Page 29 of Peacock Me Like a Hurricane

“I’m sorry,” she murmurs, stroking her hand over my heart.

I sigh at her touch, but I don’t want her to make me happy. I want her to be okay. “Baby, stop. You don’t have to soothe anyfeathers you think you’ve ruffled on me. This is about you and your feelings.” I tilt her chin up and look in her eyes. “Can I say a few things?”

She nods, chewing on her lip.

I brush her hair out of her face and look at her seriously. “I have to tell you that you’re deeply emotional. You’re sometimes angsty, sometimes insane…but always blindingly bright. You’re deeply sensual, genuinely caring and I know all of this. I still love you more than—well, everyone. I love you for all of it because it makes you what you are. Don’t be afraid of being angry, angsty, crazy or anything else; you won’t shock me. I. Love. You.”

Her expression clouds. I can’t tell what’s going on behind those sapphire blues for a moment, so I continue. “Blondie used and lied to all of us. It wasn’t your fault, nor was it anything you did. It’s her way; it’s who she’s become. My golden goddess has known her for a lot of years and never saw this. Blondie’s changed—she’s not who I met when my goddess brought my brother home for her.”

“It’s worse for me because I saw who she was from the beginning. I stopped listening to my gut because everyone said she was wonderful. It makes me want to smack myself. I said she was a manipulator back when she smeared herself all over Dirty Deeds... I knew she used Sari and Wilde to make her feel good about herself. I let her in because Sari convinced me she was okay. I should have listened to my gut.”

“I wasn’t around much then, neither was the golden goddess. That Dirty Deeds place was a toxic waste dump. Shame it exploded out of nowhere.” I don’t mention that I know the git who made it happen. He’s a colleague at the Company whose special skill is explosives and though he’s not my cuppa, the minx would LOVE him. Therefore, I’m never bringing his Lucky Charms arse anywhere near her.

“It was fun for a while, but it became harmful and ugly. Too many people fighting over attention from the ‘in’ crowd.” She looks up at me. “I digressed again.”

“Wasn’t that on the list of things I loved about you? I thought for sure I put it on there.” I grin a bit, kissing her temple.

“What remains to decide is what I should do about her.”

“I’m of the opinion that I should eat her; sod the goddess’ rules.”

“She’d enjoy you biting her too much. Trust me.”

“What do you want to do, baby? It’s your decision and I’ll support you completely.”

She shakes her drying curls, sighing. “Rhea will be destroyed when she finds out about us. It’s the ideal she pined for that was always out of reach. She pushed Rafe and Wilde away, and she doesn’t really want Constantine. All of it together will knock her flat. I don’t want to bring our connection into the bitter stuff with her. She doesn’t get to be a part of it.”

I look at her closely, seeing the violet smudges under her eyes as I tilt my head. “You need to sleep, love. You’re exhausted—mentally and emotionally. You shouldn’t decide in this state.”

“I think you’re right.”

“Do you want me to take you home or do you want to stay here?”

She snuggles further into the blankets. “I’m going to stay here. I’m too tired to do anything else.”

“Do you want me to stay with you, baby?” I stroke my hand over her hair, still kicking myself for starting this mess.

“You don’t have to.”

“I said, ‘do you want me to stay with you, baby’. Not one single ‘have to’ in that sentence.”

“I was letting you know that if you didn’t want to, I’d be okay.”

Her eyes raise to mine and I realize that statement is only for me. She doesn’t mean a word of it; she’s simply been trained to put her needs second to whoever she’s dealing with. What in hell’s name has my brother and that gnome’s family done to her?

“I want to stay, but I won’t if you’d rather be alone.”

“I’d always rather you be here,” she murmurs, yawning broadly.

I can tell she’s about to fall asleep. “Good, because I’m fairly sure it’d take a crowbar to get me away from you tonight.” I kiss her closed eyelids, feeling her drift. “One favor before you go to sleep, baby.”

“Mmm?”

“If you could love me for a good long while, that’d be nice.”

“Your wish is my command, love—always.”

With that, she drops off to sleep, and I sigh. She’s loyal to a fault, my minx, so she means it. I can tell by how hard it’s been for her to let go of my brother that when she loves someone, she’ll hang in there until there’s nothing left to hang on to. I can only hope that I come to deserve her devotion.

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