Edge Gelus (Orey Gelus Book 2), page 6
“I’d prefer you stay here,” Dad answered bluntly. “Is Barden coming for dinner?”
Swallowing under my brother’s watchful gaze, I sat upright and lowered my gaze to the table. “Barden said he’d be working late unless I needed him,” I answered. “I’d prefer not to be here if she’s going to come home. It’d be easier for you both, since I’m the problem, if I remove myself so you can patch things up without aggravating her.”
“What if Vidal drops by without notice again?” Savas asked. With a shake of his head, Savas kept fidgeting with his pen. “I agree with Dad. You should stay here and maintain appearances.” Returning his focus to his books, Savas said nothing more, but I noticed his gaze flicking to me afterward.
Sighing, I got up and grabbed my painkillers, taking a couple of paracetamol to deal with the dull ache in my head and stiffness in my back. “I’m going to go do some stretches before we eat, or I won’t be able to stand afterward,” I excused myself. I went through the glass walkway to the home gym behind the garage.
While I could read now without getting dizzy and passing out, I struggled to focus. I kept getting distracted by everything around me. That was not great, considering finals were just a few weeks away.
The murmur of distant voices through the open door told me Savas and Dad were talking in the kitchen, but I didn’t want to listen. Turning on some tunes, I moved through some light stretches to help release my muscle stiffness. As a twist caught on my bruised ribs, I hissed and had to ease it back.
Yeah, unfurling had helped heal me faster. It would have been weeks before I could move like this without them, and I knew it. Still sucked to be in pain at all.
Worry battered at me down my bond with Barden, and I sighed. Taking a breath, I sat back into child’s pose—which wasn’t as easy as usual—and sent thoughts that I was safe back to him.
We seriously needed to talk about being able to turn this off and on. I didn’t want to spend the rest of my life shifting my emotions so that I didn’t worry Barden when he needed to focus on his work.
A growl echoed down the bond. I huffed and fell to my good side. “See, this is exactly why. I can’t even have a private thought anymore. That’s not cool.”
Despite being sure that Barden couldn’t hear me, I felt like his hand was rubbing my back and then him withdrawing a little. Giving me space. Closing my eyes, I breathed out in relief and enjoyed a moment of peace. I really wanted to get on my bike and go for a long ride, but besides my helmet most likely causing pain, I knew the three men in my life would lose their shit if I even considered it.
I went to get up, but my head became heavy, pulling me back to the ground. Suddenly, it became impossible to keep my eyes open. Blackness clouded my mind as my body seemed to weigh a ton.
“Sash,” Savas’ voice cut through the darkness. “Sash, wake up. Dad!”
Groaning, I opened my eyes to see Savas leaning over me, shaking my good shoulder. “Hey,” I whispered.
“Are you okay?” Savas asked as Dad rushed into the gym and kneeled on my other side.
“What happened?” he checked as his fingers found the pulse in my neck.
“I tried to get up but felt so heavy, and I couldn’t keep my eyes open.”
“I’ll call Nelly and ask her to come look at you,” Dad decided.
“Doesn’t she work on dead people?” I frowned.
“Yes, but she had to become a doctor before she could become a medical examiner,” Dad clarified.
He and Savas helped me sit up, and I noticed two others standing by the door. Mum and Vidal were there. Both looked pale as if they’d thought the worst seeing me lying on the floor.
“What was she doing in the gym?” Mum shrieked.
“I was aching and thought some light stretches might help. I barely did anything. Even child’s pose hurt.”
“You can barely stay conscious sitting still, was stretching really the smartest idea?” Mum scolded.
“What do you care?”
Mum stiffened, but before she could open her mouth, Dad snapped, “Sasha!” He gave me a look of warning as he helped me to my feet. “Sav. Vidal. Help Sasha to the sofa; I’ll call Nelly. Delila, we’ll talk in my study.”
Mum moved out of the doorway while the boys guided me back to the living area and over to the sofa. Savas squatted in front of me to meet my eyes.
“I’ll get you a water,” Vidal said, then crossed to the kitchen.
