26. Chapter Twenty Six Rhowyn
Chapter Twenty Six: Rhowyn
“So, don't take this wrong way, but what the fuck was that?” I snapped at Brannoc, starting to panic as he stood there in shock.
“I don't know. That's never happened before.”
“Obviously,” I snarked back, falling back into old habits with my fear of what had just occurred.
Someone pounded on the door loudly, Arryn clearly sensing my fear and panic through the bond. “Rhowyn!”
“I'm okay,” I called out to him, even though I wasn't sure if that was a lie or not.
“Brannoc, let me in,” Arryn demanded.
Pushing back from me, Brannoc strode across the room, unconcerned that he was naked and still semi hard, covered in my release. Running his hands through his hair, he let Arryn in. “Just you.”
Arryn nodded, clearly trying to keep the rest of the guys back. Once the door shut behind him, he closed the distance between us as I tried to cover up. “What happened?”
“Well, we were just doing our thing. Which I hope is okay, by the way. I didn't ask, and I should have. God, I'm terrible at this whole relationship thing,” I rambled, hiding my face with my hands in embarrassment and shame.
He pulled me into a hug, running a hand up and down my back. “Shhh... it's okay, Rhowyn. We know. We told Brannoc tonight that he had our blessing.”
I sighed, hugging him back, thankful that these guys didn't hate me. That I hadn’t royally fucked up one of the best things that had ever happened to me because right now, I needed his steady embrace. Turning to Brannoc, Arryn asked again, “What happened?”
“I don't know exactly. When I, um, finished, my shadows lashed out. I've never lost control of them like that before. But they somehow managed to be absorbed by Rhowyn,” Brannoc admitted, running his hands repeatedly through his dark hair, fear making his skin pale in stark contrast to his dark tattoos.
“What do you mean?” Arryn’s voice remained calm, keeping us both from going into full-blown panic attacks.
“Exactly that. They wrapped around her and then sank into her skin, no longer mine to control.”
“And this has never happened before?”
“No. Never,” Brannoc assured Arryn.
“How do you feel?” he asked me, still rubbing my back, pulling back to look down at me, his green eyes leaking his concern that he was doing his best to hide from us.
“I don't feel any different, but somehow, I know the shadows are there. What does that mean?” I asked, worried.
Both men looked at me, clearly just as puzzled as I was. “Brannoc, can you let the others in now? They need to see that Rhowyn is okay.”
“Yeah. Yeah,” he blurted, rushing to find his clothes, pulling on his pants and shirt, not even bothering to button them before opening the door.
Callum pushed through first, seeing me upset in Arryn's arms and grabbing Brannoc by the shirt to throw him against the wall. “What did you do to her?” he growled out, barely containing himself.
“Callum!” I called out, “He didn't do anything! Not on purpose anyway,” I told him, the last part nearly whispered.
Still holding Brannoc against the wall, Callum turned to me. “What does that mean?”
“It means that, somehow, I absorbed some of Brannoc's shadows, but I'm okay.”
“You don't know that,” he growled.
“I do. I don't feel any different. It's like I have an awareness of them, but they're not hurting me. If anything, it feels right.” I pleaded with him to listen to me, to trust my judgment. My words made me realize the truth for myself now that my panic was subsiding.
I could sense Callum's wolf pushing forward, so very near the surface as smoke started to drift up from where he kept Brannoc pinned against the wall, staring him down. A growl seeped out of him, menacing and threatening violence.
Jumping up, I laid a hand on his forearm, his fire also close to breaking his very thin thread of control. Despite the heat, it didn't burn me, so I pulled hopelessly, not managing to dislodge the hand wrapped in Brannoc's shirt. I did manage to get his attention, at least.
Turning his head to look at me, I tried to reason with him. “I'm here. I'm okay.” My eyes begged him to see me, to realize that Brannoc hadn't hurt me. Whatever just happened only managed to startle us.
He searched my gaze, and I felt him pulling on the thread in the bond, hunting for any damage. As he realized I was speaking the truth, his grip relaxed, and his eyes started to drift downward. The fire in his eyes turning from destruction to caressing as they skated down my body. My very naked body. In my haste to stop him, I had forgotten that I hadn't had the chance to get dressed like Brannoc had.
