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But then her breathing shifted, and a burnt sugar bitterness laced her scent.
“Wait,” she gasped. “Red.” She burst into tears as we all backed away to give her space. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I thought I wanted, I just, I don’t—”
“Nicky, it’s okay,” I crooned, taking her hand in mine to kiss the back of it. “Take a breath for me.”
She obeyed, though it was shallow and stuttering. It broke my heart.
“Can I touch you?” Jasper asked. Nicky nodded, and our omega lay at her side, draping his arm over her waist. “What do you need, my love?”
“I don’t know. There’s too many things crammed into my head.” She sniffled. “I just wanted to feel okay for a little while.”
Billie stroked Nicky’s hair. “Would you like a pack bath? We can turn on the jets, get you some more water and painkillers. Unlimited snuggles.”
Nicky craned her neck to look up at Billie. “That sounds really nice. I’m not enjoying how much my body hurts right now.”
There wasn’t anything I could offer for that. She had injuries on top of the wear and tear from the heat, and it would take time before anything else was particularly useful to combat it. Once she stopped being quite so tender, I could work with her on some easy stretching and massage so her muscles didn’t lock up, but I would also bow to whatever the hospital said when we finally got her there.
Gabe leaned down and kissed Nicky’s forehead. “I’ll get the water running.”
Tony got her a fresh dose of painkillers and a bottle of water as well as a cookie so she wasn’t consuming them on a totally empty stomach. “Here you go, baby girl. Do you need help?”
“Just with sitting up,” she murmured. Tony took her hand and pulled while I supported her back. She winced and whimpered the whole way up and gratefully took her medicine, scarfing down the cookie immediately afterward.
Alphonse was fucking lucky he was in police custody because every time she showed an ounce of pain, it made me want to snap his bones like a twig.
“Good girl,” I whispered against her skin, kissing her cheek. “We’re going to take care of you.”
Nicky leaned into me. “I don’t like feeling this way.”
“I know, sweetheart.” I kissed her hair. “I think I’ll join you in getting that professional help once the heat is over.”
“I’ll shore up the security in the house too,” said Gabe as he returned. “I know it won’t undo anything, but hopefully it’ll help everyone feel safer going forward. Do you want to come pick out a bubble bath, Nicky?”
“Okay.”
We surrendered Nicky to Gabe, and I snuggled myself between Tony, Billie, and Jasper. “Things are a mess.”
“They are,” agreed Tony, “but we’ve weathered things this bad before. We can manage anything together. Nicky knows that we love h—”
“Actually, she doesn’t.”
We all turned to Billie.
“What?” I asked.
“She knows that we like hanging out and that we like fucking her. But if you don’t explicitly tell her something, she’s not going to assume. She and I already talked about it. All the actions and behaviours are great, but Nicky needs the words. Just so y’all are aware.”
I stewed on Billie’s revelation. “I’ll tell her soon. I don’t want to overwhelm her.”
“I already told her I loved her, so up to you if and when you feel like doing the same.” Billie’s eyes gleamed. “Does that mean you have some feelings to confess?”
I felt every eye on me, and didn’t like that one bit. “I’m going to go help them with the bath.”
Leaving Jasper, Billie, and Tony on the bed, I poked my head into the bathroom where Nicky was cuddled in Gabe’s arms next to the bath. I approached slowly, making sure to put myself in her line of sight before I enveloped her from the other side.
“Ready to soak?” I asked.
“My fingers are going to be perma-pruney from how many times I’ve been in the water lately. But, yeah, I am.”
