Chapter 12 Skye #2
I gasped, and it seemed like the Prince was finally done waiting on me. He leaned forward, then paused, his lips only a breath away from mine, and I closed the distance between us.
Our lips met, and I jolted like I’d been electrocuted. The pounding music around us faded, replaced by the sound of my heart pounding in my ears.
Holy shit. I was kissing the Prince. Or the Prince was kissing me. Rafe’s tongue easily slid against mine, and he tilted his head to the side to deepen the kiss.
Rafe groaned a wonderful manly sound, and his hands tightened on my hips, but didn’t move, though I could feel his fingers flinch. Aiden sucked in a sharp breath next to me, but he didn’t move away either. He kept his chin on my shoulder while Rafe kissed me mere inches from his face.
There was something really hot about that, too, but then Rafe pulled away from me, pressing our foreheads together while we panted like we’d just run a marathon.
“Damn,” Aiden laughed from beside me, and all the sound around us came rushing back to me at once. The music blared, the colorful lights sparkled, the sound of people laughing and talking hummed behind us.
“Well, that was…” I trailed off as Rafe cupped my cheek, his expression having changed into one I didn’t want to think about too much. He looked at me like I was something precious, his dark eyes sliding across every inch of my face.
“You’re divine,” he breathed. “Devastating, just as I thought.”
Goosebumps sprung up along the back of my neck. How the hell do you respond to a comment like that?
And then Aiden kissed my cheek before pulling me away from the Prince, deciding for both of us that this had gone far enough for now.
“Wow, look at that.” Aiden murmured. He pulled me into his side for a hug while we watched the glittering waves of the ocean. The high tide was coming in, so we’d be standing in water soon, but that was fine.
Rafe had offered to shadow-walk us back to the apartment, but I wanted to walk the beach before going back. There was a beautiful full moon out, and I always loved how the waves sparkled.
“You know, Aiden, when you texted me, I didn’t realize it was an invite to be a third wheel.” Rafe’s voice came from behind us.
My stomach dropped but Aiden only laughed. “Okay. I’ll put that in the message next time.”
I couldn’t help but giggle.
“Gee, I never realized what a smartass you could be.” Rafe said. He came up beside us, but didn’t reach out for me at all.
Aiden flashed him a grin. “I’m a lot of fun, Rafe. You’ll get used to it.”
The three of us laughed as the tide rolled up.
“Where’s Wyatt?” I asked.
“Doesn’t Ca–”
Rafe cleared his throat, cutting off Aiden. I gave him a sharp look, and he dipped his head in apology. He gave Aiden a pointed look as he replied, “We rented a hotel room.”
I hummed thoughtfully at that, then gave Aiden my own pointed look to let him know we’d be discussing that later.
“Who’s idea was it to break in? Be honest.” Aiden was grinning.
“I’m not actually sure,” Rafe answered. He ran his fingers through the top of his hair, and I watched almost hungrily. His hair looked soft. I wanted to touch it and see for myself.
“Come on,” Aiden laughed.
“No, really,” Rafe shook his head. “It was, uh…sort of understood we’d be breaking in. We never considered knocking on the door, really. I mean, would you have answered?”
I laughed. “No.”
“And your brother…” Rafe said slowly.
“Ah, yes. My secret lover.” I barely held back my snicker.
Aiden laughed along with me, holding his stomach as he leaned over. “I wish we had a picture of your faces for that reveal. It was so good.”
“In my defense, I’d never seen the two of your together,” Rafe said as we began to walk again. “Wyatt was the one who took one look at Zephyr and decided the two of you had to be together.”
I rolled my eyes, thinking back to the first time Wyatt had been in the café.
He’d narrowed his eyes at how my brother hugged me, and I would have laughed if that one interaction hadn’t told me a lot about Wyatt.
Hugs weren’t only reserved for intimate partners. Poor Wyatt hadn’t even considered that.
For a counselor, he sure had shitty insight.
“You okay?” Aiden asked.
Rafe was staring at his phone screen, the light casting an ominous glow across his handsome face. He blew out a breath while he slipped the phone back into his pocket.
“I’m getting updates about the attack on the academy. They found one of the missing. She…” He trailed off, looking right at me. “I don’t want to trigger you.”
“You won’t,” I said, though I wasn’t sure I believed it. Aiden moved closer to me, not touching me, just offering his warmth.
“She’d been obliterated,” Rafe said quietly. “They only found a few pieces of her. It took a while to identify.”
“Who?” Aiden asked quietly.
“Sarah Steven,” Rafe said with a sigh.
“Fuck, I knew her.” Aiden said. I turned to face him, but he only shook his head. “I knew her when we were kids.”
Rafe nodded grimly. “I’m going to pay a visit to her parents tomorrow to deliver the news.”
“Since when is that your job?” Aiden asked as we began to walk again.
“Since I punched an investigator for leaving dead students out in the rain,” Rafe muttered.
Aiden and I went quiet.
I hadn’t known that.
“I hadn’t meant for it to happen, but…well, whatever. I’m in charge of this whole situation now.”
