AllFreeNovel
Share Us
"Oh, yeah," he agreed. "But I bet you didn't see Talin almost drooling over you hate-fucking that bitch."
"He liked it?" I asked, hoping the answer was yes.
Wraythe leaned in and caressed my head. "Yeah. That man liked everything he saw. You, her, and even the bad parts. He loves you, Ela. Stop trying to push people away because you think you're a monster."
"Aren't I?"
Wraythe shrugged. "If you are, then you'reourmonster. How are you feeling?"
I licked at my lips, trying to figure that out. "If I said I wanted to be held..."
He just stood and began taking off his shirt. "They weren't too far behind us, but I have a feeling Talin knows you need a minute." His pants hit the ground next, then Wraythe gestured for me to move forward and stepped in behind me. "Probably getting food to be delivered. I'll trade with Nari when she gets back, ok?"
I didn't care. The moment he was in the water behind me, I turned just enough to curl up against his massive chest. My arm went around his neck, and Wraythe hugged me back. His cheek pressed against the top of my head, and he simply held me while the tub continued to fill.
This was what I needed. Those kinds of sessions always felt like they pulled me out of my body, and the feel of him around me was like being pushed back where I belonged. I could feel his limp dick against the side of my leg. I could hear his heart beating beneath my ear, but this wasn't sexual. It was more than that.
It was real. It was solid ground. He was the tether that always led me back where I belonged. The shield that protected me when I was the most vulnerable. Lying against him, listening to him breathe, I could finally let my mind explore all those dark thoughts that were trying to take control. Nari had been right there with me, even as I hurt Tishlie. She'd watched me fuck that girl, had seen my dick slide inside her, and she hadn't cared at all. When she'd been pounding Tishlie with the dildo, she'd crawled closer to kiss me. She'd watchedme. Shelovedme.
Even like this.
At my highest highs or lowest lows, that woman loved me. I'd spent so many years trying to be perfect so I could deserve her, and she didn't seem to care at all. She loved me. Fuck, she loved all of us, and that made us work. She was a god's desire and every man's weakness. She was amazing and beautiful. She wanted me to be with Talin! I felt like being her partner was every dream I'd ever had all rolled up into one miraculous woman.
But was I failing her? Should I have pushed Tishlie harder? I'd stopped because I'd wanted to make sure Nari got a passing grade. I knew that hurting Tishlie too much would get both of us in trouble, and Nari couldn't take much more. They were already looking for a reason to knock her down to a lower Path. I refused to be that reason.
But I hadn't expected to hear that about Anver. We'd known that Tishlie had tried to keep us apart, but this was more than that. Tishlie had staged it to steal him away. For her, he'd been nothing more than a pawn, and how many years had Anver suffered because he'd simply wanted to be nice? Every time hehadmade an effort, we'd pushed our absence back in his face. We'd thought he'd left us. He'd thought we'd left him. The truth was that Tishlie had torn us apart, and the one who'd paid the highest price was Anver. Our foolish pride had cut him deeper than anything else.
"I hate myself," I said softly.
"No..." Wraythe breathed.
"For Anver," I corrected. "I should've seen what was happening! Tishlie, for fuck's sake. I should'verealizedwhat she was doing, but I never stopped long enough to look!"
"None of us did," Wraythe assured me. "Not even him. I always figured she was too shallow to plan that far ahead."
"But I want him back." The words were almost a whimper.
Wraythe hugged me just a little tighter. "We'll get him back, Ela. I have no idea how we'll make this work, but I'll talk to the others. Talin's his friend. Nari misses him."
"And you?" I asked, looking up into his face.
"The moment I heard what she said, I completely forgave him," he promised. "Ela, I liked having him around too. He worked with us. Me and you and her with him watching. Now it's the four of us with him watching. I don't even mind him kissing on you three."
"Three?" I asked, hearing something in the other room. Probably the door.
"You think Talin's not going to get in on kissing a hot guardian?" Wraythe scoffed at the idea just as Nari stepped into the bathroom.
"Ok, that's cute," she told us, and then began removing her own clothes. "Have room for one more?"
"We'll make room," I promised.
And then Talin rounded the corner. "Yep, we need a bigger tub. How you doing, Ela?"
I just looked back at Wraythe. "Did you tell on me?"
"Maybe," he teased. "Ok, yes. Just Talin, because if he ever has to watch you, he needs to know about this part."
"And Talin told me," Nari said as she stepped into the water by my feet. "What's it like, this crash?"
