Adam tried his best to forget that Arielle had been raped. He tried not to treat her as though she was going to crumble if he touched her. He failed on all fronts, miserably. What he didn't fail at, was keeping her secret to himself. She didn't need that shit hitting the fan. When, and not if, her brothers and Stefan found out the truth, Adam knew that there would be a bloodbath.
Honestly, he'd been doing research on how to help her when she'd walked up to him in the coffee shop and caught him off guard. Google didn't have the answers he was looking for. Adam didn't know if anyone really did. He needed to tell her to talk to Matthew since that was his specialty. With one look at her, he knew that Arielle wouldn't voluntarily tell anyone else until she was ready.
He was in a tight spot, especially since he wanted Arielle. He wanted her more than he'd wanted anyone in a long time. Even more than he'd wanted the shifter who had left him. Since the new assignment, he hadn't even thought of anyone else besides Arielle, and his hand was getting used way too much.
She bent over the counter to talk to another customer after he told her that she couldn't go out with the locals, and Adam noticed the way her ass filled out her jeans. When she stood back up he quickly averted his eyes so that she wouldn't accidentally see him staring. He wasn't ready for her to know. Not yet, at least.
The door to the coffee shop announced a new arrival, and Adam checked him out, just like he did everyone. He knew immediately that he was a dragon. He smelled like ash and brimstone. The problem was, he shouldn't. All the dragons in Gilcurry smelled like the human realm. Adam took a picture of the guy and sent it to Drake and Matthew so they could both check him out. After that, he watched as the man ordered from Arielle.
An hour later, the man was still sitting in the corner and Arielle was getting ready to leave. Adam was a little bit distracted from spending his time staring at her, so he missed when the customer had decided to throw a cup of coffee at Arielle.
"What's your problem?" Arielle wiped the coffee off her shirt, and Adam was up in an instant.
"You screwed up my order!" The angry man shouted, trying to reach for her over the counter. "You should be glad that's the only thing that happened."
Adam hauled him back by his shirt, and then punched him in the face, just because he could. The man went down like a bag of rocks, his nose already bleeding.
"Someone should call Maddox," he told the other women behind the counter. "Arielle, it's time to go."
He turned to where she had been standing, but she wasn't there anymore. Instead, she was curled into a ball on the ground, and Adam knew that she was in the middle of another panic attack.
He was dialing his phone before he crouched down to her level.
"Stefan," he said as soon as the other man connected the call. "You have to get to the coffee shop. Arielle was attacked by a customer, and now she's having a panic attack."
He didn't wait for Stefan to answer before hanging up. He got as close as Arielle would let him without freaking out or screaming at him, and he sat with her for the two minutes it took for Stefan to arrive.
While they were waiting, the man who was sitting in the corner got up and left, Adam watched him out of the corner of his eye the entire time.
Stefan, who burst through the door with a panicked expression on his face, and blonde hair that was completely askew. "Where is she?" He didn't need to ask, though. His eyes were on Arielle in an instant, and he immediately had her gathered into his arms.
"You silly girl," he said quietly. "You're not supposed to let people throw things at you."
Adam stayed behind, tamping down the little bit of irrational anger that Arielle didn't trust him to touch her during a panic attack yet. They'd found out during the last week that both Matthew and Stefan could, though. Still her panic attacks were getting worse.
"Make sure Maddox talks to him," Adam said to the women who were watching everything unfold from behind the counter. "Arielle won't be here tomorrow. Sick day." He walked out, following Stefan back to Arielle's house.
By the time he made his way into the house, Stefan had already put Arielle to bed and was waiting for him in the hallway.
"They're getting worse," Stefan said grimly. "She really needs help that we can't give her. I don't even think Matthew could do anything for her at this point."
"Well, he would be the one to ask about it. I don't know what to do, and it just pisses me off that I can't even comfort her when something like this is happening."
"How did she even function, before all of this happened? Because it seems like she's barely holding on." Stefan looked toward her room, and Adam followed suit.
"I don't have a clue," Adam said. "She's not okay, that's perfectly clear. I can't believe she's been living on her own this whole time. No wonder she fought Drake and Erik tooth and nail about all this shit. You would too if this all happened." He didn’t tell them about the rape, because it wasn’t his place to.
He pulled a beer from the fridge and handed it to Stefan before grabbing one for himself.
"Damn right, I would," Stefan said after taking a long drink of his beer. "This is a bunch of bullshit and you know it."
He was talking about the assignment to protect the princess, a princess who so clearly didn't want to be protected. But one who needed them more than she'd ever admit.
Adam nodded. "What can we do?" He finished his beer quickly before throwing it away, and grabbed another. He needed to get drunk to deal with what was going through his head. Thinking about the woman in her room, the one who panicked and freaked out over the slightest things. She was too precious to go through this all on her own.
"I don't think there's anything we can do. Just be here for her, I guess. For when she admits that she needs us."
12
Arielle waited until Stefan laid her down in her bed before she pretended to fall asleep. She realized about halfway through her panic attack what was happening, but by the time she started to come out of it Stefan was there to pick up the pieces—literally. He picked her up and carried her away from it all without breaking a sweat.
