I feel the sleeves of my shirt being slightly tugged up, and then the hem. Fingers delicately skim the flesh there, and then Jaxon whispers, “You’re perfect.”
I want to say, No, I’m not. I want to ask if I’m different. I want to ask what everyone is doing. Ultimately, I fall asleep into the softest of dreams.
Chapter 6
Hadley
Back when my family used to have big dinners during the holidays, I would eat a bunch then fall asleep. So would my sisters. It was kind of like a tradition. A lot of times, when we’d do this, my parents would wrap presents.
I kind of feel like that now while I sleep after feeding off the guys, but deep down, in the pit of my stomach, I worry about what’ll happen when I wake up. I’m not dumb enough to believe I’ll find a stack of presents underneath a tree. More than likely, I’ll find four horny reapers waiting around for me to attack them again. Or maybe they just used the power my feeding from them gave them to go forward with their plan of finding that undead witch.
I should probably open my eyes and see, but truthfully, I’m enjoying this dreamless sleep. It’s been a while since I’ve been able to sleep without having nightmares or ghosts creeping into them.
“You really think she’ll be okay with you playing with her hair like that?” Jax’s voice floats through my foggy mind. “If she was awake, she’d freak the hells out on you.”
“Doubtful,” Alex replies. At that precise moment is when I become aware someone is combing through the strands of my hair with their fingers. “She trusted me, at least enough to feed off of me first.”
“That doesn’t mean she’ll be okay with you playing with her hair, man,” Jaxon responds over a scraping sound that sounds an awful like a pencil gliding over a piece of paper.
I remember what he said while I was feeding off of him about wanting to draw me. Is that what he’s doing now?
Wanting the answer, I force my eyelids open. The first thing I see is the fabric of a black shirt stretched over a lean chest. I’m lying on my side, I’m fairly sure in a bed, and someone is stretched out in front of me. I can also feel the presence of someone behind me, and their fingers are currently softly tangling through my hair.
Alex. That means I’m facing Jaxon. I tilt my head up and find him propped up against the headboard, with his head tucked down, his attention fixed on the notebook that he’s drawing in.
I observe him for a moment, trying to feel around the situation, and see if I feel differently toward him than I did before. Jaxon has always been the nicest and quietest of them. Well, except for on a few rare occasions. When I look at him now, I feel content enough but not wildly crazy to just like… screw him, which is good. The scent of rain and sweet spice tickle my taste buds, though.
“It’s just so soft,” Alex continues as he ravels a strand of my hair around her finger. “And she smells so good, all sugary and ours.”
“Don’t let her hear you say that.” Jaxon moves the pencil across the paper. “It’ll make her panic.”
“Obviously,” Alex replies, shifting on the bed. “I don’t need you to tell me these things. I’m well aware of what she needs and what she doesn’t.”
“And yet, here you are, playing with her hair while she’s passed out.” Jaxon flips the pencil over and erases something.
It’s such a human-like thing to do that it throws me off for a second.
He starts drawing again while Alex’s fingers continue their exploration of my hair. I should stop him. It feels like I should, anyway … The old Hadley would.
And there it is, the slight difference I can feel inside me.
“I think we …” Jaxon trails off as he notes me staring up at him. “You’re awake?”
“Huh? Really? What tipped you off?” I quip with an eye roll.
And that one sentence sends relief washing over me.
I’m still me.
Jaxon cracks a smile, too, like he’s been wondering the same thing.
Alex splays his fingers across my cheeks and turns me so I roll onto my back toward him. Then he props up onto his elbow and lines his body over mine.
“Hey,” he says, and it’s so damn weird, just this casual greeting after everything. “How are you feeling?” His eyes scan mine as he asks this, wisps of his hair dangling in his eyes.
I have this strange compulsion to reach up and brush the strands away from his forehead, but other than that, I feel … “Fine. Normal, I guess … Well, mostly.”
“Yeah?” he asks, and I nod. “Good. That’s a relief to hear.”
“Were you worried I wasn’t going to feel okay?”
“We weren’t quite sure. I mean, from everything we knew, you should be completely okay after feeding and completing the connection between all of our souls, but you were pretty far into the process of decaying, so …” He shrugs, the movement rippling with tension.
“I’m fine,” I try to reassure him. “In fact, I haven’t slept that well since … Well, I honestly can’t remember how long it’s been.”
“Not too long.” He visibly relaxes. And then, just like that, his mood shifts, an impish smile curving on his lips. “How do you feel about everything else? Feeding off us? Oh, let’s not forget when you rolled your hips against mine.”
“Alex,” Jaxon grumbles. “Seriously?”
“What?” His eyes sparkle mischievously. “I’m clearly her favorite, which means I get to tease her.”
“No, it doesn’t,” I say, and his grin broadens.
“You didn’t argue about me being your favorite,” Alex says.
I make a big show of rolling my eyes, and he chuckles, the sound low and deep, eliciting a wonderful shiver to flutter across my skin.
“Now that you’re ours,” he says lowly, “do I get to kiss you whenever I want?”
I give him an unimpressed stare. “Just because I fed off you, doesn’t mean I’m yours.”
“Hmm ….” He rakes his teeth along his bottom lip. “I guess that means I’m yours then.” He slants over me then, putting his body so close to mine that he’s practically lying on top of me, but he’s holding up most of his weight. Then he rests his forehead against mine. “How does it feel to know that you’re the owner of four reapers?”
I snort a laugh. “I’m not the owner of you guys.”
“Wanna bet?” He shuts his eyes and inhales the scent of me. “We’d do anything for you, you know. Didn’t I prove that to you already?”
Right. The alleyway incident where he showed me how badly his brothers would panic if they lost me.
“Well, that doesn’t mean I want to take care of four reapers,” I inform him. “You guys seem super high maintenance.”
That gets Jaxon to chuckle, and a trace of a smile is on Alex’s lips as he pushes back and meets my eyes.
“We might be a little bit,” he agrees. “Like, right now, I really need something. In fact, I’m craving it.”
“And you think I can help you with this issue?” I question.