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“I’ll do anything you want after that breakfast this morning,” Misha said, rubbing his stomach. I couldn’t help but giggle at his response, which helped Adrik relax too. He was still worried about me. He leaned down and kissed me gently, telling me once more he would be back as quickly as possible and that he loved me. It made me feel all soft and nougaty inside that they were all so worried about me. And that they all felt so protective of me. I was starting to get used to it, but it was still a new phenomenon in my life. I was so used to being on my own and dealing with everything by myself. Used to having my closest friend ditch me for his latest bedroom conquest. Used to only telling people the bare minimum about me for fear they would run away.
We moved to the couches after Adrik left with Viktor and Stephen. Ivan pulled me against him once more, his giant arm holding me close. I looked up at him. “I think I need the acupuncture lady again,” I said. He just grinned at me. “I was just about to say that, princess. I can give her a call and see when she can come,” he said as he got up from the couch, pulling his phone from his pocket.
When he got up, I got a chill, so I ran back to the bedroom to grab one of Adrik’s sweatshirts. When I came back out, Andrei saw the sweatshirt and just opened his arms. “Come here, spider monkey.” I grinned at him, running to the couch. He moved, so I could lean back against him for maximum warmth.
Ivan walked back to the couches, laughing at me curled up next to Andrei under a new layer of clothing. “She’ll be here in two hours, princess. It might help you with getting cold so much lately too. I had that problem before and she fixed it,” he said.
“She did? No wonder you’ve kept her a secret for so many years,” I said.
Ivan laughed. “I would’ve shared, but nobody else was interested.”
“I didn’t know it was a thing that people did until Sephie’s concussion,” Misha said.
“It seems painful. Why would you want to be stabbed repeatedly? I’ve been stabbed twice. I didn’t enjoy it,” Andrei said.
I laughed. “Bubba, it’s not like getting stabbed. They’re like tiny little needles. It’s more annoying than anything when she first puts them in, but then it all goes away and it makes everything feel better. The first time hurt the worst, but after that, it didn’t hurt much at all.”
“The first time, I had to keep Adrik from going in to save you,” Ivan said, smirking at me.
I sighed. “If I haven’t told you lately, I adore how protective you all are of me. Going from being completely on my own to now having you guys ready to punch a bitch because she was rude to me is a very nice change in my life.”
“You deserve it, gazelle. You deserve to have people around you that love you and want to take care of you,” Misha said. Andrei tightened his grip around me, pulling me closer. I suddenly felt much warmer as I smiled at Misha and Ivan. I grabbed Andrei’s arm and held on to it as we talked.
I felt Andrei gently shake me. “Spider monkey, it’s time for your acupuncture.” I didn’t realize I had fallen asleep while we were talking. I was still tired from Adrik keeping me up too late the night before, plus having to deal with Giana unexpectedly, I must’ve just passed out. Andrei was warm enough that I was sound asleep when the acupuncturist got there.
I rubbed my eyes, still not completely awake. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to fall asleep, but thank you for keeping me warm,” I said.
“You only fall asleep when you really need it, spider monkey. You’ve had to deal with a lot. I’m glad you got a quick nap,” Andrei said.
Ivan walked in with the acupuncturist as I stood up from the couch, stretching. The acupuncturist looked at me, then looked at Ivan. “You should’ve called me sooner,” she said, almost chastising him. He looked down at her, surprised by her reaction. He looked to me, somewhat worried. She walked to me, taking my hand and leading me to one of the spare bedrooms. Poor Ivan just stood there, still stunned as we disappeared into the bedroom.
“It’s not Ivan’s fault. He’s the one that suggested we call you again,” I said. She looked up at me while she unpacked her bag, a large smile on her face.
“Sometimes I like to give Ivan a hard time. It keeps him on his toes,” she said, laughing. “But I can tell you’re carrying more than you need to right now.” She took my hand, pressing on the spot that Ivan and Adrik use when I have a headache. She closed her eyes for a moment, then opened them and looked at me. “How are things with your boyfriend?” she asked.
“Good. Really good,” I said. I could feel my cheeks flush as I thought about the night before.
She smiled slyly at me. “You two are very good for each other. But you’re unbalanced. He’s avoiding a piece of him, which is making it grow stronger in you. You’re strong, Sephie, which is why it hasn’t caused a huge problem yet. It will, though, if you let it go on too long.”
I chewed on my bottom lip while I digested her words. “He’s worried I’ll love him less,” I said. I knew she was talking about his darker side. “He thinks he’s a monster because of it. They all do, if I’m being honest. I don’t know the right words to say to them.”
As she got started stabbing me, as Andrei would say, she said, “Monsters choose evil for evil’s sake. I don’t know your boyfriend, but I know Ivan. Ivan is not a monster. There’s a difference between a dangerous man and a monster. A dangerous man has looked in the face of evil and chosen to be good. A dangerous man knows he has a large capacity for evil, but he chooses to control that side of him. Ivan is dangerous. I’m thinking your boyfriend is also dangerous.”
I nodded my head in agreement. “He’s been fighting that side of him that is needed to take care of the situation we’re facing at the moment because he’s worried that it will change my opinion of him.”
“Will it?”
“Not in the least. I love him. All of him,” I said.
She was quiet as she continued stabbing me. She finally looked at me watching her. “I can talk to him. He listened to me last time. It’s obvious he wants to do what is best for you. By him avoiding that side of himself, he’s transferring it to you. You can control it now, but it will ultimately become too much for you to bear. You two have a special relationship. It’s been getting more so, hasn’t it? More intimate?” she asked.
I couldn’t help the smile on my face. I didn’t even need to answer. She saw the look on my face and knew the answer. “It will be more so once he restores balance,” she said. She had finished placing the needles where they needed to go. She patted my arm, saying, “I will go tell Ivan I need to see your boyfriend. I’ll be right back.” She left me to my own thoughts about how much more intimacy I could handle. In addition to being able to feel each other’s anger, we were starting to feel other emotions just as strongly. Mostly when it comes to sex, but I was noticing it other times now too. It seemed like I would notice these things first, then Adrik would be able to feel the same thing soon after. While I’d been able to essentially read his mind from the beginning, he was now beginning to be capable of doing the same to me.
My mind wandered to the dream I had where my dad had told me that Adrik and I were always meant to find each other. Were we able to do these things because we’d spent so many lifetimes together or was this the first lifetime we’d discovered the ability to do it? I wasn’t sure I would ever get the answer to that question, but it made me smile to think about falling in love with him over and over again. I knew what we had was special and there wasn’t a day that went by that I wasn’t incredibly grateful for it.
We finished the session. Just as we walked out of the spare bedroom, Adrik walked through the penthouse looking for me. He had a wide smile across his face as his eyes landed on mine. He closed the distance between us quickly. “You feel better, solnishko,” he said as he pulled me to him. He kissed my cheek, leaning down to my ear to add, “I could feel it too.” His smile widened once more when he stood up and saw the look of surprise on my face. He pushed a curl from my face. “You look lighter again.”
I giggled. “You do too. There’s some weird acupuncture by osmosis going on here.”
