AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“He got lucky,” the doctor told them. “Mild concussion, but that’s common with accidents like these, even with a helmet. Some abrasions where he hit the ground. He’ll be sore for a while, but all things considered?”
That question hung in the air. Stabbed me in the gut. All things considered, Ash was alive and healthy.
And Will was dead.
“Can we take him home?” Jace asked.
“Yes. We’ll get started on that paperwork. Keep an eye on him for the concussion, and if anything changes or he has any strange symptoms, bring him back.”
The paperwork didn’t take long.
Ash stood off the hospital bed stiffly. Clearly in pain, though he was okay. I felt it. The flashes of discomfort he felt like he deserved. Because he was the one still here.
Roman kept me on his lap because I needed the contact, but no one spoke. What could we say? The one person who needed to speak was Ash, and he wasn’t ready.
When we got back, he said one word—“Shower.”—before disappearing. I went to follow and Gabriel held me back. “Give him some time, little one. Let him breathe.”
He pulled me into his arms and purred, trying to comfort me as best he could and keep me from hovering, but we both knew there was only so long I could last.
CHAPTER FORTY-NINE
________
SLOANE
Ilasted all of twenty minutes before I squirmed out of Gabriel’s arms, unable to keep still any longer. But I went to my room, telling myself I wanted to change before I went to check on Ash. Forcing myself into slow motion, I put on sweatpants and a camisole. Because if Ash let me comfort him, I wasn’t leaving his side, even to change my clothes.
I was about to go find him when my door floated open. He stood there, looking lost, but also lookingatme for the first time since it happened. His bond was still shockingly blank.
One step into the room, and then another.
“Ash?”
He wordlessly crowded me against the wall. The sweatpants he wore hung low on his hips, the rest of his bare skin still warm and damp from the shower.
Still, not a word.
Asher’s lips brushed mine, only the briefest touch before he kissed me deeper than he ever had. And in that kiss was all the words he was missing. All the pain and all the grief. It came roaring to the surface in the bond between us, making us both shake.
A few seconds later, his hands caught up with us, wrapping around my whole body. Enveloping me. He lifted me, carrying me to the bed and laying me out. Following me down, still kissing me.
Everything in me wanted to ask questions. Was he all right? What happened? Was there anything else I could do?
But Ash didn’t need my questions. Right now, Ash needed me to hold space for his pain. To be a place he didn’t have to speak those things. He needed me, and I would give him every piece of myself.
It wasn’t about sex or pleasure. It was about me being his Omega. A craving that went beyond mind, body, and reason. We barely noticed shoving our clothes off because it didn’t matter. What mattered was that we kept touching each other. Contact every second.
When he entered me, he hissed like he was in pain. I wrapped my legs around his hips and held him. Arms curled around his head. Our faces so close we shared breath.
Wordless. Desperate. Raw.
The most basic form of connection.
Pleasure wasn’t the point, but we found it anyway, shuddering and gasping, coming to stillness knotted together.
Ash breathed into my neck, not moving until he could pull away from me. He tried, and I didn’t let him. “Ash.”
His eyes flickered to mine, glassy with emotion.
