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Chapter 2

Addie

Light streamed through the open window, burning my eyes. It highlighted the human-sized indent, still warm, beside me. The body it belonged to was noticeably absent, but I didn’t allow panic to claim me as it had last night, especially when a lilting, raspy laugh ascended from the kitchen downstairs.

He was safe. They were safe.

I repeated that mantra in my head as I rolled out of bed, grimacing at the dirty clothes still on me from yesterday.

My panic attacks were getting worse. I had never considered myself a needy, clingy girlfriend, but now, the mere thought of being away from my men for an extended period of time sent me into a broiling panic. The turmoil unfurled in my stomach, a tumultuous mixture of trepidation and anxiety. I had already lost so much.

My brother. My parents.

Calax, Declan, and Fallon.

I wouldn’t survive anything else. I knew that as surely as I knew my first name.

Frowning, I grabbed a change of clothes from the dresser and moved towards the bathroom. There was no running water, but one of the guys, probably Ryder, had carried up five buckets of rainwater. The cold water sliced at my skin like keen knives, but it felt good to be clean.

After scrubbing myself thoroughly and using the water on my hair, I stepped out of the shower and grabbed my fluffy, white towel.

Only to realize that I wasn’t alone.

Ronan sat on the bathroom sink, preoccupied with one of the radios we had uncovered. We had hoped to use it to get in contact with our missing teammates, but none of us knew how to get to a frequency Declan and Fallon would be able to hear on their radio. Instead, we used the radios to communicate with each other when we were scavenging supplies or traveling to the next town over. Kai and Doc both had one as well. Mine was always on my bedside table unless I was leaving the house.

“We’re going to have to make another supply run today, Princess,” Ronan said, still staring intently at the grey box in his hands. “Go to the usual spots before the next storm...whenever the hell that may be. We wanted to give you a heads up. Ryder will stay with you, but we’ll check in every hour and be home tonight before dinner.”

“I want to come with,” I said automatically.

His eyes flickered upwards with almost lazy disinterest, no doubt to reprimand me, when they froze. That lazy disinterest turned into smoldering heat, need, and want, all wrapped up in an enticing package. He swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbing.

“Christ, Princess, why don’t you have a towel around you?”

I shrugged nonchalantly. “You distracted me.”

His eyes ravenously traced my every curve. The supple mounds of my breasts and peaked nipples. The shaved hair down below. The water running in rivulets between my breasts and down to my stomach.

“Shit,” Ronan cursed. He did nothing to hide the prominent tent in his pants.

I would be the first to admit that I wasn’t sexually on the same page with all of the men. With some, I had done nothing more than share a few stolen kisses. With others, we had touched each other in our most intimate spots. It wasn’t because I didn’t want to, I did, but I knew that different men needed different types of affection.

I hadn’t even kissed Ronan yet, and I knew I needed to rectify that situation.

Crossing the distance to him, I stood in front of my tattooed, green-haired leprechaun.

“You’re so beautiful, Addie,” he whispered reverently, and I melted. I stood on my tip-toes, my eyes traveling over his high cheekbones and dimpled cheeks. With bated breath, I closed the distance between us.

The second my lips would’ve touched his, Ronan backed away. His eyes were wide, wild, feverish, but his voice was clear.

“Are you sure?”

“What?”

Self-consciousness reverberated through me. I had just thrown myself at Ronan, a man who admittedly had his fair share of females, and he had rejected me. I never thought I would feel vulnerable with any of my men, but standing naked in front of Ronan, I wanted nothing more than to turn into a liquid puddle under his penetrating gaze.

“It’s just…” He agitatedly ran a hand through his hair. “You’ve been so sad, Baby. I don’t want our first kiss to be something you’ll regret.”

“You think I’ll regret kissing you?” I couldn’t keep the hurt out of my voice.