AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“So are you,” he said, his arms holding me tightly.
“I feel like we should celebrate your last dose of antibiotics, gazelle,” Misha said, his wide, handsome smile across his face. Me and the Wonder Twins were once again in the kitchen making me snacks while the rest of the guys were downstairs with Armando.
“I am glad it kept me from having to go back to the hospital, but I am even more glad that I won’t have to take it any more after this one. I’m hoping my appetite actually goes back to normal now. And that I can do more than, well, nothing,” I said.
“We’re all looking forward to that, spider monkey. The gym is more fun when you’re there,” Andrei said.
“Well, you didn’t tell me that. I could’ve been your cheerleader this whole time, but you guys have been going while I was sleeping. You only have yourselves to blame for that poor life choice,” I said, grinning at them both.
“Do you know how much trouble we’d be in if we got you to go to the gym with us and it made you sleep for a day and a half again?” Misha asked.
I laughed. “That’s fair. Is this how he was before he met me?” I asked. Adrik had been almost cranky lately. He refused to even attempt sex with me because he was worried I wouldn’t be able to catch my breath. Really, he was worried he wouldn’t be able to hold back. Honestly, I was also worried. Not being able to catch my breath after he kissed me a few times had scared me. I didn’t want to tell him, as I didn’t want him to think he couldn’t touch me.
“You should talk to him about it, spider monkey,” Andrei said. I was too busy laughing with Misha to notice that Andrei had stopped paying attention to our conversation. Instead, he was fishing around in my head.
“I now understand Stephen’s aversion to being read,” I said. Misha looked at me, confused.
“Talk to who about what?” he asked.
“Talk to Boss. He’s cranky because she’s still hurt, so there’s been no, uh, extracurricular activities lately. But she got scared a few times when he kissed her and she couldn’t catch her breath after. She won’t tell him though,” Andrei said.
Misha looked at me seriously. “You should talk to him about it. It will help him be a little more patient while you heal a little more. You’re acting more like yourself lately, but we don’t know what your lung feels like. Neither does he. Just because it’s not hurting you doesn’t mean it’s completely healed. And you heard the doctor, it’s easy to get pneumonia again until your lung completely heals. None of us wants you to have to go back to the hospital.”
“I don’t want him to feel like he can’t touch me,” I said. “Knowing him, he will.”
“He won’t,” Andrei said. “Knowing that you’re still struggling to catch your breath, and especially that it scared you, will help him keep that side of him under control, if you will. The last thing he wants to do is hurt you.”
“He’s still working through you being taken. Guys like to show that we’re in love with physical intimacy. He just wants to show you that he loves you is all. If he knows that you’re still struggling even with him kissing you, it’ll be easier for him to wait,” Misha said.
“How did you two get to be so handsome and so wise?” I said, smiling at both of them.
“Stop trying to change the subject, spider monkey. I’ll tell him if you don’t,” Andrei said, grinning at me.
“I hate you.” Just for fun, I made my eyes go dark. Now that I’d been playing with it more, I could tell when it happened more easily. It would still surprise me, like during my last check-up, but I was becoming aware of when it happened and, more importantly, I could control it when it happened. I had to admit that I was having more fun with it than I probably should. I knew the guys weren’t intimidated by it, but Trino definitely was. I probably liked that a little too much.
“You love me and you know you do. Your demon eyes don’t scare me,” Andrei said, laughing.
“Who knew one of the side effects of antibiotics was extra spicy attitude?” Misha said.
Adrik and the other three guys walked back into the penthouse from their almost nightly visit with Armando. I could see the stress melt off of Adrik as soon as he saw I was still awake and smiling at him.
“And how is dearest Armando tonight?” I asked, standing up almost at a normal pace from the kitchen island. Adrik was by my side immediately, his arms around my waist.
“He might be learning firsthand how painful broken ribs are. I tried to explain it to him, but since I really have no point of reference, I decided to show him,” Ivan said. Misha just laughed and gave him a high five.
“Squish. What does it say about me that I adore this side of you?” I said, laughing.
“It says that you’re absolutely perfect, solnishko,” Adrik said, leaning down to kiss me gently. His sexy smirk was evident on his face.
“Meant for this shit, gazelle,” Misha said.
“Did he have any nuggets of information tonight?” Andrei asked.
“He might have, had we given him a chance to speak,” Stephen said. “Apparently, Trino’s guys not being okay with Sephie made us all slightly irritable.”
I looked at Stephen, surprised. “Should I not have told Trino about Martin?” Adrik pulled me back against him, his arms around my waist. He gently pressed his cheek against my neck.
“No, I think you did the right thing, Seph. We were talking about it on the way up. We were all somewhat surprised by our anger about the situation. It’s not just you that they have an issue with. They just don’t know about Misha and Andrei’s parts in it, but you did what you did when they took you and Ivan and you took all of it so they’d be protected. It’s not fair,” Stephen said. I could see he was frustrated with the situation.