Savas’ phone started playing the intro to Stray Kid’s Side Effects. He pulled it out of his pocket, checked the screen, and looked at me. “It’s Barden.” He touched my shoulder as he put the phone to his ear. “Hey. Now’s not a good time. Sash took a turn just as Mum and Vidal arrived.”
Listening to Barden, Savas squeezed my shoulder, stood, and moved away. “I don’t know. Dad’s calling your mum to come to look at Sash. I thought she was dead, man. She was so pale when I found her…” Sav’s voice fell away as he shut the door to the mudroom behind him.
Kneeling before the couch, Vidal held a glass of water. “Do you need a hand sitting up?”
Giving him a slight shake of my head, I used the back of the sofa to pull me up, then cuddle against it. Once I was settled, Vidal handed me the glass.
“How are you feeling?” he asked as I sipped the water.
“How do I look like I feel?” I muttered, then huffed and rested my head against the sofa.
“They messed you up, that’s for sure. You’re lucky you’re still alive,” Vidal answered.
Frowning, I winced against the ache of moving the bruised tissue around my face. Still, even that was more reactionary than near the pain I was in two days ago. “They?”
“The guys who attacked you and my sister.”
Confused, I went to rub my head, but Vidal caught my wrist, stopping me. “You don’t want to do that.”
Letting him move my hand away, I didn’t react to him holding it. My focus was on his words. “Guys? What guys? I watched your sister fall from the bridge. I was on the shore alone. There was no one anywhere near me when it happened.”
“Is that what you remember or what you were told when you woke up and couldn’t remember?” Vidal pushed.
“Told?” I set my eyes on Vidal. “I wish I couldn’t remember. I see your sister falling and hear her screaming over and over whenever I close my eyes. The only way I can sleep is if I take those drugs which knock me out. Even then, I swear they are there. I’m just too deep for them to reach me and make me see them.”
“Them?” Vidal pressed his fingers harder against my wrist.
Sorrow flooded my eyes, fell over the rims, and caressed my cheeks. “Sophie and Yas. Both of them are there, on the shore. Their eyes empty, vacant, haunting me. I can’t unsee them. They won’t let me.” I sobbed, wrapping my free arm around my waist. “I wish I could forget your sister’s screams. Sometimes, it’s me. Stumbling around under the bridge, then falling. Falling and screaming and hitting the ground. I remember the sound of the impact like a song played too often on the radio, and now it’s embedded in my brain.”
For a moment, we sat there in silence. Vidal still with his fingers on my pulse, his eyes in my peripheral vision laser-focused on me. Tears continued to fall as I stared off into the canyon, the riverbed, the wing striking me. I winced as I remembered the force it hit me with. The caw of a hawk. Then the rocky ground rushed up to meet me, making me jerk where I sat as if I was hit all over again.
“Sash…” Vidal’s voice was tender, his thumb caressing the side of my wrist.
“I remember too clearly. I wish I could forget. I wish I could sleep without seeing it happen all over again and again,” I murmured.
Vidal tucked a few strands of my hair behind my ear. “Okay, Sash. I believe you. I won’t ask anymore.”
Wiping away my tears only for fresh ones to fall, I eyed Vidal. “Is that why you are here? To question me more?”
“That’s why my parents think I’m here,” Vidal muttered. His thumb caressed the vein on my wrist, making me frown at his hand. “Being home sucks. They are angry and hurt and keep going on about how she was meant to marry Athur and how it could mess up the alignments now. It’s not even that their daughter died, but the fallout of all their plans for her not coming about. I come here and watch you breathe, which sets me at ease. I hope you don’t mind. I know you feel like shit and are going through a lot, but it helps to see you breathe.”
Wiping away the last of my tears, I eyed Vidal. What he revealed about his parents, about the way they were carrying on. “I guess everyone grieves in their own way. Maybe your parents find it easier to focus on the logistics than the emotions.”
“Maybe,” Vidal agreed. “Do you mind me coming here?”
Shaking my head a little, I cuddled back into the sofa and sighed.
“What’s going on?” Savas asked, suddenly standing at the end of the sofa, his eyes targeted where Vidal was holding my wrist.
