Page 145 of Guarded
That question came from Sam. There was no judgement in it. During one of my many laps with him, I’d learned about how compulsion had almost killed him before he was mated to Ezekiel. I’d immediately demanded to be added to the training sessions Ferry was doing with the Seraphim. Thanks to those, we were all able to tell whether it was safe to compel a human or not now.
“I had to.” Rami hung his head in shame. “I had no choice. He can’t be mine.”
With that ominous pronouncement, Rami lunged to his feet. Without looking back at us, he stormed off towards the stairs. A second later, we heard his door slam, the lock clicking immediately afterwards.
Those of us gathered exchanged bewildered looks, but it was Benji who broke the silence. “Is this one of those situations where I’m just not understanding, or is everyone else confused as fuck?”
“We’re all confused.” Micah pursed his lips as he stared up the stairs. “Until Rami’s ready to speak, I suspect we’re going to be confused for a while.”
After discussing a few theories and getting nowhere, everyone dispersed. Like me though, I knew they were listening for the click of Rami’s lock. For any evidence that he was ready to open up.
But the sound never came.
NOAH
None of us knew what to do about Rami.
Micah had spent an hour talking to him through his door, but he’d only been met with silence. Ez and I had tried too, but it hadn’t made a difference.
Rami wouldn’t talk until he was ready. It was shit, but he couldn’t hide whatever had happened forever.
One of us would get it out of him eventually.
It was later that night and I was in our suite folding washing. After Jem had shrunk his fourth T-shirt, along with three pairs of my expensive lace panties, I’d banned him from this particular chore.
It wasn’t something I minded doing. In fact, I was humming as I did so. It was domestic. Normal. I was putting Jem’s clothes away in our shared dresser. His toiletries had joined mine in the bathroom. Signs of him existed all over our rooms. Reminders that this was our life now.
One we shared.
It made me so fucking happy. Looking back, I couldn’t believe I’d settled for anything less. That I’d kept to dark corners and hidden my heart away in the shadows. In a way, I was glad I had. It made me appreciate the love I had with Jem all the more.
There was no hiding for us. We lived in the sunlight, letting everyone witness what we shared.
On the day we’d met, I’d resigned myself to never being chosen. Jem had run from me, and I’d thought that was it.
Fuck, I’d been so wrong. Not only had Jem chosen me and this life, but he’d continued to choose it every day since.
I’d thought I wouldn’t have a happy ever after. Turned out I was getting one better than anything I could’ve hoped for.
As I tried to shut his underwear drawer, something snagged, stopping it from closing. Tutting, I rummaged around to figure out what it was. My fingers closed around a hard object.
I pulled it out with a frown. It was a small leather-bound notebook. Huh. Why would Jem have this hidden in his drawer?
The old Noah, the one who’d believed himself in love with Lyle, he would’ve looked. He wouldn’t have been able to stop himself. The jealousy and temptation would’ve been too much.
I wasn’t him anymore. I trusted Jem more than anyone else. If he had this out of sight, it meant he didn’t want me to see it. I was going to respect that.
Before I could return it though, the bedroom door swung open. Jem strolled in, coming to an abrupt halt when he saw what was in my hand. “Oh, shit.”
“It’s fine,” I said hastily, dropping it into the drawer. “I didn’t open it. It stopped the drawer closing so I pulled it out. I was about to put it back, I swear.”
“Sweetheart, come here.” Jem crossed the room and pulled me into his arms. “You don’t need to feel guilty. I trust you.”
“Blinking bond,” I grumbled. It had taken both of us a while to get used to it. There were times even now when we weren’t sure who was feeling what. “I am sorry though.”
“There’s nothing to be sorry for.” He kissed my temple before stepping back and picking up the notebook. “The only reason I hid this is because…well, it’s embarrassing.”
My interest was piqued, but I didn’t push. “That’s okay. It can go back in there and we can pretend this never happened.”
