I could see him looking down, I saw the confusion that was spreading across his face as he stared, but it was like my mind had gone numb.
“Orion—” he began as he reached for my arms, and all at once, my senses came screaming back.
“Do not touch them!” I shouted before I could control the reaction and jerked away from him.
It was as if there was a sudden delay between my mind and body that made me clumsy. I tried to rise but fell on my ass like a fledgling attempting to walk. Fear and panic were blaring so loudly I couldn’t even manage to breathe let alone stop the spiral of my thoughts.
And then another body was suddenly right behind me, her scent like a slap that had me falling straight back to earth again. I could feel myself again, I could feel the mat under my palms, the frantic beating of my heart, and the raw pain of my breaths sawing in and out of my lungs.
I saw the horror in Riordan’s eyes and could not bear to face it so I turned into her. Just like the frightened boy in my heart who I’d never been able to outrun.
“It’s alright, I have you,” she whispered to me quickly, her arms loose around me as if she was worried that her touch might make it worse.
She could not have been more wrong.
In the wake of my panicked fit, I was left exhausted, my body heavy and my mind a foggy haze. I leaned into her chest, lulled by her gentle strength and the promise of the safety and tenderness that I’d never been allowed to know but had alwayscraved.
As if she could feel what I needed, Amira wrapped her arms around me tightly enough to make me believe that there was nothing she would not shield me from.
“It will be alright,” she whispered again, this time with her lips against my forehead, and I closed my eyes.
I hoped she was right even though I had learned better than to want things I did not deserve.
Chapter sixteen
WHO DID THIS TO YOU?
Amira
Everything had happened so damned fast. One moment I’d been shamelessly drooling over the exhibition of male perfection before me. Practically panting over the heat that was building between them. I devoured every detail Riordan shared from the feel of Orion pinning him down to the knowledge that Orion was worried he would get hard and embarrass himself…
The next moment, Orion seemed completely catatonic. He froze like a deer in fucking headlights the second his forearm guards were pulled off during their grappling.
And then Riordan reached for him.
“Do not touch them!” Orion had shouted suddenly and jerked away like Riordan was trying to burn him.
My mate was, understandably, startled and terrified he had done something wrong. Ares and Helena also jolted toward them in concern, but I instantly stepped in front of them to block Orion from their sight.
“You need to leave,” I ordered firmly, trying to control my harsh tone. But the urge to protect Orion from any potential judgment was uncompromisingly vicious.
“But what—” Ares began to object.
“Now!” I insisted, looking at Helena for support since she was the only other person who knew Orion’s secret as far as I wasaware. And I was relieved that she seemed to understand my intentions as she turned to the others.
“Come along,” she told Ares and Sofia, grabbing them both by an arm to drag them with her from the room.
I did not wait for them to go before I rushed to Orion, although I did note the door clicking closed as I reached the men on the mat. Orion was pushing himself away from Riordan clumsily, as if in a daze, and Riordan knelt watching him with an anguished expression.
I wanted to give Orion the space he probably needed, but the all-consuming need coursing through me to go to him wasunquestionable. So I dropped to my knees on the mat behind him so he pressed himself into me.
“It’s alright, I have you,” I whispered right away in the hopes that my instincts were right in driving me to him. And I knew instantly that they were because that strange, faraway glaze in his eyes cleared like he had just come back into his body.
He caught sight of Riordan and turned into me as if he could not face hisskiá. I wrapped my arms around him, trying to make sure he could feel the ferocity inside of me with which I would defend him.
“It will be alright,” I whispered as he started to shake and placed a lingering kiss on his forehead.
I do not understand,Riordan admitted down our bond. Even his internal voice wavered with emotion.
