Page 28 of Quadruplets for the Vipers

“You were having a nightmare,” I explain again.

“I can’t get the sight of him out of my head.”

She doesn’t need to tell me what sight she’s referring to. The sight of a man with his head blown off isn’t one you easily forget. Reflexively, I brush away a tear from her cheek. An intimate gesture, one I’ve no right to, yet she doesn’t reprimand me for it.

“The nightmares will stop, in time.”

A white lie that I’m not sure I believe. The faces of the men I’ve killed and friends who have died in combat are seared into my brain. Though the nightmares are less frequent, I don’t know if they’ll ever go away. It does get easier, the burden is a little lighter with time. Though now the stars of my nightmares are Zeus and Donna, I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to forget thesight of their bodies, of Donna dying in my arms. Now, I’d take the combat nightmares back if I could.

She nods trustingly. “I’m sorry if I woke you.”

“You didn’t.”

As if she can read my mind, Leah asks, “Have you been having them? Bad dreams about Donna and Zeus?”

“Yes.”

Leah looks so beautiful and trusting right now. I know I should leave now that I know she’s okay, but I remain rooted to the spot. I have the burning urge to take her in my arms and kiss her. We both seem to become aware of the intimacy of the situation at the same time. I’m wearing only a pair of sweatpants, my torso bare, and Leah is similarly scantily clad in her thin nightgown. She makes no move to cover herself, nor does she move away from me. Her gaze drops to my chest, and her breath hitches slightly before she quickly looks away.

“I should let you go back to sleep,” I say, though I don’t move.

“I don’t think I can sleep anymore.”

Is that an invitation to stay? Or simply conversation? I can usually pick up on women’s signals and tell if they feel the same way as me, but with Leah, I can’t think straight. Some part of me thinks I can’t be imagining the chemistry between us, the charged air, but the last thing I want to do is make her feel uncomfortable.

“How do you distract yourself from thinking about them? How do you cope with the nightmares?” she asks me gently.

“I’m not sure I have been. I’ve been getting drunk, but that isn’t an option for you. And my past distraction of sex isn’t an option for me.”

“That’s not true,” she snorts. “There are heaps of women who regularly throw themselves at you.”

“Not the one I want.”

“Well, then, either she’s crazy or you’ve not made a move, and she doesn’t know how you feel.”

Leah’s hazel eyes meet mine, and I try to decipher if she’s issuing a challenge or genuinely doesn’t know how I feel. Either way, I decide to seize the moment and show her. Axel practically told me earlier that he wouldn’t mind if I made a move. Leah wouldn’t be the first woman we’ve shared.

Cupping her chin in my hand, I lean closer. She blinks in surprise, her lips parting slightly, but she doesn’t pull away. I do what I’ve wanted from the moment I met her, I kiss her.

There’s a moment of hesitation, and I panic that I’ve read the signals all wrong, that she’s about to push me away and ask what the fuck I’m doing, but then she kisses me back. Kissing Leah feels so right, as natural as breathing. I wrap my arm around her waist, pulling her closer, feeling the warmth of her body, savoring the smell of her skin, the taste of her. She pulls me closer, kissing me back passionately, and I know that the attraction isn’t one-sided, that she feels something too.

The sound of Rider and Axel returning breaks the spell between us, and we spring apart guiltily. Leah is somehow even more gorgeous with her lips plump from our kiss, and it takes every ounce of my self-control not to kiss her again.

“I should go speak to them and see if they found out anything.”

Leah nods but doesn’t speak, her mind elsewhere as she puzzles over what just happened.

I’ve opened a can of worms and made this already strange and complicated situation even more confused, yet I don’t regret it. Now I just have to hope Axel is truly willing to share, if that’s what Leah wants, of course. You don’t give up on a woman like Leah.

Chapter 15

Leah

To say I’ve been confused since my kiss with Knox would be an understatement.

How can I want two men at the same time? I know I fantasized about all of the guys, but it’s different actually sleeping with one and making out with another, isn’t it?

I worry that Axel is going to come straight upstairs to see me and that he’ll be able to tell just by looking at me what happened. Thankfully, I can hear Rider, Knox, and him having a deep discussion. Deciding that a long, hot shower is what I need, I climb out of bed. At that moment, Jace emerges from his room, lazily strolling past my door. He’s wearing a pair of sweats, his chest bare, revealing his impressive six-pack.

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