Father? Were they referring to the same one? There’s no way they were related. They are obviously different. If they were then that family was blessed with some damn good looking genes. Zayden obviously and Muscles was beyond attractive with the fire color of his hair and matching eyes but Troy had his own appealing features too. He structurally reminded me of someone I knew.
“They are referring to the King when they say ‘father,’ just so you know.” Zayden said. “They’ve been there long enough that he’s claimed them as his sons.”
“Really? How long has that been?” I seemed to be the most curious.
Zayden looked over at Muscles and I noticed that his relaxation level changed some. He sat tenser with his hands in tight fists but Zayden wasn’t rude and didn’t ignore my question. “Darius was first. He was ten and Troy followed at eleven. We’ve been friends since before then so it was easy for me to get my father to accept them in.”
“What happened to your parents?”
How stupid was I? I just asked without even thinking of the obvious and it really seemed to affect Muscles in a negative way. He bellowed out at me. “That’s the most insanely stupid question I’ve ever heard! They’re dead! What’d you think?!” I was actually scared by the tone he used and I didn’t know what to do. I was used to being the one doing the scaring, not the one being scared and I think he knew or at least felt sorry. His look softened and he took a calming breath. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that. We just don’t like to talk about it.”
I nodded and pushed myself to forget about it. He was much more attractive and kind than terrifying in my eyes. “It’s okay. No one does.”
“Yeah.” Jaylyn said. “War doesn’t care about your age. Believe me.”
Silence came back to the room when her tone changed from the usual happy and everyone changed from it. It was almost like the mood centered around her and her feelings were everyone’s. I didn’t know what else to say. No one liked talking about the past and I’m sure we all had our reasons but even at this point, talking about the future would have been just as unpleasant. That left us with this very moment; the three of us being naked in the shower and the three of them fearing to even be with us, afraid we might get hurt. There was nowhere to go from here and no one said a word.
Chapter 33
Darius
I kept my eye on her after it got quiet. I didn’t mean to frighten her like that but the topic has always been sensitive for me and I never liked to talk about it with anyone. Mentioning it even now fills me with something I can’t explain. I didn’t want to feel that way, especially around her. I didn’t want her to think that that’s how she made me feel. It wasn’t. With her, I felt—different, not so much like me but what I would be like if I were a better person.
My activities with women have always been strictly for me the one time and I’d move on, never seeing them again but I didn’t see Ruby to be one of them. She deserved more. She deserved what I would be willing to become for her. Saying it was simple and thinking it while watching her was simple but doing it, I knew that would be more difficult.
“Adele, did I ever bring my sleep thing? I know we were kind of in a rush to leave.” Those were the first words spoken in several minutes.
“I found this.” Adele moved out of the path of the water and tossed Jaylyn a bundle of pink and green like some kind of clothing.
She slipped it on over her legs and looked around some more. “Okay, then where’s the top? It’s kind of important.”
“I remember packing it for you.” Ruby said, drawing my eyes back towards her. “I had to fix one of the straps on it, remember? It was still in my room and I think I put it in one of your pockets.”
“Which means it’s out there.”
They all looked towards us and must have realized her coat was outside of the water on the bed behind Troy. It sounded like good news to me but she didn’t seem to think so.
“Sorry. Here.” Ruby approached her and reached for her hair but I couldn’t tell what she was doing through the blurred image of the water between us. “There. Now you’re safe. Adele, don’t dry her.”
“Really?” Jaylyn wondered. “This might work for you but not so much for me.”
“Well, your hair won’t get any thicker and it’s not like those things are getting any smaller.”
Jaylyn sighed but I figured out what she did and knew Jaylyn would be walking out of there any second with just strips of her wet hair trying to cover those large round melons sticking out of the front of her chest. I couldn’t wait actually and watched so I wouldn’t miss a thing.
“Just go.” Ruby smiled. “I’m sure they won’t mind. Just don’t turn your back. Well, unless you want that!”
I tried not to laugh and I even tried not to smile but the thought was there now and Jaylyn walked through the water.
I was impressed. She was wearing just this pink skirt that was trimmed in bright green almost like her eyes with her long blonde hair hanging over the front of her like I already guessed. I was glad I was right this time and looked at Troy to catch his reaction.
I had to cross my arms and I brought a hand to my mouth just so I wouldn’t burst out laughing. His mouth gaped as much as it possibly could and his eyes looked as big as her exposed breasts.
“Sorry.” Jaylyn smiled, stepping towards the bed passed him. “I just have to get one thing.”
“Not a problem.” Troy had a flat tone and he turned around in his chair to see Jaylyn approach her coat thrown across the bed.
I tried to keep myself from enjoying it too much though she was quite appealing. Troy already claimed her and that’s what we agreed on so I’d do nothing. I respected him enough that I wouldn’t try and take her, especially since I haven’t seen him react this way with anyone else—ever.
“Where exactly did you put it?” Jaylyn was going through all the pockets while trying to keep her wet hair covering her.
“Ah, it was on the left, I think. Try the inside one.”
