Page 107 of Revive
“Gone for a slash. He’ll be back in a minute.”
She gazed awkwardly over her shoulder, then down at Xane’s feet.
“Take a perch,” he offered.
The only seat was the bench he was occupying. He shuffled along a bit, making space for her to sit. After a moment of hesitation, Alle slid into the indicated spot.
“How was Sweden?” he asked.
“Fine. I mean, it was good. Really good. I like his family, and his house is… wow!”
“Go swimming in the lake?”
She smiled. “Yeah. I’m sure he’s told you about it.”
“No.”
“No?”
She peered directly at him. The swoop of shiny black hair, the glinting silver piercings, and the ski-slope cheekbones.
“He’s not much of a talker,” he said.
That was certainly true for the most part. “I thought the pair of you had a psychic link.”
Xane flashed her half a smile. “Emotions don’t need words, for everything else, they’re kind of essential. All I know is that he’s come back happier, and that’s a good thing. You make him happy, Alle. Not that that’s a surprise. I’ve always known it. But getting him to see it hasn’t always been so easy.”
“Are you suggesting you went out to bat for me?”
He gave a soft huff through his nose, then flicked his tongue against his lip ring. “Once or twice, believe it or not.”
The way he said it, made her think it had easily been quadruple that, and that wasn’t so easy to believe, though perhaps that was simply down to more recent events overshadowing what had come before. “At the awards ceremony. And when I turned up in Monte Carlo with Ronnie. It was only later that you shut me out.”
A nod followed. Xane took a long swig from the beer bottle he was holding. “I never thought you were involved in what happened, but he was missing, and the last thing he said to me was to keep you away. There was no way I was ever going to do anything other than follow that instruction. I couldn’t risk losing him permanently, Alle. If we’d turned up at that bothy together, he would never have forgiven me, and he’d never have trusted me. And if I’d kept you in the loop, there’s no way you’d have let me go to him and not have followed.”
“You were close-lipped even once you were with him. I got more honesty out of Luthor in one conversation than I ever got out of you.”
He nodded again. “I’m sorry for that. And I’m sorry if it hurts when he’s with me.”
“It niggles,” she confessed. “It niggles because I can’t give him everything he needs, even knowing that’s unrealistic. I’m glad he has you, even if you are sometimes a prick. But tell me this, Xane, why are you saying all this stuff now?”
A spark flashed in the silver of his eyes as they crinkled to accompany his smile. “Because there’s no reason not to. He adores you, Alle.”
“You mean he’s said it’s okay to talk.”
Xane took another swig of his beer, but eventually, he gave a nod. “He’s opened his heart, and he doesn’t want any secrets between you. Maybe there are things you’d still like to know, but you don’t want to raise with him, because they were dark times, and you want to keep him focused on the good… on the future.”
“I can’t imagine it’s something you want to re-tread either.”
“No,” he mouthed softly. “But I will.”
Alle nodded, appreciative of the bridge he was trying to build. “Another night,” she said, yawning into her coat sleeve. “In a minute or two, I need to find my bed. Where is that man of mine?” Xane gave a nod to the other side of the water feature, where she found Spook stood amongst the shadows watching them. “How long have you been there?” she asked, rising and slipping her arms around his waist.
Her beautiful, quiet, Swedish Viking kissed her on the nose. “Long enough. Ready to take me to bed, Ms Hutton?”
She snuggled into the warmth of his body, as he wrapped an arm around her shoulder. “Oh, God, yes, please.”
“Go to bed, Xane,” Spook called over his shoulder, as they walked away.
“I will,” he replied. “Soon as I’ve finished my beer.”
“Is Xane okay?” Alle asked once they were up in their room, peeling off their clothes.
Spook sat on the edge of the bed to kick off his briefs. “He’s fine. Triad dynamics are complicated. He’s giving Luthor and Dani some alone time before he wriggles in between them, that’s all.”
Alle crawled across the bed naked and wrapped herself around Spook from behind. “Well, I’m glad there’s no one about to wriggle between us.”
“Hm,” he sighed, sleepy and contented. “So am I. Come here into my arms, you delicious peach of a woman.” He rolled them both over until they lay flat and snuggled together so close not even a whisper could have found its way between them. “Mine,” he sighed into her hair, and fell contentedly asleep on her shoulder.
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