Chapter 2 #2
“This is a nice place,” I commented. Zephyr strode ahead of me, and my eyes caught onto the sweatshirt he wore, both sleeves having rips large enough to fit a thumb through on the wrist. I chuckled, suddenly remembering having seen Skye wear something just like it.
“Something funny about my back?” Zephyr asked, glancing over his shoulder at me and raising an eyebrow just like Skye.
I chuckled again. “I saw your sister wearing a dude’s sweatshirt like this before and I got jealous. I didn’t even consider it could be yours.”
Zephyr looked confused for just a moment, then threw his head back and laughed. He held the door open for me as we stepped out of the café and into a sort of hallway. “I thought she’d stopped stealing my clothes years ago. What a brat.”
“My Aiden is not a brat,” the most beautiful voice I’d ever heard in my life called from down the short hall.
My heart skipped a beat, that breathless feeling back, but for a completely different reason.
My feet moved faster, and I ignored the pictures hanging on the walls as I quickly moved through the hall, my focus only on Skye.
“Not him, Skyes.” Zephyr chuckled. “I meant you.”
“Oh,” she replied sarcastically as we emerged from the hallway.
There, standing in the middle of a living room, was my beautiful Key, the center of my whole world.
Aside from looking exhausted, she was just as beautiful as always.
Her dark hair that usually fell in a long, glossy sheet down her back was still disheveled from our ordeal.
Her silver eyes were locked onto me, holding me captive in her stare.
I suddenly felt like all the air had been sucked out of the room.
“Hey, baby.” I said quietly.
I needed to be alone with her, like, immediately.
But her brother was here, watching us very carefully.
I didn’t know how protective he was, or how much she’d told him about me.
If he knew about any of my shortcomings before Skye and I had connected, he hadn’t shown it.
But there was still plenty of time for him to punch me in the face before Skye got to me.
I had nothing to worry about, of course. Skye launched herself at me the moment Zephyr moved out of the way, and I threw my arms open to catch her. I stumbled backward slightly as she rocked into me, and Zephyr laughed from beside us as we hugged.
“Hey,” I whispered as she began to tremble. I nuzzled my face into her hair, my stubble scratching against her cheek slightly as I spoke. “You okay, baby?”
“Yeah,” she replied in a whimper.
I looked up and locked eyes with Zephyr, who only grinned while he shook his head. “Y’all are great. I like him, Skyes.”
Skye let out a watery laugh before her arms snaked around my neck and pulled me down for a kiss. It felt really weird kissing her in front of her brother for like, two seconds, and then her tongue had me forgetting he was even in the room.
It’d been too long since I had her in my arms. Too long since I’d smelled her shampoo or ran my lips down her neck. How long had we even been apart? It was dark, but I had no idea what time of night it was. If we’d made it in last night–
Skye nipped at my lower lip and I chuckled, painfully pulling back and darting my eyes toward the doorway where Zephyr had been standing.
But he was gone, probably giving us some privacy.
It was the perfect time for him to punch me in the face, and he’d left us alone, instead. Maybe I was in the clear.
Skye whined and one of her hands gripped the hair at the back of my head, pulling hard to bring my attention back to her. I stifled a groan and ignored my quickly hardening dick while she rubbed up against me.
“Baby, your brother is home.” I murmured against her lips when she pulled my face back to hers.
“He’ll leave,” Skye groaned adorably.
“He is not leaving,” Zephyr called out from the other room.
Skye pouted while I chuckled then groaned as she started to kiss along my neck.
“Fuck,” I whispered. Skye had never acted this way before. I totally loved it, minus Zephyr in the other room, but something seemed off. “What’s wrong, baby? I’m right here. Slow down,” I murmured as I pulled back to look at her.
Skye’s silver eyes welled with tears, and she buried her face in my chest before she began to cry. I ran my hands up and down her back, hoping it was comforting. I was completely lost. What the hell happened while I was asleep?
“I just missed you so much,” she whispered against me.
“Hug me as long as you want, baby.” I murmured. “Everything’s okay. We’re safe.”
“We’re safe,” she repeated.
I held her for several minutes, and eventually I could hear Zephyr beginning to move around a kitchen. He’d been quiet for a moment as if he was waiting to listen to how I handled Skye’s freak out.
Skye finally settled, and I pulled her back a bit to speak to her.
“Do you wanna show me your bedroom?” I asked, half-teasingly, hoping we could move whatever this was out of earshot of her brother.
I mean, yeah, he was cool, and he seemed to like me, but he was still a big brother.