Clearing his throat, Vidal took his hand back and collected the empty glass of water before standing. “Just talking to keep her conscious,” Vidal answered. “What did Barden want?”
“Organising to study together tomorrow,” Savas answered without hesitation. “Nelly’s on her way. I’ll serve up dinner. Vidal, you staying?”
“If that’s okay?”
“Sure. Can you go into the garage and get a few cans of drink? We’re all out in here,” Savas asked as he went to the dining table and started packing our study stuff. I noticed how he packed away mine quickly and piled it up next to his on the buffet table.
Savas returned to me as soon as Vidal went out to the garage. “You okay? Did he say or do something?”
Considering my brother, I shook my head. Vidal was grieving his sister and felt unsafe doing it at home. If I told Savas that Vidal was questioning me, he’d probably ask him to leave. I didn’t want to cause more issues around here.
Assessing my tear-streaked face, Savas chewed his cheek but didn’t push it. “I’ll get dinner on the table. Are you up to eating?”
I wasn’t really hungry, but at the same time, I was starving. “Sure.”
The Mate
A cool breeze slipped beneath the blankets, making me shiver before something hot filled the space beside me.
"What time is it?" I mumbled, still half asleep as I cuddled into Barden's warmth.
"The sun is about to rise," Barden whispered with a yawn as he huddled under the blankets with me. His fingers tenderly swept the hair back from my face, then brushed across the bruising still around my temple. The lightness of his caress didn't aggravate the injury now. Just the ease of his attention and affection relaxed me.
Nelly's assessment Thursday night was that stretching my back by touching my toes and hanging there for ten seconds was the cause of my collapse. Something about an inverted pose affecting my blood pressure to my bruised brain.
Nelly had been worried enough that she told Barden to ensure he was there while I slept that night. Despite Mum not talking to me, she had me sleep in her room on Friday night. Then Dad took the reading chair in my room last night to watch over me until Barden got home from his Orey watch shift with Savas.
"Did you sleep?"
"The nightmares woke me a few times," I admitted. "I kept waking Dad up with my crying."
Barden's eyes went over my shoulder. I didn't need to look to know what caught his eye. His hand drifted to my ear, fingering the arc of the cartilage. "Are you sure you want to go today?"
"Yes. Yas was my friend for more years than she wasn't."
"Did you do it?" the distorted voice growled in my head.
A lance of pain stabbed through my temple, and I flinched. Barden's hand paused, hovering above my head as his brow pinched as if he felt it too. Blowing out a breath, I relaxed again. "You're coming, right? I think Vidal could use the support."
Caressing my jaw, the bruising there no longer painful, Barden considered me. The sides of his mouth turned down as his thumb traced my chin. "Vidal is not my concern. Unless he tries to question you while you are vulnerable and alone again. Then, I will have words with him," Barden murmured. Savas must have told him what happened while he was on the phone on Thursday.
Placing my hand on my mate's chest, I splayed it across the bare skin where his heartbeat could be felt strongest. "You would do the same if your sister died suspiciously."
Releasing a huff, Barden brushed his thumb over my lips. "I will be there as a team member supporting a fellow team member. Not going would create unrest, and Athur is already being difficult about what we are."
"Athur's a prick," I muttered. "And a bully. He's never liked that Savas was more powerful, and that is just comparing their Orey abilities."
"My point remains. I'm going." Taking a beat, Barden observed me. "I know we've been keeping our relationship quiet from the Orey, but that doesn't mean you can't stand with me or look to me for support when they are around. It would be good for them to see something developing between us."
"I thought they've known we were crushing on each other for years?"
"My interest was always known. Yours will be the shift in our dynamic. Plus, I think you will need a shoulder on each side of you to get through the day."
"Thank you." Before Barden could change the topic, I opened my mouth and wrapped my tongue around his roaming thumb, sucking it into my mouth. My splayed hand passed across his nipple, then wandered south over his defined abs to the band of his boxers.
"Sasha, no," Barden breathed. "You are still fragile." He freed his thumb and then grabbed my hand as it traced just below the elastic of his waistline.
