It reminded me that the tender nature Knox showed me was an exception.
A kindness reserved only for me.
Because the truth was that both of them were something else entirely.
Violence and rage given human form.
Silas carried his openly. Knox buried his beneath calm words and steady hands, but it lived in him all the same.
Knox’s arm tightened gently around me, pulling me close against his chest. His hand slid to the back of my head, fingers threading through my hair.
“Easy, runt” he murmured, pressing a light kiss to my forehead. “You’re safe here.”
I let myself settle against him, as my thoughts replayed what had just happened.
My voice.
I had spoken.
Not a nod. Not a gesture.
Words.
Knox’s thumb brushed the tears from my cheek.
“That’s it,” he said softly. “Just breathe. Such a good omega.”
My voice and touch. Two things I thought were lost forever.
Across the room, Silas stood at the window again, watchful and still.
Knox’s hand continued massaging my scalp.
“We’ll take it slow,” he murmured. “All the time you need.”
They weren’t just promising to rebuild me someday.
They had already begun.
Chapter 16: Marco
“Please… Marco… I can’t… breathe!”
My eyes rolled.
“Fuck!” I roared. “Do you ever stop talking? Do you even know what quiet is?” I asked, peeling my hands from around her throat and pulling away, my cock already soft.
“I’m sorry! Marco, I’m sorry! I just couldn’t breathe!” she gasped, already reaching for me, pawing at my dick and trying to take it into her mouth.
I slapped her hand away and rolled out of bed.
“You know, Callie,” I said coldly, “I’m considering moving you down the rankings.”
“Seriously? You already have me stashed away in this shithole and now you’re going to move me down? What did I do? You’ve been impossible to please lately, ever since Lena the Least…”
She stopped mid-sentence when I shot her a stern look, as a low warning growl rumbled from my chest.
“Don’t. Say. Her. Name,” I spat.
