Steph nods. She takes a sip of her tea, and I watch her throat work hard to get even that small swallow down. “So, how are you? I know it’s only been a day, but what’s your man like? I watched him yesterday and he seemed nervous and then he was closed off. I couldn’t tell whether he’d be nice or not. He picked you up like a Neanderthal and carried you off like he was in a rage about something. I didn’t even get to wish you good luck.”
I can laugh now at the memory of being carted up in Wraith’s arms, his big hands tearing my dress, being slammed down on his bike, but at the time I was torn between fear, annoyance, and the new stirrings of desire that I didn’t even know how to process. How could I be incredibly turned on at being handled so roughly?
“He’s okay. He might seem rough, but I think he was raised rough. I tried to ask him about it and he just checked out. He looked like he was going to throw up or something. I didn’t ask him any more about it. He has a dog though. She’s the sweetest. She’s paralyzed and she has a little wheelchair thing she uses to get around.”
“What?” Steph’s mouth drops open.
“Yes. He’s very nice to her. I can tell he treats his dog like his queen and that says something about a person, I think.”
“Maybe. If his dog is like his baby, then he’s probably not all bad. Just rough around the edges, like you said.”
“He… I think we’ll be fine. I hope so. It really is too early to tell, but last night our father and Ivan came over to drop my boxes off and Ivan has a big mouth. He was being an asshole and said some mean things and Wraith threw him out and bloodied him.”
“What?”
“Yes. While our father watched.”
“Dad watched and did nothing?”
I almost wince at the use of the word, dad. I could never bring myself to call the man who sired me by such a familiar title, one infused with love and care, like Steph does. Her mom was nice enough though, to shelter her from our father’s ways and views. She more than made up for being the only parent in Steph’s life most of the time, and so Steph is more generous with the endearment, than I am.
“That’s right,” I say instead. “Wraith told him to pick the trash off his lawn on the way out and slammed the door in his face.”
“Are you serious?” A smile tugs at the corners of Steph’s lips.
“Yes. I’ve never had anyone stand up for me like that. So, yeah. I think it’s going to be okay.”
I take a sip of my tea and finding it mostly cooled down and entirely delicious, the mint spreading through my chest and infusing my stomach, I gulp half the mug down.
“What about you? I mean, I know you said you were getting along, but how is… the rest? Everything?”
A pretty blush creeps over Steph’s sharp cheekbones and she drops her eyes, surprising me. She’s not normally overly shy about anything. She’s been modelling for a while and hasn’t always done the most modest shoots. She’s quite liberal in her views about things, so to see her blush at my simple question astounds me.
“We had sex last night,” she admits in a soft voice.
“What?” I reach out and grip the edge of the counter.
“Well, we are married. I think he’s attractive. It just kind of happened. I’m glad it did. I enjoyed it.”
I’ve never talked about this kind of stuff with either of my sisters before, and something tightens in my belly when I imagine Wraith’s dark head bent between my spread legs. The burn of his broad tongue on me, the taste of my own musk on his lips when I shamelessly licked it off after. I glance away too, to hide my own flushed face.
“I’m glad.” I mean it too. “This thing could have gone so badly. For all of us. Instead, Steel picked out three good men for us.”
“Gage?”
“Well, I don’t know. I still don’t think he did it. If he didn’t, I feel really bad for him that he’s being accused like this and that he has to defend himself and that he’ll have to take some kind of punishment.”
I glance at Steph and find her blush gone. Her shoulders sink a little and she gives her head a shake. “We’ll just have to see. And do our best to make our marriages work. I don’t want anyone to get hurt because of us.”
Steph might be beautiful. But somehow, she’s not at all vain. She’s a genuinely nice person through and through and I’m proud to call her my sister, even if we haven’t always seen each other that much or been super close because we weren’t raised together in the same house. She’s always been kind to me and made me feel welcome when I visited, even though I was way younger than her and probably annoying when I was a girl and she was already a teenager.
“Neither do I.” I drain the rest of my tea. “Wraith’s fine with me doing my school in a few weeks. He wants to get me a car too. I’ll be fine. And you seem like you’re going to be happy. Do you think he’ll let you continue your modelling?”
“I don’t see why not. I haven’t asked, but I’m sure he’ll be fine with that.”
“Even if you have to travel.”
“I’m sure if it makes me happy, he’ll understand.”
