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Kirsten nodded. “Works for me. I’m going to want a few hours with him, probably once a month for a few months. Maybe once a week.”
Nathan shook his head and kissed Kirsten’s temple area just above her ear. “You and Gavin both pissed at the same man? The only way it could be worse for the bastard would be if Kendra were here.”
Gavin chuckled. “He’d be waiting in the holding cell with his balls ripped off his body and then stuffed up his ass if she was here.” Zander and his people had stayed away in order to let Gavin’s power shine, but they’d be visiting in a few weeks.
“It’s possible he’ll find himself in exactly that predicament even without Kendra here,” Gavin added, “since we all know she gave our Harlequin pointers in the art of torture.”
“Right, but not with silver,” Kirsten said. “He’ll definitely need to lose his balls, but not just once. He’ll need to lose them over and over. Every fucking time he sees me, he’ll know he’s going to lose them.”
Nick was certain he wouldn’t be cold enough to do to Jason what needed to be done, but he was glad Gavin and Kirsten were up to it. They absolutely needed to strike fear into the heart of anyone who would evenconsiderharming Lauren.
And turning him into a sex slave who couldn’t walk upright, speak, or use his thumbs would certainly make people think twice. Not to mention feeding his own balls to him every month. Or every week. Nick suppressed a shudder at the thought. Heneverwanted to piss Lauren’s mother off.
“Point of note,” Nathan said, “the local news has brought up the fact that a fall from the roof of the Palace should’ve been fatal, even into deep water, but they brought in an expert who said that, because the surface was bubbling at the time she entered the water, that is likely what saved her life.”
Nick tilted his head. “The bubbles broke the surface tension? Excellent.”
For security reasons, there were only two ways into the private areas of the penthouse — through the party, or via a private stairwell, but they would have to get off the elevator just outside the main entrance. Nick managed to get Lauren to the private stairwell without being seen by too many of those loitering outside the penthouse, and once the door closed behind them, Lauren insisted Nick put her down.
Rather than go up the stairs the normal way, his girl levitated herself up. Gavin sighed and flew up behind her, which left the rest of them to trudge up the stairs. Kirsten could’ve levitated to follow, but she didn’t.
“We’re going to rejoin the party,” Nathan said. “You go up and help Gavin take care of our girl.”
Kirsten glanced up the stairs and then looked to Nick. “Nathan’s right. As much as I want to be there for her, this is for the two of you to handle. If she needs me, Gavin can telepath me and let me know.”
Nick nodded agreement and then bounded up the stairs. When he arrived in their room, he found Gavin staring at the closed bathroom door as if his gaze might melt it.
“I take it she wanted to be alone?” Nick was surprised Gavin had allowed it, but he was smart enough not to say so. Still, he needed to know what’d been said.
When Gavin didn’t answer, Nick figured he should explain. “She needs the white noise of the water. It’s like a meditation focus. Five to fifteen minutes in the shower, and then about five minutes to blow dry her hair while she comes out of it, preparing herself for the world, and for normal sensory input again. It’s kind of like a reset button? Rebooting the computer?”
“She was a lifeguard during high school. Indoor pools are noisy.”
Nick smiled, unsurprised Gavin made the logical jump. “During the week, it was mostly just people swimming to work out. Weekends could be noisy, but she dealt with it. I think she was so focused on the visual, on making sure everyone was safe, she could filter out the auditory that wasn’t important, just listening for signs of trouble.” He took a breath. “But yeah, the shower afterwards was one of the ways she dealt with the sensory input of a shift. How she reset so she could join the real world.”
“And the two of you dated during this time? I’m surprised her mother and your king allowed you in her life while she was so young.”
“My King made her off-limits to me from the start. I was to watch over her and help keep her safe. That was it. She was sixteen when I met her, and I was nineteen. Three years is nothing now, but it was a huge divide back then.”
“You went against the Amakhosi to date her?”
Nick had long ago figured out that Lauren had let Gavin keep his assumptions — that the two had been dating back when Lauren lost her virginity.
“No, and the story is kind of fucked up. Maybe she hasn’t told you because she’s embarrassed? I don’t know, but it feels like you should understand.” He blew out a breath. “The truth is that I loved her from the beginning, but she was off limits, so the best I could do was the friendship we developed. She was beautiful and smart and funny and…” He shrugged. “I was completely friend-zoned, and that was the way it had to be, no matter my feelings for her.”
“You’ve both told me you were her first.”
“Before she went to college, she told her mom she didn’t want to arrive at Harvard still a virgin, and that she didn’t want her first to be someone she was in a relationship with, but someone she knew and liked. She told her mom she wanted it to be me, her mom told Nathan to take me off my leash, Nathan got pissed at the idea he’d leashed me, which is ironic since that’s exactly what he’d done, but in the end, he told me I was free to pursue whatever I wished with her, and that included sex, if she was interested.”
He blew out a breath. “She wanted it to be sex between friends, and I knew I could never tell her how much I loved her, or I’d lose her friendship. It also seemed important I give her what she wanted, so I did.”
“So, it was sex between friends, and then she left for Harvard?”
“Completely broke my heart, and she didn’t have a clue. Then she met the bear and fell for him about five minutes after she arrived, and I got to hear about their relationship for the next couple of years.”
“Ouch.”
“I loved her then, I love her now. She needed other relationships before she was ready to settle down with me.” Nick shrugged. “Or us, I guess. You were never in my plans, but I’m not sorry about the way it’s worked out.”
