Page 136 of Crave Me

I sat up with him nowhere to be found, and scanned his bedroom.

I’d made sure we’d come together in his room to ensure he was as comfortable as possible when he’d begun. I’d seen some uneasiness from him at first, and I’d been close to stopping things before they’d even gotten started, but he’d pleaded with me not to. He’d managed to not only sink into it all, but completely lose himself in us, demanding more and more, becoming the insatiable sexual thing he was known for being.

As I noticed the light on in the bathroom coming from the door that was slightly ajar, I carefully extricated myself from Skylar and Bastian, then climbed out of bed. I found my black dress pants on the floor and pulled them on, fixing my belt into place too.

I pushed open the bathroom door and started when I found Caleb in there sitting on the edge of the bathtub, hunched over with his face held in his hands.

I rushed to him and sank to my knees. “Lovely? Are you all right?”

He jolted and lifted his head. “Cas, hey,” he said, sleepily, his eyes a little glazed.

I took his hands in mine. “What’s wrong? Was last night too much?”

“No. I needed it like that. With all four of us. It felt… safe. Natural and free.” He squeezed my hands. “I just had a nightmare, came in here to shake it off.”

“A nightmare?”

“About him. Elijah.”

I only just managed to swallow down my seething reaction at that twisted bastard being inside Caleb’s head. Fortunately, my voice came out steadily and without an edge, as I said, “That’s to be expected. It’s okay, part of the process.”

He nodded. “Will you brief Doctor Granger for me and make an appointment?”

“Of course. Whenever you like.”

“Soon. Really soon. I thought I could wait until this war is over, but I don’t want to. I can’t have him in my head like this.”

My gut twisted at his words, at him hurting.

“I understand. I’ll set it all up ASAP, I promise.”

He smiled and squeezed my hands back. “Will you come out with me while I have a smoke before we head back to bed?”

He didn’t want to be alone, not while he was off-center like this. “Absolutely.”

He pushed off the tub and rose to his feet with me. He reached into the pocket of his gray sweatpants and pulled out a smoke and we crept quietly through the bedroom and out onto the corridor.

I grunted as I went to wrap my arm around him, but had to pull up short at the ache worsening in my right arm.

“You’re hurting?” he asked, reaching out and stroking it as we walked together.

“A little. I missed a couple of doses of painkillers.”

“Because you like to make sure your head is clear before fucking.”

“Exactly.”

“And I saw you overdoing it last night.”

“That too.” I grinned. “Worth it, though.”

“Cas,” he sighed. “We’ll grab that vial you keep locked in your office before we head out to the patio.”

I nodded. “Yeah.”

As we headed down the stairs, he shifted sides so I was able to wrap my left arm around him. I smiled out at him. “Love you.”

“Love you too, Cas. Fucking always.”

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