Page 26 of Midnight of Ashes
I glanced back at Knox. “Will I feel it, too?”
Knox grinned. “Every time there’s heightened emotion or feeling. I heard it’s great for?—”
Easton smacked him, hard.
“Ow. What the hell?”
“Can we just chill on the sex talk before eight a.m.?” Easton grumbled.
I ducked my head. Of course, Easton didn’t want to think about me and sex in the same sentence. Even if his body might want me, thanks to the mating urge, his brain and heart didn’t.
“When are you going to pull your head out of your ass?” Knox growled.
“Excuse me for not wanting to show up to Mad’s class with a raging hard-on,” Easton shot back.
My stomach cramped. I hadn’t seen Maddox since the council’s visit yesterday. He’d disappeared and hadn’t returned home, as far as I could tell. The cramping turned to nausea as I wondered where he’d stayed last night.
Cáel nuzzled the side of my neck. “What’s wrong, Little One?”
“Nothing,” I whispered.
“I can smell your anxiety.”
“That’s cheating,” I groused.
Cáel grinned against my skin. “I like all the things your body tells me.”
I squirmed on his lap, and Cáel instantly hardened against my ass. Shit.
He only grinned wider. “Tell me what’s wrong.”
Easton’s focus remained on the road, but Knox glanced into the back seat, waiting for my answer.
I finally blew out a breath. These nosy dragons wouldn’t let up until they knew what was bothering me. “I’m worried about Maddox. And I was, um, wondering where he stayed last night.”
Understanding dawned on Knox’s face. “He has a tiny cabin up in the mountains. He goes there sometimes when we get to be too much for him. But he always goes alone. None of us have even been there.”
The relief that coursed through me was both welcome and embarrassing. I didn’t have any rights to Maddox. He’d made it clear that he wasn’t going there with me. How painful would it be if he and Easton decided to move on with different women? Would I still feel the pull toward them?
Cáel nuzzled my neck again as Easton pulled onto campus. “It’s going to be okay.”
I wished I could believe him.
Easton swung into a spot near the science building, our two enforcers, Pete and Terry, parking next to us. Cáel opened the door and lifted me out. Knox was waiting.
He pulled me into his arms and kissed me deeply. I couldn’t help the moan that slipped free as his tongue stroked mine. He growled into my mouth. And as he pulled back, his eyes flashed gold. “I missed you.”
My heart squeezed, and I wrapped my arms around Knox’s waist. He was the one who always seemed to have it together, like he didn’t need me as much. But maybe that wasn’t true. “How about we do something, just you and me, after school?”
Knox’s entire face lit at my suggestion. “You and me?”
He kissed me again and then slid his arm around my shoulders. I reached toward Cáel to take my backpack, but he just shook his head. “I got it.”
I opened my mouth to argue and then snapped it shut. I’d never win anyway.
We headed for the science building, even though Cáel and Knox didn’t have class there this morning. It had become routine for them to accompany me wherever I was going before leaving for their own classes. But the truth was, I didn’t mind it. I liked having as many of my guys near as possible.
My guys.