Brannoc, thankfully, remained still and quiet as Callum turned to me. All of the guys could sense how close he was to losing control of his magic. With his affinity to fire, it could be devastating if he lost control, ever. Control, for him, was an important piece of who he was and why he had stressed it so much when he had been training me. Or at least trying to train me. My control wasn't exactly the best, especially not lately. I was too impulsive for the kind of control needed to master fire. It was why I hadn't even dared touching my access to it.
Now, though, I felt his gaze like flames, threatening to consume me in their blaze as he took me in, lingering like a caress on my breasts and then dipping lower. I shifted from the intimacy of his gaze, my thighs rubbing together. Nope, no thigh gap here. As often as these guys made me do it, I was surprised I wasn't constantly chafed from the friction.
When his eyes finally met mine again, he was smirking, knowing full well how turned on I was from just his gaze. Despite just having some of the best sex of my life, I was still hungry for more. The thought of having them all flitted through my mind. My thoughts from earlier about taking them all at the same time threatened to undo my efforts, but I pushed it away before I could get any more aroused.
As if knowing what was going through my mind, his hand reached out, grasping my nape and pulling me in for a kiss. His lips only met mine briefly before he pulled back to rest his forehead on mine. “How do you always get in these kinds of situations, Trouble?”
I shrugged. “It's not like I go out searching for stuff like this to happen. It just does. I can't help it.”
He smiled, a soft laugh escaping him. He kissed my forehead, and I closed my eyes, overwhelmed by the reverence in that connection. As if he cherished me. I had never been touched before in such a way, not before meeting my guys.
Opening my eyes, I tilted my head back and looked up, fighting tears that were threatening to fall. His thumb wiped away a tear that escaped my attempts, rubbing it into my cheek.
Arryn's words broke the spell. “How about you, Brannoc? How are you feeling?”
I shifted my gaze to take in Brannoc, still pressed against the wall. Callum finally moved, letting Brannoc relax slightly. “Never better, now that that's over.”
Callum turned to smirk at Brannoc cockily, and I slapped his arm. “What?” Callum asked me, surprised by the action.
“Stop being smug,” I chastised him.
He laughed. “Sweet cheeks, that wasn't smug.”
“Sweet cheeks?” I spluttered, trying to grasp at anger while also fighting the urge to burst out laughing.
His hand slapped my ass. “Yup! Baer told me about that human term. It seemed very fitting.”
“Gah! Y'all are incorrigible!” I protested, enjoying the playful moment.
“Why don’t we let Rhowyn get dressed,” Arryn said. “We should probably get moving soon. We've got a dungeon to infiltrate.” The weight of that settled on my shoulders again, deflating me slightly, but I knew he was right.
“Party pooper,” Baer leaned in, whispering into my ear. The Earth colloquialism made me smile. Only he would understand the sentiment, leaving the others puzzled by the statement.
I dressed quickly once everyone but Brannoc had left. He hovered near the door, his uncertainty leaking from him like shadows. I approached him, stopping his pacing in front of the door. “Don't,” I told him.
“Don't what?” he asked, puzzled and put off guard by my demand.
“Don't start doubting this. I enjoyed what we did, what we shared.”
“How?” His question was asking many things at once. How was I okay with what happened? How was I not freaking out? How could I be so accepting?
I smiled at him, stepping closer. Instinctively, his hands found my waist as mine went to his chest. “I don't know how else to explain it, but I feel like this was all supposed to happen this way. I feel like a part of me is finally whole. Right here,” I paused and put my hand against his heart. “I learned a long time ago to trust my instincts, and every one of them are screaming at me right now that this is right.”
As he searched my gaze for the truth in my confession, I leaned up, pressing my lips against his, showing him without words that I wasn't running away after what had happened. Whatever it was, we could face it together, but I was glad we could share the moment that we had. I wanted more, so much more, with him and all of them.
Withdrawing before I could get carried away again, I waited for him to accept what I already had. Nodding, he turned and opened the door, holding it open for me to pass through before him. Squaring my shoulders, I put my game face on. Turning on the part of my mind that pushed emotions to the side, so that I could focus fully on the task at hand.
Leaving his room, the sense of deja vu swelled over me. It felt like when I had exited my dressing room, prepared to enter the cage for a fight. I was focused on what needed to be done now. To save my grandfather from the Bitch Queen. I was as ready as I could be. Just like when I had prepared for a fight. No matter how ready you thought you were, something always went sideways and not according to plan. But I had done what I could to anticipate and plan for those eventualities. We could do this. We would do this without anyone getting hurt. I'd do whatever was necessary to keep them all safe.