Page 57 of The Preachers' Promise
“Yeah, well.” I push on. “You two are my brothers, and I can’t imagine my life without either of you in it. I think I’d fucking lose it. And Ophelia, you make us whole. Weworklike this. It is going to take some time for us to iron it all out, and there are going to be issues, but it does work.”
Roman shakes his head. “I’m not sure it works for me.”
He’s breathing like he’s running, and I can see an imminent freakout from a mile away.
He reminds me of the way Ophelia was in class when she had her panic attack. What’s wild is that it was mere weeks ago, but it seems like it was years. So much has happened since then. I helped her, and maybe I can help Roman see sense now.
“Why?” I ask sincerely. “What’s the sticking point? That you want to do nasty things to Ophelia?”
“Yes.” He rakes his fingers through his hair in frustration. “And then that brings up all the other shit. It’s a vicious circle.”
“You’re not like them. Don’t you see that? Roman, you were a kid.” I try to make him see the difference. “Ophelia is a grown woman, and she’s consenting. Even when we chased her through the woods, we made sure she had a safe word.” I glance over at her. “Right, baby?”
A flicker of a smile touches her lips, but her eyes are filled with worry. “Yes, he’s right. I’m an adult, Roman, and I like thenasty, as you put it, things we all do.” Ophelia walks up to him and gently places a soft kiss on the side of his mouth. “I like that you worship me so much you want me all the time.” She places another kiss on the opposite side of his mouth. “Now that you’ve put the idea in my head, I want you to take me when I’m asleep. In fact, you can take me any time you want.”
She drops to her knees and places her forehead against his thighs. “My body is free for you to use whenever you need to. Any time you feel like you might do this to yourself again, just use me instead. I don’t care what I’m doing—if I’m asleep, or I’m taking a shower, or if I’m washing the goddamn dishes. If you ever feel like you’re going to hurt yourself and fucking me—however roughly and in whatever hole you want—will help you, then this is me giving you permission to do that. Even when I’m sound asleep. You don’t need to wake me first.”
He sucks in air. “Ophelia …”
She tilts her chin up at him, and he reaches down and pulls her to her feet.
“It doesn’t have to be now,” she says, “while we’re here in this place, but one night, I want you to do it. I want to wake up to you inside me.” She takes his hand and pushes it under the hem of the long t-shirt, toward her pussy. “See?”
His eyes widen and his pupils darken.
“That’s what you do to me, Roman. I want you. I want your darkness and your lust. All of it. It’s not the same thing as what those evil people did to any of us.”
He stares at her for a beat, then he tangles his fingers in her hair and pulls her in for a deep kiss. She moans into the contact, the sound going right to my cock.
Just at that moment, my stomach rumbles so loudly, it has them breaking off their kiss to look at me.
Ophelia giggles, and even Rome cracks a smile. I relax a little inside. I think we’ve postponed him wanting to leave for now, but he’s got fucking issues deeper than a well and wider than a canyon, and I’m worried he’ll circle back around to this at some point.
“Why don’t we move this to the kitchen?” Cain pulls his phone out of the pocket of the sweats he threw on. “It’s almost midnight, and we haven’t eaten anything for a long time.”
“I could eat,” I say.
We look at Ophelia and Roman, expectantly.
“Everything’s better after food,” Ophelia says to him softly.
He’s still looking as if he might freak at any moment, but he allows her to take his hand and lead him up the stairs.
I wince as he passes, and I get a close look at his back. That needs to be cleaned so he doesn’t get an infection.
When we hit the kitchen, I head straight to the refrigerator. I open the door, and cold air hits me in the face. Every shelf is stocked with food—eggs, cheese, deli meats, and fresh vegetables.
I glance over my shoulder at the others. “How would you all feel about an omelet?”
“Sounds like heaven.” Cain’s stomach growls, and we all laugh. Even Rome joins in.
“Yeah, we’re hungry,” I say. “Here, make yourself useful, big guy, and open this.”
I hand Cain a bottle of red from the small rack on the countertop. I expect there’s a bigger stash of wine somewhere, but this holds six bottles. Three white, and three red. I take one of the whites and place it in the fridge. Then I take out eggs, cheese, mushrooms, and spinach. I’ll make a big omelet with spinach and mushrooms. The thought of melted cheese has my mouth watering.
Cain opens the wine, muscles flexing. He and Roman are both shirtless, and I feel over-dressed in my tee and sweats. I’m not as big as they are, but that doesn’t bother me. I’ve never felt the need to bulk up and build huge muscles. I’m lean and strong, and in a fight, I’m fast and lethal. That’s all I need to know.
The kitchen is huge, and there’s a wide breakfast bar, with stools either side and a glistening marble top, so we can eat there.
