Page 116 of Ruthless Desires: Vol. One

Elliot flops onto the bed, still breathing hard. I sit in between him and Wren, leaning down to give him another kiss. This one is slower. Less rough. More meaningful.

Some of the bullets Tyler shot into the woods were terrifyingly close to us—more so than we’ll ever tell Oliver. Our job comes with risks, and we all know that, but normally we’re able to stay relatively safe.

We knew Tyler was an extra danger, and we decided it was a risk worth taking. But after the ordeal we put Oliver through, and my own fear of losing Ell in the moment, I’m not so sure.

We’re going to need to be extra careful, especially since we have Wren now.

“I love you,” Elliot murmurs against my lips.

“Mmm. I know.” I give him one last kiss before turning to Wren. She’s watching us raptly, her lips slightly parted. “Did you enjoy that, sweetheart?”

She nods, her eyes meeting mine slowly.

“Do you want more?”

That seems to bring her back to reality. She blinks. “Oh, I’d rather not. As long as—as long as that’s okay. I don’t think I’ll be able to get out of my head.”

I kiss her temple. “It’s always okay to say no to us, sweetheart.”

“Always,” Elliot murmurs, and Oliver nods in agreement.

The way she relaxes at our reassurance unnerves me.As long as that’s okay.Who made her think she couldn’t say no? That she had to ask fuckingpermissionto not have sex?

I make a mental note to figure out whoever it is, find them, and gut them. Then, with a gentle kiss to Wren’s forehead, I turn back to Elliot. “Shower?”

He nods.

There’s a bathroom attached to all the bedrooms here—Finn made sure of it when he built this place. After Wren uses it to wash her hands, I pull Elliot into the shower.

I grab the soap, rubbing it all over his body, cleaning every inch of him. When he steps under the water, I do the same for myself.

The first time I tried to take care of Elliot after sex, he was confused, saying he didn’t need my help. Now he enjoys it, and I happen to know that me cleaning him up afterward is one of his favorite parts.

“One of us needs to stay with Oliver tonight,” he says eventually, quiet enough his voice doesn’t carry back into the bedroom. “It can’t be Wren. I’m not convinced he won’t break down again.”

I nod. If I thought I’d be much help, I’d volunteer. There are certain things I can do when Oliver has a panic attack—hold him, help him to breathe, stuff like that. But I also tend to freeze up in the moment. Elliot is much better at…emotions.

A lot of the time, I just make things worse.

“I’ve got it.” He squeezes my arm. “But Wren might not be in a much better state. She stayed calm for as long as she needed to, and we gave her a good distraction, but that’s all coming to an end real damn fast.”

I swallow hard. “I can handle it.”

Elliot doesn’t acknowledge the lack of confidence in my voice. Instead, he nods and shuts off the water, and we dry off and get dressed.

In the bedroom, Oliver is already under the blankets, sound asleep. Wren sits next to him, stroking his hair. I don’t miss the slight shake in her hand.

“Hey, love. I’m gonna stay with Oliver tonight.”

Wren jumps, as if she was so lost in thought that she didn’t notice us walk in. “Oh. Hi. Yeah, okay.” With one last kiss on Oliver’s forehead, she climbs off the bed. “Will he be all right? He was so scared.” She blinks rapidly, and then she sniffles.

“He will. C’mere, love.”

She practically melts into Elliot, still trying to hold back tears. I’m not sure what all went down earlier, but it’d be a lot for anyone. She went from going to dinner with her family to almost getting killed in the span of a few hours.

“I’ll be okay,” she says, and her voice is stronger and more determined than I expected.

When Elliot lets her go with a chaste kiss, she smiles up at him. Then she turns to me, a questioning hesitancy reflecting in her eyes.