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I held my breath and waited for someone to say something, anything, and put me out of my misery.
***
Quinton Alexander
Jesus, fuck, but she didn't even try to hide how badly she wanted Rain to give her anything, no matter how small the scrape, she wanted it, desperately so, and I fucking hated this for her.
My heart squeezed painfully inside my chest as I blew out a deep breath and looked away from her. I avoided eye contact with Rain as well as I made my way around the foot of the bed.
Rain had the potential to crush Ariel's heart and soul here if he wasn't too careful. And then we'd have a serious problem, because it wouldn't just be me who would want to destroy the man if he destroyed Ariel. It would be all of them.
I sat down heavily on the foot of the bed facing the wicker chair and the window, on the side Rain wasn't. I needed the bed and the rest of the space between us because if he said something unfortunate to Ariel there was a good chance things were going to get violent, and I needed space to breathe, so I could avoid that.
I bent forward at the waist as I lifted my left foot. I gripped the black cowboy boot I wore and pulled it off. I did the same for the other boot. I sat them neatly side by side on the floor at the foot of Ariel's bed. I stood up, unbuckled my belt and pulled it free of the loops on my jeans. I sat down, rolled up the belt and stuffed it down into one of the boots.
I heard Rain moving around but didn't look to see what he was doing, though, I imagined him doing much the same as I was, preparing for bed. The lack of a conversation was stifling, and I knew if I felt it, Ariel must be feeling it too. And probably on an entirely different level than I was, because this meant a great deal to her.
Why wasn't he fucking saying anything? Why didn't he answer her fucking question, even to tell her no, he wasn't going to tell her about her mother and grandfather? The fucking silence was enough to drive anyone mad, and I couldn't imagine being in Ariel's position at the moment. I would have lost my shit already and demanded he tell me what I wanted to know, and if that didn't work, I would have gotten physical with him until I forced him to tell me. Force, I was sure, wouldn't work for this situation.
I stood up again, grabbed my t-shirt by the hem and pulled it up and over my head. I folded it neatly and laid it on top of my boots. I would be uncomfortable sleeping in my jeans, but knew if I took them off Ariel would be offended on Rain's behalf, and this shit was weird enough without her getting all high and mighty on me for sleeping beside her without my fucking pants on.
I stood and moved to the head of the bed. The blanket was pulled up high, to Ariel's chin, and her eyes were closed. I knew she wasn't sleeping because her eyes were scrunched up tight and her face held a look of pain. I pulled back the covers and, before climbing into bed beside her, looked across the room for Rain.
He'd removed the trench coat and it lay at the foot of his sleeping bag, folded nicely beside a pair of black sturdy boots.
He stood beside the door, ready to flick down the light switch. His eyes caught mine and he nodded briefly before shutting off the lights, casting the room into darkness. Not complete darkness, because the curtain on the window hadn't been pulled shut. Ariel liked to sleep with it open. Rain's shadow moved towards the sleeping bag as I rolled onto my back and drew the blanket over me.
Under the covers, I reached over and took hold of Ariel's hand, prying it away from the death grip she had on the blanket. I dragged it over to my side and pressed her palm to my chest. I covered her hand with mine and held it tightly to me, over my heart.
Her breath left her in a rush and I felt her relax.
I tensed when Rain's deep voice whispered through the room.
"You don't look a thing like her," Rain whispered, and Ariel immediately stiffened beside me. I didn't think this was a good way to start out, but then it wasn't my story, so I'd wait, and if he somehow fucked this up I would smother him to death while he slept with one of those pillows Ariel had given him to make him more comfortable.
"She had brown hair," Rain whispered into the dark room. "And these big, soft brown eyes. She had the kindest, sweetest eyes I'd ever seen. But, piss her off, and boy would those eyes change in heartbeat."
Snap
Snap
Snap
Rain snapped his fingers and I felt Ariel's body start at the noise that seemed to echo around the otherwise quiet room.
"Just like that, they'd change, and she'd go from sweet to heated. I liked her most when she was sweet, but damned if she wasn't incredibly magnificent when she was pissed off and angry."
It was quiet, but I heard Ariel's breath hitch on an almost silent sob. She didn't want either of us to know she was crying, but I was betting especially not Rain.
I let go of her hand, rolled over to my side, facing her and grabbed her around the waist. I pulled her body close to mine and buried my face in her neck. I wanted to slide my arm under her neck and roll her over to her side and pull her entire body close to mine. Out of respect for Rain, not that he'd done anything to deserve it, I didn’t, and instead forced myself to be satisfied with being as near her as I could be without making anyone uncomfortable.
"She was like me, and I grew up around her and her family."
"Like you?" Ariel asked.
"Yeah," Rain said. "Like me, like our family of old. Our family used to be rogue witch hunters until the Council decided they didn't want to share the seat of power with anyone else."
"There were rogue witches?"
