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Rejected Hollow

Page 145

by Maeve Mercer

I called her landline immediately. It rang until the answering machine picked up.

I called again.

Nothing.

After that, I sat between Jax and Silas with my hands folded in my lap while my body tried to deal with everything that had happened.

I had walked toward a wolverine.

I had said those words to Daniel and watched him run.

I had seen men attack us, seen Kaelen's claws come out, and learned that there is something called the Quiet which I should be scared of.

The shaking started before I could stop it.

Silas noticed first, which didn't surprise me. He wrapped one arm around me, lifted me out of the middle seat as though I weighed nothing, and settled me onto his lap with my back against his chest. Then he closed both arms around me and held me there.

"Adrenaline," he murmured against my hair. "It'll pass."

"I don't want it to pass."

I turned in his arms and kissed him.

There was nothing gentle about it. It wasn't anything like the kisses we'd shared in the darkness of my tower, when I had moved slowly and waited for him to meet me halfway. This time I kissed him with everything still rushing through me, my hands buried in his damp hair and my mouth hard against his.

For a second, Silas went completely still in surprise.

Then he groaned into my mouth, low and helpless, and his arms tightened around me until I could barely breathe.

Beside us, Jax made a quiet sound.

"Dios," he murmured. "Reina."

I pulled away from Silas just enough to breathe and turned toward him.

Jax was sitting sideways on the wide leather seat, watching us. Passing headlights flashed across his face, turning his eyes gold for an instant before leaving them dark again.

"You were magnificent," he said softly. "In that café, in the parking lot, walking toward that wolverine without hesitating. You were magnificent." He reached over and traced one fingertip along my jaw. "I have never wanted anyone as much as I wanted you when you told that pendejo he wasn't enough."

I looked at him, then at Silas, and felt the restless energy in my body turn into something hotter.

"Then show me," I said. "Both of you."

For a moment, neither man spoke.

"Here?" Silas asked quietly. His hand had gone completely still against my hip.

"Here."

"Wren." He spoke carefully, watching my face. "You're sure you want both of us?"

I made myself think about the question instead of answering too quickly.

I thought about three years spent lying still in a dark room beside a man who made intimacy feel like an obligation. Then I thought about the café, the shopping center, the parking garage, and the part of myself I had finally started using again.

"I'm sure," I said. "I want both of you. Right now."

Silas looked past me at Jax.