I gazed out across the water, the dark shadow of the next island barely visible in the moonlight. There was a fine mist of fog obscuring the details of the outline, but I knew the shape well. I’d been there many times.
“Too bad you couldn’t have been in charge of the massacre,” I said quietly. “They just threw all the unidentified parts together in a mass grave.”
Rafe and Aiden stopped walking. I turned back, taking in their matching expressions of horror.
“And who was responsible for that?” Rafe asked darkly.
“Who do you think?” Aiden sneered. “Your grandpa sucked, dude.”
He wasn’t wrong. The King hadn’t given a single shit about the massacre. Hadn’t spoken up about it, hadn’t come to visit. The visit from Rafe and his mother was more about appearances than anything else.
Rafe tapped away at his phone. “I’m going to fix that.”
“You’re going to dig up dozens of body parts?” I asked in disbelief.
“With the proper permits, yes.” Rafe put his phone away. “Those people deserve a proper burial. I can right that wrong.”
“Your mom would agree to that?” Aiden asked.
Rafe went quiet, then shrugged. “I’ll figure it out.”
The walk back to the apartment was nearly silent. Aiden was lost in thought over how someone he’d known was dead, Rafe was feeling the weight of managing the academy disaster, and I was thinking about how many dead people were on that island, forgotten to time.
Aiden slipped into my room before me, giving Rafe a simple manly slap on the arm in farewell.
Now, Rafe and I stood outside my bedroom door, both awkwardly shuffling back and forth on our feet.
“I guess I’ll head out,” Rafe said slowly, giving me a chance to invite him to stay.
I didn’t know if I wanted him to stay.
The kiss earlier had been nothing short of perfect, but now in the light of my hallway…
I was feeling shy. All my bravery from the club was gone. I was hyper aware of the fact that I’d gone without panties, and now a prince was in front of me, watching me like maybe he knew that. I was still trying to get over the idea of being with multiple men–
Two.
Two men. Only two.
I could feel Aiden was opening up his mind inside my room, trying to tell me something, so I let him.
Invite him in, Aiden said. I’m down for group activities, baby, you know that.
I held back a laugh, but the thoughts that filled my mind in response to that idea were probably not the same type of group activities Aiden was imagining.
Rafe slowly cupped my face, his dark eyes bouncing back and forth between mine while he breathed evenly.
“I’ll see you tomorrow,” he said softly, and I realized I’d never replied to him. He must have known I was speaking to Aiden, since he didn’t mention my silence. “Unless you’d like me to come in?”
I chewed my lip, flushing when Rafe’s pupils dilated slightly, watching me.
“I think I should call it a night,” I whispered. “I don’t…I’m sorry–”
“Don’t be sorry,” Rafe cut me off gently. “This is a lot. I know things are…weird. One night of dancing won’t change that. But I am sorry. And I do want this. You. Him. The whole Chain. Anyone you want to add. I promise.”
“Anyone I want to add?”
Aiden had said the same thing to me a million times, and my mind was still blown when I thought about it. I could barely handle the three men fate wanted me to have, when was I supposed to find time for a fourth?
I mean…two men. I could do that. Maybe a third. Never a fourth.
I gulped. God, the Prince really knew how to render me speechless.
Rafe leaned down, pausing with his lips only inches from mine. “Can I kiss you goodnight?” he whispered, his breath fanning across my lips.
I nodded, feeling weirdly lightheaded from his proximity. He leaned in all the way, gently pressing his soft lips against mine.
I breathed out harshly. The sensation from this kiss was so different from the hungry, needy one we’d shared in the club.
This one was soft, full of want and…something…
else. Which was weird considering I really didn’t know much about Rafe at all, but…
I felt like I’d known my shadow pretty well.
My mind was still working on putting the two together.
His tongue barely feathered across my lips, and I let him into my mouth for just a split second before my stupid fucking brother opened his stupid fucking mouth.
“Listen, Skye. I like Aiden, but this one? It’s too much. Do that in your room, holy shit.”
I pulled back from Rafe so quickly, I would have stumbled if he weren’t holding me.
Rafe was annoyed, I could feel it rolling off of him as if he were in his shadow form. His face remained expressionless, though, and he ended up giving Zephyr a tight grin.
“Sorry, brother,” he said lightly.
Zephyr froze, his expression slightly horrified. “Don’t ever call me that again.”
I snorted, because I couldn’t help it, and then I buried my face in Rafe’s chest. He wrapped his arms around me, pulling me into a wonderful hug while I breathed him in.
Zephyr shuffled past us, grumbling something about how gross this was, and I could feel Rafe’s smile against my temple before he kissed me there.
He stepped back reluctantly, then gave me a tender smile as he tucked a piece of hair behind my ear.
“Talk to your mother,” I said gently.
Rafe tilted his head to the side, his dark eyes sharpening slightly.
“Talk to her…about the academy, about…anything. Ask about her thoughts on things. You’ll regret it someday if you don’t.”
Rafe nodded, his shoulders relaxing with understanding.
“Goodnight, my love.”
“Goodnight, shadow.”