In the past week, he was there. Regardless of how many times she yelled at him, or he yelled at her. He was always there. She walked to her room at night and waited for him to pass by. Through her closed door, she always heard him pause for a moment and take a deep breath. Then, without fail, he'd go to the room right next door to hers and close himself in.
She may or may not have listened against the wall, trying to see if she could hear him do anything else in there. No matter how much she tried she never could. So, when he scooped her up into his arms, she was perfectly content staying right where she was.
When he put her down, he carefully brushed the hair out of her face and leaned down until she could feel his breath on her cheek. For a second, she thought he was going to kiss, her. Until he pulled back and sighed deeply.
"One day," he said quietly. It was almost like he was talking to himself. "One day you'll be ready."
Arielle wanted to burst into tears when he left her there alone. Crying wouldn't get her anywhere, though. Instead, she plotted her next move since things had calmed down. There was no sign of Xavier, and even Adam said that she could go out with the locals the next time there was a get together.
Arielle rolled over in bed, fighting the feeling that she was a child. Still that’s how she felt, having to ask permission to go out. Not only that, but she was starting to feel so much more than resentment toward the three men who had taken over her house. It felt crowded and uncomfortable like the moment she walked in on Stefan in the shower. Actually, he had just gotten out of the shower, if the water dripping from his body was any indication. She’d gotten an eyeful of his body, making her drool, before he realized she was there. After that, it seemed like she couldn’t look at him without picturing what it would be like to have his naked body pressed against hers. It only made her angrier though, since most of the time she wanted to punch him in the face.
> Before she knew what she was doing, Arielle had her phone in her hand and it was ringing through to Charlie. They’d texted a few times, but Arielle hadn’t called her new friend in the time she’d been back in Gilcurry.
“Arielle? Did you butt-dial me again?”
“Shut your face,” she snapped playfully. “That happened one time. It’s not my fault my phone decided to call you when I was singing at work.”
“Whatever.”
Arielle could practically feel Charlie’s eye roll through the phone. They’d gotten pretty close over the time that Arielle had been back in Gilcurry. Granted, most of their conversations were through text. Still it was entirely possible to find a best friend like that.
“I don’t want to be here anymore,” Arielle told her with a sigh. “I think I want to come to the human world.”
“Why would you want to do that?” Charlie snorted. “You don’t want to do that. It’s terrible here, most of the time. You got lucky when you were here that it wasn’t a complete crapshoot.”
“So, what should I do?” Arielle pulled her blanket over her head, trying to muffle their conversation, in case anyone happened to be eavesdropping.
“Honestly, if I were you, I’d be sexing it up with one of those guys.”
Arielle’s cheeks flamed. She hadn’t told Charlie about Matthew rejecting her, and she didn’t want to either. It was too embarrassing.
“Whatever,” Arielle repeated Charlie’s words from earlier. “Can I come there or not.”
“Not,” Charlie said distractedly. “It’s too dangerous for you here. But maybe it’s time that I come there?”
Arielle squealed before she could stop herself. “Really?”
Charlie laughed on the other end, and Arielle heard a loud ‘thump’ in the background. Then, Charlie was back on the phone sounding winded. “Yeah,” she breathed. “I think that would probably be best anyway.”
“That’s amazing! I’m going to go make sure there’s a room for you. When will you be here?” Arielle threw the blanket off her, struggling to get out of the nest she’d made of the blankets.
“Oh,” Charlie huffed. “I can be there by morning, easy.”
“Hells yes.” Arielle fist pumped the air while she was still trying to get up and fell off her bed for her effort.
“Text me your address.” Then Charlie was gone, which was good since Arielle was sort of in pain.
She extricated herself from the blanket mess just in time for Stefan to burst through the door.
“What happened?” He looked around, his eyes wide and alert.
“Nothing.” Arielle’s cheeks flamed again, and she looked down at the blankets, sure that it was obvious what had happened.
When Stefan’s eyes fell to the blanket pile, then back up at her disheveled condition, he smiled.
“Are you okay?”
Arielle expected sarcasm. She expected him to be a jerk to her, the same way he’d been since the day they met. She wasn’t prepared for his concern. Nor was she ready to have him look at her like that.
“Yeah,” she whispered. She couldn’t stand to look in his eyes anymore, they were too intense. She looked down at her feet, and completely missed that he came into her room and shut the door. At least until she looked up again. “What are you doing?”
His eyes didn’t give anything away.
“Are you okay?” He repeated his earlier question, and her breath hitched.
Everything that Arielle felt for him came rushing to the surface. All the frustration for him treating her like a child. Him refusing to let her do what she wanted, for her safety. Hell, even the fact that he called her brother on a daily basis pissed her off.
“No,” she snapped at him. “I tripped and fell out of bed, but you can’t leave me alone can you.” She poked Stefan in the chest, putting every bit of her strength into it. “I can’t even be a klutz without you trying to make me feel bad about it. And now, you’re in my space and I can’t even get unstuck, because I’ll just fall over again and you’ll be watching this time.” Arielle fumed. “It’s embarrassing.”
