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He was on her in an instant. Lifting her by the cruel grip he had upon her shoulders, shaking Devin hard enough for her brain to rattle around her skull, but still Devin couldn’t make it end. Not while it clawed her open, twisting her insides with vicious hands. She wanted the numbness back as the scream returned tenfold, but it was the wrong pitch. A dark, smoky baritone that she couldn’t make sense of until her gaze landed on Rey again. Though blurred through a tide of tears, she saw him twitch, convulsing as the inhuman shriek grew louder still.
Her head whipped to the side, shock hammering down her spine with a sickening crunch. Devin crumpled as the world faded into shades of blotchy gray and red.
Beau’s face appeared, eyes tight and lips thinned to a bitter slash.
He was afraid.
* * *
Devin dragged in a shaky breath through her nose, fingers ghosting over the violent purple pain of her face and stomach that paced the slow thump of her heart. Before she could register anything but that, a mountain of heat came to her back, crushing her between it and… another. Ripping at the sticky fog invading her mind, she tried to understand, but drifted off into a hazy place that wouldn’t let fear take hold as she drowned in espresso spiced with cinnamon.
Fingers scrubbed at the base of her skull, tugging at the strands of her hair just the way she liked. Soothing away every last vestige of tension, leaving Devin in a puddle of calm basking in the heat surrounding her. A broken hum rattled free from her throat.
Rich spice became the stronger of the two for a moment, the smooth glide of skin tickling her hip before it became firm pressure. An arm, the thick muscles bunching as the hand reached and caught hold of something beyond her.
This time, her eyes managed to open. An expanse of deep golden amber spread out as far as she could see, rising and falling with even breaths. Devin smiled against the slow expansion of his ribs, pressing her lips to him. She was still humming as she snuggled deeper into the lush heat, her wriggling causing her to rub against something other than the male sleeping in front of her. Craning her neck brought a sharp tug of her hair from the hand still at her nape. A heavy, tawny beige arm draped over her hip. His hand bunched into the covers low over Rey’s abdomen.
Before she could stiffen, to cry out in alarm, the deep purr made itself known. Louder, stronger, it licked along her spine and wrapped around her ribs. Forcing her breaths to slow, lungs taking up the easy rhythm of calm. The hand at her neck resumed its rough scrubbing of her scalp.
“Go back to sleep,” Beau murmured against her ear. “He’s still out cold.”
“What are you doing,” Devin asked on a sighing breath that struggled to be a whisper.
“Keeping you two from killing each other, seems like.”
“Ashley,” Devin gasped, fighting against the lull of Beau’s purr to shove upright at the reminder of her actions. She couldn’t remember anything after Rey fell, and they had forgotten her friend in the chaos of Devin’s return.
“She’s gone home. Hours ago. She’s fine, if pissed.”
Rey grumbled and twisted onto his side to fling one arm around Devin’s waist, dragging her into the warmth of his shadow. His leg slid over hers, the slab of his thigh covering her as he stretched and hooked his calf over the back of Beau’s knees.
“This is… so fucked up,” Beau muttered, though he pressed his lopsided grin against Devin’s temple.
“You’re enjoying it,” Devin hissed with a hard jerk of her shoulder to dislodge his fingers and the divine tug of her hair.
“Will you two be quiet,” Rey said through a lumbering growl, pushing his face into the pillow to burrow under Devin’s neck. “Some of us are trying to sleep.”
“You’re okay with this?” Devin couldn’t keep the shrill note from her tone or stop how she fisted the blankets to her chest. She was still naked, and Beau was melded against her back. Unable to discern if he had clothes on or not, Devin decided she didn’t want to find out. She wanted him to stay before, but he was once again a threat for her to defend against.
“Is he touching you?”
Devin gave a slow blink, pondering her answer. The chill dread spiraling through her at the quiet tide of violence lying in wait within Rey’s words decided for her. “No.”
“Then go back to sleep.” Gruff and impatient, Rey jerked Devin closer, maneuvering her body so she was tucked beneath him.
“No.” She wasn’t tired, and she’d come back with a purpose. If he wouldn’t hear her now, he never would.
“I’ve about had it—”
“That makes two of us.” Devin sniffed, the sharp point of her elbow finding Beau’s chest when he tried to dissuade her with a gentle tug at her hair. She strangled the dreamy sigh down to a hard exhale as Beau untangled his fingers, putting space between their bodies. The rustle of fabric hinted at clothing, and she would have cried out in relief if she hadn’t been so determined.
Beau wasn’t happy, but he complied. A plus in her book, and one she begrudgingly gave to the man she still hated on too many levels to ever trust.
Shoving at arms and bodies with little regard, Devin squirmed her way upright. Back against the smooth fabric of the headboard, she tucked the blankets tight over her chest and gave Beau a baleful glare when he leaned closer. Smacking Rey’s grasping hand brought him to his knees, the fullness of his lips twisted to bare his teeth as he loomed over Devin.
Devin met the glittering fire in Rey’s eyes head on. The spark of uncertainty seeped into the rich umber depths, his troubled gaze flickering towards Devin’s chest and back. He tried to ignore the set of her jaw, the stiffness of her shoulders, and tugged her back down the bed.
It was a mere thought that brought a strangling grip to the bond crackling and hissing between them that had Rey bellowing. A denial of Devin’s refusal, her seething aversion to him, his touch, and everything he was trying to do to her. Rey fell back to the bed, bruising Devin’s arms as he tried to drag her with him.
