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“I love dogs. I was kind of sad he was asleep when Crow brought me in.”
“Okay buddy,” Delaney said. “Go say hi!”
Sal didn’t need anything more than that. He flew into the room and leaped up onto the bed, making a beeline for my face.
“Easy! Be easy! She’s hurt, bubba,” Delaney said, coming in. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry. I think everyone should get a greeting like this. Really makes you feel wanted,” I said, petting Sal with my good hand.
“I’m Delaney,” she said, giving me a smile.
“Morgaine,” I said, even though I knew she knew that.
“How are you? I mean, obviously, you’re probably feeling shitty. But I know that, sometimes, it is hard to tell the guys just how shitty you feel, y’know? So, if you feel shitty, feel free to unload on me. I was kidnapped a while back,” she said, coming to sit on Crow’s side of the bed near the feet.
“We live in a weird town,” I concluded. I mean, in what other town could two women have been kidnapped?
“That we do. So, do you need anything? Candy? I’m afraid I am not a chocolate girl, but I’m sure there is some laying around somewhere. Or maybe some pajamas? Socks?”
“Socks sounds good,” I decided, definitely feeling the air in this place.
“I know. They keep it glacial in here. It can be a little much for non-giants. Anything else?”
“Um. Maybe some tampons?” I asked. “Just in case. I think all the stress is bringing it on.”
“Yeah! Totally. I’ll be right back. Sal, are you… no, I see you’re not,” she said when he dropped down beside me, resting his head on my lap.
Timing-wise, Crow had just walked in and set down my drinks when Delaney came walking in, mumbling to me as she looked at the boxes.
“Okay, so I brought two different sizes,” she said. “I know you probably… oh,” she said, trailing off when she saw Crow.
His gaze slid to the boxes for a long minute then back to me.
“Don’t you use that cup thing?” he asked, brows drawn low.
“How do you know about that?”
“Baby, your bathroom would make an ant long for a little shoulder space. Everything is pretty out and obvious.”
That was fair. I’d never needed to share a space with anyone, so I never thought to kind of hide any of my stuff away. My cup had probably been thrown in the basket with all my medical supplies after I’d washed it.
“I’ll pick it up when I go to let the chickens out in a bit,” Crow said, shrugging it off. “You need anything else for that? Got some oil or something?”
“There’s a rice bag on my kitchen table.”
“Ah, pretty sure we have rice around here,” he said, looking confused.
“It’s for cramps, dummy,” Delaney said, smiling. “Nyx had one that she lent me once.”
“I made that for her,” I said, feeling oddly like I sort of fit in with them because we knew some of the same people.
“I want one. You know. One day when you are feeling better.”
“Absolutely,” I agreed.
“Okay,” she told me, putting the socks and tampons down on the nightstand. “I am just going to take this giant baked potato,” she said, reaching over me to haul Sal into her arms, “and let you get some rest. I’ll see you in the morning,” she said, and then was gone.
“I like her.”
“Everyone does,” Crow agreed, pulling the blankets off, then reaching for my ankles.
“What are you doing?”
“Putting on your socks,” he told me. “You gotta be careful with that bum wrist,” he reminded me. “Then we can get you out of all those pesky clothes, tuck you in, and get you some sleep,” he told me.
“You need to sleep too,” I insisted.
“Nope. I’m going to keep an eye on you like I said I would. Then I will have Dell check in on you while I let out the chickens and grab your cup and rice. What?” he asked, making me realize I’d been staring at him.
“You’re… you’re pretty great. Did you know that?”
“Look at you. So fucking tired that you’re talking crazy,” he said as he bunched up the socks then slid them on each foot. “I’m being a halfway decent human being, that’s all. I was only halfway joking on the clothes thing,” he said when he was done. “Do we want them on or off?”
Around him?
Even if something fun couldn’t come of it?
There was only one answer to that question.
“Off.”
So then he helped me out of my clothes as I tried to remind my body that we’d been through a lot and that it was not the time.
I went to bed frustrated, but nestled on the chest of a man I thought I was actually starting to love.
Before I could even ponder the impossibility of that, though, I was drifting off to sleep.
