Needing to feel him, to touch him, I pulled his shirt up and brushed my chest against his, enjoying the feeling. I ran my hands over his back, trailing my fingers to the front of his jeans to unbutton them. I placed my hand over him, with a moan he pressed into my touch.
I trailed my lips to his neck, down his chest and torso, until I was on my knees in front of him. Slowly, I lowered his jeans to the floor and looked up at him.
“For the love of Danu, Goldie.”
My teasing had us more than ready. As I rose, I ran my hands over his body. He grabbed me by the waist, lifting me to meet his lips. I wrapped my legs around him and cried out as he slipped inside me.
Sometime later, after we’d somehow made it onto the bed, I relaxed with my head on his chest.
“How is it going with Juliana?” he asked after a while.
“Hmm? Well, personally, it’s great. We are getting along well. Informationally, not so great. She has no more to tell us. She promised she’d keep trying to remember something more. How are the Scouts doing? Anything?”
“They found three abandoned nests. More tortured mortals. We saved most of them, but three were too far gone.”
“Dammit! They’re hurting so many innocents! I feel like we should be doing more. But what? Juliana must have something more. Something repressed or something she isn’t even aware she knows. Can’t you try reading her mind again?”
“No, I believe I have gotten as much as I can from her without using force.”
“Maybe you should try talking to her. Maybe you’ll think of questions I didn’t.”
He thought on that for a bit.
“Okay, I will try.”
“While you do that, I’ll make lunch for everyone.”
********
I brought the food to the mortals, leaving Juliana’s plate on a table by her usual chair. We still had to move her into the room Ian had selected for her.
I went back to the kitchen to force myself to eat something, especially since Bryce and Peder were there. Peder informed us that Leo had another possible nest for us to check out. It was something at least.
I’d recuperated and needed some action. I needed to know I was working toward an end to Gabriel and his minions. We’d wait until after dark to head out, so we had time before we had to get ready.
“Are you going to eat that or play with it?” Rufus asked as he entered the kitchen.
I frowned and glanced down at my plate. I hadn’t eaten any of it. I’d just torn the sandwich apart without knowing I was doing so.
“Play with it, I guess.” I shrugged and stood to dump it in the disposal. “I’m not that hungry.”
“Yes, about that…” Bryce began, “I’ve noticed you haven’t been eating much lately. You even had a hard time eating peanut butter and jelly. And that’s your favorite!”
“Maybe it’s stress or something?” It was a lame excuse. Healing all that damage should have made me ravenous, but I’d lost my appetite — something that has never happened.
I thought back and realized that since the night we’d rescued Seth and Ian, I’d only been eating about once a day… if that. And that was only when I was forced to eat.
Ian came strolling into the room saving me from any further discussion about my eating habits… or lack thereof.
“Leo has another location for us to check out tonight,” I said before anyone else could speak. I didn’t want to give them the chance of mentioning my loss of appetite to Ian.
Ian did not acknowledge what I said or anyone else in the room, he just took me by the arm and pulled me aside.
“You did not tell Juliana about what Gabriel did to you?”
“Uh… I hadn’t thought about it,” I lied.
“Bullshit. Why have you not told her? That could have helped her open up more.”
“Because… Because I don’t want to talk about it. I want to forget it. You had no right to tell her about it. It is mine to tell!”
“I did not tell her. You were right, talking with her relaxed her a little. I was able to read her mind more.”
“What did you talk to her about that relaxed her so?”
I wasn’t jealous, just curious… Okay, so I was jealous. Sue me.
He smirked. “Nothing in particular.”
“Uh-huh,” I muttered as I crossed my arms.
He wrapped his arms around me, pinning mine between us and kissed me. Throats cleared and murmurs arose from around us. That didn’t stop Ian from doing a thorough job at making me forget my moment of jealousy. It was the first time he had kissed me in front of anyone. It was a huge step in our relationship.
He ended the kiss but held on to me as he continued his explanation. “The information about Gabriel is muddled, but her more recent memories and thoughts are crystal clear. She thinks we cannot understand what she and the others have been through… especially you. She thinks you have had it easy with us to take care of you.”
“HA!”
“Exactly. She does not know how skilled you are. More importantly, she has no idea what Gabriel did to you. You should tell her. It may help her to know you have that in common.”
“Fine, I will talk to her.”
“I will go with you if it will make you more comfortable.” He kissed my head and let me go and for the first time I didn’t want to be close to him.
“Thanks, I should do it on my own though,” I said and left to go to the hospital wing.
Juliana smiled when she saw me, but it quickly faded when she noticed my expression.
“Kadi? What’s wrong? Has he found us?”
“No, nothing like that. Want to go for a walk on the beach?”
“Yeah. You sure you’re okay?”
We walked a bit in silence before she cleared her throat looking at me expectantly. “Why did you ask me to come out here with you? There’s something bothering you. Tell me. I’m a good listener.”
“Right… Okay, I have a story for you… So… Recently, we — the clan and I — went to a house we figured to be one of Gabriel’s hideouts. We were right. We caught Gabriel by surprise, not unprepared though, and he was able to trick me. He…” I stopped when my voice wavered a little.
“Oh…” She put a hand on my arm. “You don’t have to tell me.”
“Yes, I do.” I took a deep breath. “He chained me to a bed and tortured me for what felt like hours… I really have no idea how long I was there. He cut, bit, hit. I refused to scream, refused to let him know he was hurting me. When I passed out from exhaustion or shock, he stabbed me to wake me. Never anywhere vital, just to bring me back to consciousness.”
“Yeah, he likes — as he puts it — ‘a stubborn woman’. He said he enjoyed hearing me scream, but I think he liked it more when I didn’t. Gave him something to work for… and he sure loves his work.”
“Yes, he does.” We were both shaking. I put my arm around her, and she did the same. “It’s over now though. He will never touch either of us again. We will find him, and I will kill him.”
“I want to help.”
“I don’t know…”
“Kadi, did he rape you?”