“Why didn’t you just ask for help?” His eyes crinkled at the corners.
Arielle was about to snap at him for laughing at her, but he took another step forward. She tried to step back, but her foot caught in the blankets. She was going down fast when he swept her up out of the blankets and into his arms.
“You are the most frustrating person in the entire world,” he said quietly.
Arielle thought he’d set her down right away, but he didn’t. Instead, he held her in his arms, cradled against his chest.
“I want to hate you. To push you away, because you’re obstinate.” He snorted. “You’re worse than a child. You refuse to let me help you. You run when you should fight, and you fight when you should run away. You don’t recognize the danger you’re in at all.”
Arielle thought about stopping him, demanding he let her go, and then slapping him. No she couldn’t, she liked being in his arms. She liked how it felt to be there, to be held.
“I can’t hate you,” Stefan said and Arielle forgot just for a moment he’d been ranting at her. “I hate that. It makes no sense, but I want you more than I’ve ever wanted anything in my entire life and I can’t back off now.”
Arielle opened her mouth, ready to ask him what the hell he was saying. He looked at her, heat in his eyes, and that’s when she understood.
“I’m going to kiss you now,” he said.
She swallowed, and nodded. “Okay.”
He wasn’t gentle, or soft. No. He shifted so that she was facing him, and he held her up with a hand under her ass. Then, he let her fall to her bed before he followed her down. While she was trying to catch her breath, he took his chance. Stefan kissed her, not bothering to ease into it. He owned her, claiming her mouth with his. His tongue brushed passed her lips and pressed against hers, coaxing Arielle into action. Her body was stiff, unprepared for the onslaught of attention that he was paying her.
His kiss wasn’t just a kiss. His hands wandered everywhere, caressing her skin in a way she’d never experienced before. Where he touched her, she felt little tendrils of electricity run through her skin, silently calling out for more.
“You like that, don’t you?” She hadn’t even realized that he’d stopped kissing her.
Arielle opened her eyes slowly, lust making it hard for her to concentrate. Her body was responding to him, and even though her brain was telling her to be careful, she couldn’t understand.
Rather than answer him with words, she grabbed him by the front of his shirt, and hauled him back to her. Her kiss was a little softer than his had been, more of a plea than anything else.
He took the invitation, and she let go of him when he pressed against her again. Arielle didn’t know what to do with her hands, so she laid them down at her side. Stefan growled low in his throat, and Arielle felt the way his body was hard against hers. It didn’t feel anything at all like the other times she’d had sex. Her body wanted this. She wanted this—wanted him.
When Stefan moved his attention to her chest, Arielle’s back arched off the bed and she needed more. With a growl of her own, she pushed him away just enough that she could strip out of her shirt and bra. He watched her do it, fascination clear on his face.
When she reached down to take off her bottoms, he stilled her with a hand.
“You’re in my head,” he said. “You’re everywhere and everything. But if you take those pants off, I don’t think I’ll be able to stop this. You have to be okay with that, before we start. I’m not going to let you go once we do this.”
Arielle paused, trying to process everything that he’d said. “You want me.”
He nodded.
“Then what’s the problem?” She arched an eyebrow, daring him to call her on her bluff. She wasn’t shaking, or trembling, or any of the things that she used to do when she was in the dragon realm. No, here she had power. It was clear in the way that
Stefan was waiting for her to make up her mind.
“I want this,” she said when he wasn’t moving forward.
“Even though your brother forbid it?”
“Especially because he forbid it,” Arielle answered.
“The others want you, too.” Stefan said, almost as an afterthought.
Arielle thought about it for half a second before she decided to tell him the truth. “I want them, too. Is that a problem?”
“No.”
She smiled, not knowing why or how it was all possible, but somehow it was.
There was no more talking. He kissed her again, but his hands moved to her pants. She groaned when he slid his fingers under the hem and pulled them down in one swift move. He never broke the kiss and caught her gasp with his lips pressed against hers.
Arielle stared at him, completely dressed, against her naked skin, and she thought about covering her body so he couldn’t see. She was curvy now that she wasn’t stuck in the dragon realm, and her skin had marks from her gaining weight. Although he didn’t seem to care about any of that. His hands roamed, and he moved his attention to her breasts, nipping them while Arielle moaned.
“More,” she demanded.
Stefan chuckled against her skin, and Arielle found herself pulling on his blonde hair. She needed him.
“Stefan.” She growled.
He sighed, and pressed one more kiss against her stomach before whispering “soon.”
She watched as he pushed away from her, feeling desolate for a moment before she realized what he was doing. He tugged his shirt off with one try, and then unbuttoned his pants before she could blink. When he leaned forward to take them completely off, Arielle watched the muscles in his back bunch together around an old scar on his shoulder. She sat up and ran a hand over it, before realizing what it was.
“You have his brand on you,” she whispered. “I’d recognize it anywhere.”
Stefan froze at her words, looking over his shoulder at her. “How do you know what it looks like.”
Using Her Dragons: A Reverse Harem Paranormal Romance (Omega Book 3) Page 9
