Torrent of Tears (Scourge Survivor Series Book 3)(50)

The sharp edges of his worry drained away and he pulled me tighter against him. His hips ground against me in a sultry sway, his interest on the rise again.

I bit his bottom lip and drew back. “A mattress at my back would be nice for round two.”

Rowan’s eyes lit and his smile was brilliant white. He stopped the water, grabbed a wide, fluffy towel off the heated rack and wrapped it around his hips. With the second towel, he dried me before scooping me against his chest and whisking me into the bedroom.

Damp brown hair curled against Rowan’s neck as he laid me down and gave me a sexy half-smile. “Better?”

I reached between us and untucked his towel, tossing to the floor. His ass was a work of art. It was a shame not to take time to appreciate it. I slid my palms down the smooth skin at the base of his spine and over the contours of his body. “Better.”

Heat ignited between the two of us and we were lost again . . . and again.

Sex with Rowan smoothed a balm over every ragged wound I’d been hemorrhaging from. It allowed me to forget—if only for a time.

The deep-seated disappointment of my Haven family was gone. The ache for a father I would never know forgotten. The weight of soul-shattering guilt over Tham’s slaughter lifted.

By the time my stitches throbbed and the sun had risen, I collapsed and sank into the delicious golden glow of satiation. I slept. Slept harder and deeper than I had in weeks. Months. Tucked tight against Rowan’s wide chest, with his forge-sculpted arms encircling me, and the scent of sweat and sex in my head, I felt safe. Truly safe—if only for the moment.

***

Tham came to me in my dream and we walked along the Haven stream with the wolves. Nightrunner, the pack alpha, and Faolan walked with us. Faolan’s belly was heavy with a litter of unborn pups. I told Tham about Rowan and Terran and most of all Coal.

“With your capacity for love, neelan, you shall make a fine naneth for the boy.”

I snorted and bumped him with my shoulder. “I don’t know how to be a mother. I grew up without one and now that I’ve met her, turns out she’s an evil bitch.”

Tham skipped a flint rock across the still surface of my pond hidden in the forest below the Dens. “In that case, you know precisely what not to do, so you are halfway there.”

We talked about people we both missed and things he wished he’d had the chance to do before he was killed. It was wonderful to spend time with him but, when the chill came into the wind and the sky darkened, Tham sent me back.

I woke, still wrapped in Rowan’s embrace, his morning erection prodding the small of my back. By the weight of the arm draped over my side and the long, deep breathing warming the back of my neck, I knew he was still out.

I thought about the days that led the two of us here. We’d both been so angry at each other, the people around us, and our lives. And last night . . . I’d been drunk and riding an adrenaline high from stalking Tham’s killers. Maybe things would look different to him this morning.

Maybe I was stupid to think it was more than a night of sex. Great sex . . . but sex all the same.

“What’s on your mind, Trouble?” Rowan nipped the back of my neck, the pinch of flesh tingling up my nape as his breath warmed my skin.

While I struggled to put my anxiety into words he propped himself up on his elbow and studied my face. Since when was I shy on saying what’s on my mind? I shrugged. “Just morning-after-the-night-before stuff. Absorbing everything before the world crashes in.”

His gaze narrowed. “Morning after the night before? So, what’s the verdict, good or bad?”

I reached up and gave him a soft kiss. “All good on my side. I can’t speak for you—”

A set of knuckles rapped on the door and Terran popped his head in.

“You awake Lexi, Coal wanted to bring you—” Terran’s eyes popped wide as he glanced to the bed and made a quick shift to block the door. “Sorry.”

Is Coal out there? I mouthed, pulling the sheets tight to my chest.

He nodded. Rowan launched off the bed in a glorious streak of tawny skin, scooped his dress shirt off the floor and tossed it to me before heading to the bathroom with his pants in hand. Terran played the part of the privacy screen while I buttoned up and adjusted the covers so all my parts were covered. I laughed as Terran tried to hold his position, his hips and body jerking as he was obviously shoved from behind.

I gave Terran the nod and he stepped out of the way.

Coal threw him a dirty look and grunted at him. His pajama bottoms dragged over the ends of his feet as he shuffled over to the bed. The tray of breakfast he carried was almost as big as him.

“What this, buddy?” I asked, signing the words as well.

He handed the tray up to me then scrambled to climb onto the edge of the bed. The mattress barely registered his weight. He looked at the tray and then at me, a hint of frustration darkening his previous smile.

I pointed to the items on the tray and showed him the signs as we went. “Juice, potatoes, waffles, fruit and coffee.”

He watched my hands and mimicked my movements the best he could. He was so incredibly smart. Did all mothers think that of their kids?

“That’s right.” I nodded, as we repeated them a few more times, his smile returned. “Thank you.” I picked up the little pitcher of syrup and poured it over the whole thing.