“Oh, found it!” She pulled out something that matched the colors and material as her skirt and slipped it on over her wet body, pulling out her wet hair while turning. “That’s so much better. Adele, you can dry me now.”
Adele took the water off her by just holding out her hand. I watched it come off her in small streams and head towards the rest of the water. It was pretty impressive. They never had to dry themselves with a towel with Adele around and that’s when I noticed it. Jaylyn’s light blonde hair that appeared to be straight when wet, turned out to have thick heavy curls that spiraled passed the middle of her back when it was dry. They moved with her body as she walked over to us and Troy couldn’t take his eyes off her—still.
“What?” She looked right at him but he didn’t say a thing in return.
He seemed too dazed to say anything and I laughed. “You have curls.”
Jaylyn looked down at her hair draping over her shoulders, touching them lightly. “Is there something wrong with me?”
Zayden shook his head with a smile. “No. He has a thing for curls.”
“Oh. Then why is he looking at me like that?” She waved her hand in front of her, trying to make Troy blink but he never did.
“All the women he’s killed had curls.” Zayden said softly. “He’s just worried. You know, for your safety.”
Jaylyn smiled and sat down close to Troy. He was still staring at her and she lifted his arm around her, making him touch her curls and I tensed. “Troy! Don’t make any sudden movements, Jaylyn.”
She started to smile instead of look worried. “He doesn’t scare me.” She tucked her fingers in the top of his breast plate and brought his lips quickly into hers.
His muscles tensed up while he kept her close to him and I was ready to have to pull him back before he lost control but he did it on his own. “Forgive me. I—”
“There’s nothing to forgive.”
“Wow. Troy has a weird quirk. That’s unexpected.” Adele and Ruby walked through th
e water wall in their matching sets like hers. Ruby’s was red lined in orange and it looked amazing on her, showing off her fabulous legs.
“What?” Troy turned his eyes towards Ruby and saw her long wavy hair.
“I don’t know just unexpected and get your eyes off me. These aren’t curls. They’re a lifetime of self-inflicted crimps from always wearing my hair up.”
“True.” Adele agreed. “But she usually doesn’t let anyone see her like that.”
“It’s weird that she’s letting you.” Jaylyn smiled playfully.
“Don’t read into it. I just want to be lazy, okay?”
“Well, it’s all yours.” Adele took a seat for the first time next to Zayden in the only chair open.
“What?”
“The shower. We’re not in there anymore so you can use it before it stops raining.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah, I left it up for a reason. You’ve been out here longer than we have. You should want it more.”
“You say that like we haven’t bathed since we’ve been out here. Do I really smell that bad?”
Adele sighed, crossing her legs. “Do you want it or not?”
Zayden looked over at us and we got up. “As long as you promise to control yourself.”
“Oh, please.” Adele sighed sarcastically. “I think I can handle it.”
Zayden laughed and snapped his fingers on both hands then pointed to himself. Troy and myself went right over in front of Adele and began unhooking his shoulder armor for him.
“What?” Zayden asked.
“You actually have them undress you?”
“You expect me to do it myself?”
Adele shrugged and tried to be evasive with her eyes while we undressed him mere feet from her. “No. Of course not. It makes complete sense.”
“Then why’d you ask?”
“I didn’t mean it like that. I just assumed that—never mind.”
“What?”
“Nothing. You’re clearly right to your reasons.”
He seemed a bit unsure what she was insinuating but I had a pretty good idea and turned him away before more could have been said.
We walked out of the circle of chairs just enough to start getting out of our own armor and it was quiet while we did it until enough was off that we stopped in front of the wall of water with Zayden.
“It’s just water. Walk through it.” Adele said. “I can dry you off when you come out. It saves time.”
We walked through before starting to remove anything else and I tried to keep to myself. The last thing I wanted to do was start any conversation while being openly vulnerable like this. Even looking out at Ruby didn’t help. She had her legs bent up over the chair onto mine and I was seeing all skin right up to her hips. She had such beautiful legs that I fought hard not to think about running my hands up them to feel how smooth they really are. I’m sure Zayden would have protested if he noticed that I let those thoughts linger and I tried to just keep my focus on the shower.
No one on the other side said anything either and I was glad they were trying to help even if they didn’t know they were. It didn’t take long since there was no conversation and we simply slipped our pants back on before walking through the water wall, carrying the rest.
“That was refreshing.” Zayden said. “Hey, Love, could you dry us off now?”
Adele looked over from making the beds. She’s never reacted to him calling her that and I thought that was a little odd based on the short amount of time I’ve known her but this time she did react. It was like she froze. I had no idea what she was thinking but she wasn’t looking at our eyes. It was farther down and I glanced to about where on Zayden. She wasn’t actually reacting to the name he’s been calling her but instead, she was seeing the symbol over his heart. The letters G, S, F and the letter of his first name was forged together in one single symbol with black ink. We all had one with that one difference but she wasn’t looking at ours.
“What is that?”
Zayden looked down to where she pointed on herself. “Oh, this? Dry us off and maybe I’ll tell you.”