He’d be kicking my ass any minute now, and his arms alone looked big enough to crush my head.
“He doesn’t want to kick your ass,” Skye whispered in my ear, making me shiver.
“Reading my mind without permission?” I teased. Skye went from looking like she wanted to devour me to looking like she’d melt into a puddle of tears again. “What’s wrong?”
Skye hugged me tight again. “Maybe I do need my room.”
“Have you slept? How long have we been here? Are you hungry?”
Skye chuckled at my rapid-fire questions.
“I haven’t slept or ate. You were only out for a few hours.”
Hours.
A few hours I was passed out in that booth.
No wonder my neck was so sore. Zephyr’s healing hadn’t fixed that annoying thing, of course.
“Come on,” Skye said, pulling my arm gently.
I glanced down the hall to where Zephyr had gone, but Skye pulled my arm again, bringing my attention back to her. We slipped into a room close by, and I was promptly pushed back onto a large, four poster bed.
The room smelled like Skye, albeit a little stale. She clearly hadn’t been here in a while.
“Baby, I’m a mess.” I said, looking down at my clothes, still covered in soot and dirt and…blood from the fight with Landon. There was one particularly goopy-looking stain on my leg that made me think it’d come from the group of men I’d incinerated.
I almost winced at the memory.
It’d happened so fast. I hadn’t even thought about it. Skye was in danger, and I reacted. Sure, I knew my fire affinity was stronger than people believed, but I’d never actually seen what it could do. I certainly never thought I’d be able to melt people.
Skye wrinkled her nose, looking at the same goopy spot. “Oh, yeah. Come on.”
A strange force pushed against my back while pulling my forearms, and suddenly I was standing again. I realized it must have been Skye’s affinity just as she took my hand and pulled me to follow her.
We slipped through the door next to her closet, and I grinned at the girly bathroom we’d stepped into. Skye’s style was soft and muted, usually blues and grays. But her bathroom was pink. The walls, the tiles, and even her bath towels were all a light blush pink.
Skye gave me a shy smile. “I’d been planning to redo the bathroom in the fall before I was forced into the academy.”
“Whatever,” I said with a shrug. “I’m a real man. Pink doesn’t bother me.”
Skye giggled before she leaned into her standing shower, turning a bunch of knobs in seemingly random directions before the water kicked on.
The room quickly filled with steam while Skye turned back to me, her grin faltering when she took in just how fucked up my clothing was. Her gaze dropped to my hands.
“Zephyr,” I explained softly.
Her eyes widened and she gently took my hands, examining them closely. “Zephyr did this?”
I nodded. “He’s good, Skye.”
“He wasn’t always good,” Skye said with an eye-roll. “The last few times he tried to heal anything on me, he ended up making me sick.”
I chuckled, imagining Skye and Zephyr as kids, Skye throwing up after Zephyr tried to heal a skinned knee. “Well whatever shit you were reading in those old-ass books helped. I mean, I’m assuming that’s why you were reading them.”
“It is,” she confirmed, then ran her hands along the hem of my shirt. “Let’s get cleaned up. You’re covered in…I don’t want to imagine what.”
I started to strip, assuming she’d be leaving me with one of her plush pink towels so I could fulfill my fantasy of washing with her soap, but when I turned back to face her, my mouth went dry.
She was also naked.
Skye grinned, taking my hand and pulling me toward the shower. “You thought I’d leave you in here alone?”
I shook my head without replying. I didn’t know what I’d been thinking, but it was obvious now she’d intended to stay with me.
Skye stepped under the water, shivering before pulling me in behind her. Even though we were filthy, I wrapped my arms around her middle, pulling her back to my front. I ran one of my hands over her neck, clearing the dirt and grime and whatever else away before I kissed her soft skin.
Skye completely melted against me, shaking slightly like her adrenaline was finally waning.
“Have you slept?” I whispered.
Skye shook her head lazily, then rolled her neck so that she looked up at me upside down.
“Don’t want to,” she mumbled. “Nightmares.”
I kissed her forehead, then rested my cheek against hers.
“We can do something else?” I suggested, raising my eyebrows up and down so she’d feel it against her forehead.
She breathed a laugh, then sniffled. “That feels wrong.”
My chest tightened.
“I know,” I said softly. “I’m sorry, baby. I just want you to feel better.”
“I’m not upset. I do feel better,” she insisted. “I’m…I’m really glad I brought you with me.”
I chuckled nervously. “For a second there, I thought you’d leave me.”