Page 69 of I Replaced His Husband
"For now, we’ve got more urgent things to handle. Marco should do it as fast as possible. If the bruise looks too fresh, it might raise suspicion," I cut in, realizing time was slipping away and we were getting nowhere.
An awkward tension filled the room.
"All right," Marco murmured reluctantly. "Maybe sit down on?"
Was sitting really the best idea? I glanced at the sofa, hesitated, but went along with it. Rain sat next to me immediately, wrapping an arm protectively around my shoulders. I leaned into him, bracing myself for what was about to happen.
Suddenly, I heard a rather unusual sound coming from his chest… it was purring!
Alphas very rarely emitted it, since many omegas considered it patronizing, a sound most often used to calm toddlers. But call me weird, I didn’t mind; I let myself sink into the soothing vibration.
Marco looked uncertain, shifting from one foot to the other.
"Kneel on my other side," I murmured to him. "Thumb on my Adam’s apple, fingers behind my neck."
"Adam’s apple? That’s gonna hurt like hell," he said, hesitating.
"I’m ready. Just do it before I change my mind," I said sharply.
Rain kept his eyes locked on my neck, his soothing purr filling the space around us as Marco positioned his fingers. The pleasant sound helped me not to be afraid of the upcoming pain.
To his credit, my brother did it quickly, squeezing once, and I hissed in pain. It was sharper than I expected, so I coughed a few times, but I instinctively hid my face against Rain’s chest, his arms wrapping around me, the purring quickly pushing the pain away.
"Well… hope that’s enough," Marco muttered, straightening up.
"Me too," I sighed, tentatively touching my neck.
Adam stepped in to take a look, his expression tight, fingers flexing at his sides. Rain tilted his head and studied it too, worry flickering across his face. His fingertips brushed lightly over my Adam’s apple, and I shivered, not just because it hurt.
"I hope it works," I rasped, not wanting to dwell on the ache in my throat. "The bruise should already be a deeper shade of red, so we’ll have to hope the cops take pictures after we give our statements. With any luck, it’ll be more visible by then."
I coughed again, feeling pretty rough, and once more rested my head on Rain’s shoulder, feeling low-key embarrassed by my own actions.
Why the fuck did I keep leaning on him, searching for his closeness? But Rain didn’t mind, just pulled me in close and even turned up the purring, until it wrapped around me like a veil. Soon, carried by the vibration, I felt a soft, honeyed relief.
They all gave me a minute to pull myself together. Rain's hand moved slowly up and down my back in a steady rhythm, easing me into a peaceful, almost trance-like state, the purring a constant tune in the room.
I peeked at him through half-lidded eyes.
Our earlier bedroom conversation had lifted a weight off me, but it left a different kind behind.
By now it was even more obvious, we were stepping into somethingnew, uncertain, and a little scary.
I’d never been with anyone but Maurice. I had no idea how to navigate a relationship with someone else. How much touch, closeness, or affection was Rain used to? Because I needed a lot. I was a total cuddler. Was his past relationship anything like what I had with Maurice?
Damn, I should stop and not get too far ahead of myself, since I barely knew him at all… I needed to do my homework on Rain before we tried to deepen whatever this was between us.
After all, he’d offered to be myprotector, not my boyfriend, and I appreciated the space he gave me to figure this out, whateverthiswas.
Or…
A silly flicker of thought!
Maybe it would be easier if we just dove in headfirst instead of dragging things out and making them more complicated?
Because, deep down, I already knew. I could feel it in every part of me. This thing between us had a real shot.
The true challenge was letting myself believe it wasokayto want that.
