Page 47 of Their War

“Exactly that. They wrapped around her and then sank into her skin, no longer mine to control.”

“And this has never happened before?”

“No. Never,” Brannoc assured Arryn.

“How do you feel?” he asked me, still rubbing my back, pulling back to look down at me, his green eyes leaking his concern that he was doing his best to hide from us.

“I don't feel any different, but somehow, I know the shadows are there. What does that mean?” I asked, worried.

Both men looked at me, clearly just as puzzled as I was. “Brannoc, can you let the others in now? They need to see that Rhowyn is okay.”

“Yeah. Yeah,” he blurted, rushing to find his clothes, pulling on his pants and shirt, not even bothering to button them before opening the door.

Callum pushed through first, seeing me upset in Arryn's arms and grabbing Brannoc by the shirt to throw him against the wall. “What did you do to her?” he growled out, barely containing himself.

“Callum!” I called out, “He didn't do anything! Not on purpose anyway,” I told him, the last part nearly whispered.

Still holding Brannoc against the wall, Callum turned to me. “What does that mean?”

“It means that, somehow, I absorbed some of Brannoc's shadows, but I'm okay.”

“You don't know that,” he growled.

“I do. I don't feel any different. It's like I have an awareness of them, but they're not hurting me. If anything, it feels right.” I pleaded with him to listen to me, to trust my judgment. My words made me realize the truth for myself now that my panic was subsiding.

I could sense Callum's wolf pushing forward, so very near the surface as smoke started to drift up from where he kept Brannoc pinned against the wall, staring him down. A growl seeped out of him, menacing and threatening violence.

Jumping up, I laid a hand on his forearm, his fire also close to breaking his very thin thread of control. Despite the heat, it didn't burn me, so I pulled hopelessly, not managing to dislodge the hand wrapped in Brannoc's shirt. I did manage to get his attention, at least.

Turning his head to look at me, I tried to reason with him. “I'm here. I'm okay.” My eyes begged him to see me, to realize that Brannoc hadn't hurt me. Whatever just happened only managed to startle us.

He searched my gaze, and I felt him pulling on the thread in the bond, hunting for any damage. As he realized I was speaking the truth, his grip relaxed, and his eyes started to drift downward. The fire in his eyes turning from destruction to caressing as they skated down my body. My very naked body. In my haste to stop him, I had forgotten that I hadn't had the chance to get dressed like Brannoc had.

Brannoc, thankfully, remained still and quiet as Callum turned to me. All of the guys could sense how close he was to losing control of his magic. With his affinity to fire, it could be devastating if he lost control, ever. Control, for him, was an important piece of who he was and why he had stressed it so much when he had been training me. Or at least trying to train me. My control wasn't exactly the best, especially not lately. I was too impulsive for the kind of control needed to master fire. It was why I hadn't even dared touching my access to it.

Now, though, I felt his gaze like flames, threatening to consume me in their blaze as he took me in, lingering like a caress on my breasts and then dipping lower. I shifted from the intimacy of his gaze, my thighs rubbing together. Nope, no thigh gap here. As often as these guys made me do it, I was surprised I wasn't constantly chafed from the friction.

When his eyes finally met mine again, he was smirking, knowing full well how turned on I was from just his gaze. Despite just having some of the best sex of my life, I was still hungry for more. The thought of having them all flitted through my mind. My thoughts from earlier about taking them all at the same time threatened to undo my efforts, but I pushed it away before I could get any more aroused.

As if knowing what was going through my mind, his hand reached out, grasping my nape and pulling me in for a kiss. His lips only met mine briefly before he pulled back to rest his forehead on mine. “How do you always get in these kinds of situations, Trouble?”

I shrugged. “It's not like I go out searching for stuff like this to happen. It just does. I can't help it.”

He smiled, a soft laugh escaping him. He kissed my forehead, and I closed my eyes, overwhelmed by the reverence in that connection. As if he cherished me. I had never been touched before in such a way, not before meeting my guys.

Opening my eyes, I tilted my head back and looked up, fighting tears that were threatening to fall. His thumb wiped away a tear that escaped my attempts, rubbing it into my cheek.

Arryn's words broke the spell. “How about you, Brannoc? How are you feeling?”

I shifted my gaze to take in Brannoc, still pressed against the wall. Callum finally moved, letting Brannoc relax slightly. “Never better, now that that's over.”

Callum turned to smirk at Brannoc cockily, and I slapped his arm. “What?” Callum asked me, surprised by the action.

“Stop being smug,” I chastised him.

He laughed. “Sweet cheeks, that wasn't smug.”

“Sweet cheeks?” I spluttered, trying to grasp at anger while also fighting the urge to burst out laughing.

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