we all waited.
The muscles in Cillian’s jaw bowed and flexed. “Good. Don’t start slicing off fingers until I get there.”
I winced at the disgusting image but pushed that aside for more important information. “Was it Cáel? He’s okay?”
Cillian jerked his head in a nod. “He’s fine. But we need to see what we can get out of the Corbett enforcer.”
A wave of nausea rolled through me.
“I’ll stay with Hayden,” Knox volunteered.
“You don’t have to. I’ll be okay,” I assured them. The truth was, I needed a good cry. The buildup from the past twenty-four hours was too much to take. I needed to let it all go.
“No,” Cillian clipped. “One of us needs to stay with you.”
I snapped my mouth closed. There’d be no arguing with him in this state. He was too on edge.
Knox wrapped an arm around my shoulders and held me close. “Let’s get you inside.”
I looked at Cillian, Maddox, and Easton. “Be careful.”
There was a cold glint in Maddox’s typically warm eyes. “It’s not us who needs to worry.”
I turned toward the door at that. The past few weeks had already held too much cruelty. I didn’t want to think about any more.
Knox led me through the door and into the foyer. “Are you hungry?”
I shook my head. “I just want a shower and bed.”
That much was true, but I also needed a little distance from this overload.
“Okay.”
Knox guided me up the stairs and toward my bedroom. Once we were inside, I made a beeline for the bathroom, closing the door behind me. I kicked off the too-high heels and unzipped the gorgeous garment. I hung it on the hooks on the door and headed for the massive shower.
It was one of those with a marble bench and too many jets to count. But tonight, I opted for the normal spray. Stepping under the water, I let it course over me.
Memories flashed in my mind. Dexter cornering me. Hal’s threats. My fear for Cáel.
A sob tore free. Then another. They tripped over each other in a race for purchase.
My shoulders shook as my tears mixed with the water.
I didn’t hear the bathroom door, didn’t know a person was even here until the shower door opened. Knox slipped inside, his arms coming around me and holding me to him.
“Let it out. I’m here.”
I cried harder, and Knox lowered us to the shower bench, cradling me in his arms as warm water rained over us. He held on and didn’t let go. He didn’t try to get me to stop or tell me everything would be okay. Because it wasn’t. And that was the reality we all had to face.
I wasn’t sure how long he held me, but eventually, I had no more tears to cry.
Knox’s hand trailed up and down my back in soothing strokes.
“I’m sorry,” I croaked.
“There’s nothing to be sorry for. Tonight was a lot. You can’t bottle up everything that you’re feeling.”
I pulled back a fraction. “I don’t see how it’s possible for this to work. It feels like the whole world is against us.”
Knox’s hand moved to my neck, kneading the muscles there. “I won’t lie to you. We’ll have to deal with the Corbetts. They won’t stand for us having a mate.”
“Why do they care so much?”
Knox’s mouth curved. “Sometimes I forget that you didn’t grow up in this world. Being mated will make all of us stronger, faster, our abilities heightened.”
My mouth went slack. “Oh.”
“They don’t want that for us, but more, they want it for themselves.”
My stomach cramped at the thought.
Knox squeezed my neck. “We’ll deal with them. And once we’re mated, things will ease a bit.”
But I wasn’t sure we’d ever get there. Not anytime soon. Maddox may have softened to me tonight, but he was firm in not touching me until I graduated. And Easton…he wasn’t any closer to letting me in, even if he’d stopped with his assholish ways.
My gaze lifted to Knox’s. “Make me forget? Just for tonight?”
His eyes flared. “Hayden…”
“Please.” I wasn’t above begging.
Knox searched my face, looking for something. He must’ve found it because he took my mouth then. The kiss was different. It was slow and tender. It poured emotion into me that made my eyes sting.
His hand moved to my breast, palming it and squeezing gently. His thumb circled my nipple, and it beaded under his touch.
Knox pulled his mouth from mine, breathing just a little more raggedly. “I could drown in your taste.”
My core tightened, spasming around nothing but the need for him.
I moved then, straddling Knox’s lap and resting my hands on his shoulders. He gazed up at me, reverence in his eyes.
“So damn beautiful.” His hand dipped between my thighs, teasing, toying.
“I want all of you,” I whispered.
Gold sparked in Knox’s eyes as two fingers slid inside me. “Are you sure?”
“Never been surer of anything.” I needed to be as close as possible to this man who had cared for me before he’d even known who I was to him. This man who had shown me kindness before knowing I was anything but a bumbling freshman, lost on her way to check-in.
His fingers stretched me, and I couldn’t hold in my moan.
“I’ve wanted you since the moment I saw you. When I thought you were a human and knew I shouldn’t go anywhere near you.”
My eyes locked with his. “You made me feel safe from the moment I met you. You made me feel special. And you showed me true kindness.”
Knox’s free hand lifted to my face, cupping it. “I love you, Hayden. You saw me, even the things I tried to hide.”
Pressure built behind my eyes. “I love you, too. More than I thought possible.”
Then Knox’s fingers were gone, and I was sliding down onto him. My eyes watered with the stretch, my mouth falling open.
“Breathe, beautiful. Just breathe. You were meant to take me,” Knox whispered.
His fingers twisted my nipple, making my core spasm, and he cursed.
“Gonna kill me,” he muttered.
“That was all your doing.”
Knox nipped my bottom lip, then kissed me hard and needy.
Everything went to liquid heat inside me. I rocked my hips, the friction sending delicious shivers through me.
Knox moaned into my mouth, his hips rising to meet mine.
I pulled back. “More,” I pleaded.
Then he really started to move. He thrust deep, one arm holding me in place. The angle had him hitting my G-spot over and over. Each contact had tears spilling free.
“Knox,” I moaned.
“Meant for me,” he growled. “Meant to take my cock. Meant to be mine.”
My inner walls trembled at his words.
The action sent him into a frenzy. He pushed up from the bench, bracing my back against the wall as he slammed into me. The sheer force had my orgasm hitting with the force of a freight train.
I cried out in some nonsensical words, my nails digging into his shoulders.
Knox roared as he came, emptying into me. The feel of his cum inside me had a fresh orgasm hitting me, milking him for everything he had to give. And then I passed right out.