Page 60 of Jinx

“Hey, Blue.” He moved with cautious steps into the room and sat, angled to face me, on the edge of the bed. “How are you feeling?"

I took his hand like I needed him to anchor me. “I don’t even know. Bel, you…” The vision of him standing over me like an avenging angel flooded my mind. The transformation. The fearlessness. “You’re amazing. Thank you.”

His warm fingers brushed over my forehead and tucked a tangle of hair behind my ear. “I should be thanking you,” he said softly, a sad smile ghosting over his lips. “For saving us. Saving Quinn.”

A blade of guilt sliced over my heart, and I winced. “He didn’t want me to. He didn’t want to be tied to me, and I did it anyway.” I squeezed my eyes shut against the horrible onslaught of memories. “I took away his choice. I violated him.”

Bellamy shuffled further up onto the bed to lean against the headboard and pulled me into his side. “He’s just afraid,” he said with his lips against my hair. “And his fear is holding him back.”

I listened to the thump-thump of his heart beneath my ear, felt it echo in my own chest. “What is he afraid of?”

He squeezed me a little tighter. “Losing you.”

I made a sound somewhere between a scoff and a sniffle. “Part of me wonders if you’d all be better off without me anyway.”

Suddenly, Bel pushed me upright and cupped my face between firm hands. His amber eyes sparked with intensity. “Don’t you ever–ever–say anything like that again,” he growled. “You have no idea what it was like, thinking you didn’t exist. We are yours and no one else’s.”

Stunned by his declaration, I reached up and wrapped my hands around his wrists, holding him to me. I didn’t know how to respond, but he saved me from needing to when he leaned forward to capture my lips. The kiss was soft, chaste, but it sent sparks of possessive hunger through my chest and along our heartstring. I rearranged myself to straddle his thighs, getting tangled in the sheets, and he grunted as I shoved him back against the headboard, breaking the kiss. His gaze was molten while I ran my thumb along his bottom lip.

“You are mine.” I dug my other hand into his hair and formed a loose fist, pulling gently. A breathy, submissive moan escaped him, and his tongue darted out to taste the pad of my thumb.

“Fuck yes,” he whispered, moving his hands to my hips as he shifted beneath me. “Only yours.”

“I thought breakfast was ready.”

The moment shattered when Rami strolled through the room from the attached bathroom.

“Gods dammit, Rami!” Bellamy’s curse was strangled. “That’s twice now, you ass! Can’t you take a longer shower? Or go away?”

“This is my room,” Rami answered from what appeared to be a walk-in closet. He came back to stand at the foot of the bed with his arms crossed, a sweatshirt clutched in one hand. “And no one will be pleasuring Cordelia in my bed unless I’m in it.”

A rush of warmth spread through me at his words, bringing back the feeling of his mouth on my skin and his hand between my thighs. My breath caught in my chest, and Rami gave me a knowing smirk, even though he shook his head.

“Come, kulta. You need to eat.”

I quirked an eyebrow, fighting fire with fire. “I need to get dressed. You may recall I’m not wearing any pants.”

Bellamy groaned and let his head thunk against the headboard.

“And I need to get home,” I went on, fighting a grin at Bel’s expense. “I’m a terrible cat-mom.”

“Uhm.” Bel cleared his throat. “No, you don’t.” He gave me a nervous smile when my eyes flew to his. “Lucian took your keys and went to feed him while you were out of it, and he might have just brought Orion back with him.”

I blinked and turned my stunned gaze back to Rami, who shrugged.

“We didn’t want you to worry, and it made the most sense since you’ll be staying here.”

“I’m sorry, what now?” Maybe I was still groggy from almost a full day of sleeping, but it sounded like he said I was moving in.

“Told you,” Bellamy muttered.

“It’s too dangerous by yourself at your apartment,” Rami said in an unapologetic tone. “Your door is like cardboard. It’s safer here where we can protect you.” He moved in closer to cup my face in his warm hands. “I can’t bear the thought of you getting hurt again. I can’t allow it. Please, kulta.”

The furrow in his brow and worry in his eyes went a long way to soothe my irritation. Plus, he wasn’t exactly wrong. “Fine,” I huffed, but kept my eyes narrowed lest he got the idea that I was a pushover. “But only for a couple of days. And next time you ask first!”

Rami grunted, offering no agreement to my terms. Without warning, he plucked me from Bel’s lap, letting the blankets fall away, and settled me over his broad shoulder. Goosebumps rippled over my skin as the oversized tee rode up to barely cover my ass. Bellamy muttered another curse and something about a cold shower as we left him in the room.

I wriggled in a half-hearted attempt to get down. “I have legs, you know.”