She pushed the water off us and it was the weirdest thing I’ve ever felt. You could feel every drop just roll off your body and she pushed it up through the hole in the ceiling then sealed it shut to stop the flow.
“Thank you. This is the symbol of our status. It’s like what you have. It proves who we are.”
Ruby had a dead stare on me while I moved her legs to sit in my chair and I looked across the fire at Jaylyn having a similar reaction while staring at Troy.
“You’re staring.” Adele muttered, almost like she didn’t want us to hear her and embarrass them even more.
Jaylyn’s voice was flat with no expression. She couldn’t even move her eyes from Troy but she didn’t seem embarrassed at all. “I’m aware of that. Thank you.”
Troy smiled by her reaction and lifted her head up by her chin to meet his eyes. “Don’t worry. You’ll get used to that feeling.”
Jaylyn moved in closer, rubbing her hand on the mark on his chest. “Looking forward to that.”
I turned my head and Ruby was still going about her silent reaction towards seeing me without a shirt. I didn’t want to brag but I was much more advanced. I was taller than the other two with wider shoulders, making the muscles everywhere else on me bigger.
“Mind if I touch it?” She muttered almost silently and I wasn’t about to turn her down.
“Of course I don’t mind. Touch whatever you want.”
She seemed nervous but excited and leaned forward, bringing her hand towards my body. I was eager and just waited for when she would finally touch me. I wanted her to but I let her do it on her own time. She did it slowly with her fingertips first, touching them lightly to my chest then began to rub them down the ridged contouring of my abdomen and beyond to the low waist of my pants. I was just waiting and willing to have her go lower but something stopped her.
Adele was immediately there and took Ruby’s arm, pulling her up away from me. “Ah, a word?” She walked her away from us so she could talk without us listening.
“Ooh.” Jaylyn muttered. “Forgot about that.”
I was more than curious at this point. I looked over at Zayden and Troy but they didn’t seem to know what was going on any more than I did.
My eyes found Ruby again but something changed. She wouldn’t look at me and turned to leave up the stairs while Adele walked back.
What did she do?
“Sorry to ruin your moment but you’re not allowed to sleep with her, willing or not.”
“Not allowed?” Even asking the question amused me and I laughed. “Is this one of your rules now that we’re down here?”
“Of course not. You can have sex with Jaylyn all you want.”
“Hey! Shouldn’t I get a say in that?”
“Metaphorically speaking, Jaylyn but Ruby is off limits to you three and especially you.”
“Why exactly?”
“Because you’re foreign.”
“Why would it matter if he’s foreign?” Zayden asked. I wanted to know the exact same thing. I wasn’t doing all of this so I could just look at her. She’s been making me want her more by the second.
“Because she could actually kill you.” Jaylyn said seriously. “It’s how she is since she got her gift.”
I honestly didn’t think that was it and was surprised but even more curious. “Really?”
“Yes.” Adele said. “Her sexual aggression is something you should never want to see.”
“Yes I do.” I replied immediately. It’s all I’ve been thinking about. Very few, if any, women I’ve been with have ever shown that kind of fun in bed. I wanted to experience it.
“Then it will be the last thing you see.”
Jaylyn smiled. “But he’s just as likely to kill her. Wouldn’t that be so romantic?”
“Jaylyn, she’d kill him before he’d even get the chance. Stop encouraging it
.”
“So, wait.” Troy cut in, probably just trying to make sense of this because true, it did sound unusual but this is something that had to do with her gift and I suppose anything could happen. “You’re actually telling us that she’s killed every foreigner she’s ever slept with?”
“Yes.”
“And it’s just foreign?”
“Yeah, we don’t know why. Honestly, it doesn’t really make any sense but someone around here should care. So, I guess it’s going to be me because whether I like it or not—” She sighed, trying to hold it off because the thought of it most likely made her unhappy. “I can’t even say it without screaming. Anyway, if she kills you, not only would that be bad for all of us but she’ll fall into a self-destructive pattern and I won’t have that.”
“How do you know?” Zayden asked.
“Because it’s happened before. She blames herself for her mother’s death when it couldn’t even be further from being her fault. She got really heavy into some kind of drug for a while because of it, to make the pain go away or forget. It was horrible. She stopped eating. She stopped sleeping. She just wasn’t Ruby anymore.”
Jaylyn sighed. “Yeah, and who’s fault do you think that part is, huh?”
“Jaylyn, don’t start. Trever had nothing to do with it.”
“That’s untrue and you know it. Where else would she have gotten it? She goes to him for everything. It really shouldn’t surprise you.”
“But if that’s true then yes, it does surprise me. Trever is many things but he would never jeopardize Ruby’s life like that.”
Jaylyn let out a smug laugh. “Yeah, right. He only cares about himself.”
“Now I know that’s not true.”
“Stop protecting him. It’s not worth it.”
Adele actually smiled and leaned forward to get closer. “Awe, come on, Jaylyn. You know you love him.”
I looked immediately at Troy but she didn’t hesitate to defend it. “No I don’t.”
“Who’s Trever?” Troy asked.
Jaylyn sighed again and Adele laughed. “Don’t worry, jealous. Trever is her brother.”
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