"I feel much better."
Bringing my naughty hand to his lips, Barden kissed it. "You were told you need to rest."
Drawing my hand back down the centre line of his torso, I met Barden's eyes with a wicked smile. "I was well enough to do those back-strengthening exercises every day."
"This is a different sort of exertion," Barden protested. Still, his eyes had narrowed. His nipples were hard, and as my hand brushed over his boxers, there was no argument from his cock, which jerked at my attention.
Slipping my hands around Barden's neck, I rubbed my nose against his. "Then you do all the work."
"I need to sleep," Barden argued, but his voice was breathy with want.
Keeping hold of him, I rolled onto my back, forcing Barden to move with me or potentially hurt me. "I don't need a marathon, just a few minutes out of my head."
"Sash—"
"Please! When I wasn't dreaming of them, I was dreaming of you. I need you. Touch me, and you'll know it's true." Taking his hand, I guided it down my body, between my thighs, and under my nightdress. A growl reverberated through Barden's chest as his fingers found my slick desire. "Please," I whispered.
"Damn it!" Barden muttered. "That was too darn hot."
"What, how wet I am?"
"No. I mean, yes, but you begging me to fuck you… Sash, it got me so damn hard. I think I just discovered my kink."
My eyes opened wide, then a laugh escaped me suddenly as his words sunk in. A twitch of a smirk at the side of Barden's mouth told me he'd been playing with me. Maybe. Just a little. Because as Barden settled between my thighs, I got to feel that his words were actual.
Barden had never been small; in fact, his size had scared me our first time, but I swear my brain injury was still affecting me, ‘cause it felt bigger and heavier where it pressed against my pubis. Blinking my shock away, I closed my mouth and slipped my hand between us to touch him through his boxer shorts.
"Holy shit," I gasped. "You really liked me begging." I swallowed a barely restrained smile as I half closed my eyes and gazed shyly through my lashes at him. "Please, Barden. I need you inside me. I need to feel you stretching me, claiming me, making me come all over your huge—"
Barden cursed and dove forward to kiss me as his cock throbbed in my palm. Grunting, Barden kept his weight off my torso and shifted to hold himself with one hand as he started shoving his boxers out of the way. I was only too happy to help, getting them over his hips and using my feet to drag them down his legs before Barden kicked them off.
His free hand shoved my nightie out of the way, then guided his seeping tip through my folds. Grabbing one of my knees, Barden curled my leg over his hip and then slammed into me. All my air escaped my lungs from the sudden intrusion. My core stretched to its limits as Barden held us like that, with him buried deep inside me while we kissed furiously. It felt so good.
"Do you have any condoms here?" Barden asked, both of us breathing heavily. He'd promised me we'd always use protection after we wed until I was ready for babies. Being the honorable guy he was, Barden was looking to keep his word. I loved him even more for it.
Caressing his face, I stared into his eyes. "It's okay. I'm on birth control."
Cringing, Barden started to pull out. "Sash, Vestigial birth control doesn't work for Gelus females."
Digging my nails into his ass to keep him where I needed him, I shook my head. "I know. I spoke to Calliope. She told me how things work for us. Your mum dropped off a jar of the gel for me on Friday, and I've been using it since Friday night."
"Are you sure?"
"Hell, yes!" I dug my nails in a little deeper. "Did you miss me pleading and admitting how much I need you? Please, fuck me."
With a curse, Barden captured my mouth in a fiery kiss that zapped straight to my core, making me moan as he simultaneously shoved deep into my body.
"Please, please, Barden, please," I pleaded.
Unable to resist, Barden pulled out, then thrust back in savagely. A spike of pain seared at my opening, but it was instantly muted by the sheer pleasure of him scratching that needy itch in my channel.
Over and over, Barden answered my pleas with savage possession. It was like that time in the pantry all over again. Quick and dirty wantonness rendering all sense of the outside world mute. My body tightened without warning, and Barden cursed as he covered my mouth with his palm just before I screamed my orgasm. He grunted hard, and his cock pulsed his own release as my body milked it from him.
