All Hail - J. Bree Page 0,26

his heartbeat. With his head tipped back like it is I almost want to kiss him there but now that we’ve both come I feel… I feel like I can’t touch him at all.

I think the panic might be setting in.

The door swings open and I tense but Aodhan’s arms tighten around me. His legs are still tied to the chair so he can’t just jump up and kill whoever the hell has just walked in here.

Fuck.

Don’t let it be Ash.

“Holy shit. No, fuck, holy fuck.”

I glance up and it’s not Ash but it’s not much better than Ash.

Luca stalks into the room and then turns back around to snap the door shut. “Avery, fuck, are you hurt?”

I take a gulping breath and then say, as evenly as I can, “No but I need help. The Stag has one of the Jackal’s shock collars on and I don’t know how to take it off without killing him, do you know how?”

He starts cursing up a storm, muttering as he strips out of his jacket. Aodhan pushes me carefully until I’m sitting up in his lap and I cross my arms over my chest. I feel weirdly self-conscious about Luca seeing me like this.

Aodhan pulls his shirt off and tugs it over my head until I’m covered. When Luca moves to stand behind him, I finally look down to find Aodhan’s dick still out and my blood is all over him.

I swallow and he shifts again to zip up without moving me from his lap. There’s nothing stopping me from getting up. Nothing at all except I can’t move away from him. I can’t, no matter how much I want to.

Aodhan knows.

He wraps his arms around me and holds me against his chest. It’s embarrassing now that Luca is here and the little bubble we had around us has burst but I close my eyes tightly like that will help.

“The Crow is going to bleed you out for this, Stag.”

I swallow against the lump in my throat but Aodhan doesn’t react at all, just runs his hand up and down my back like he can’t hear the threats. I should say something. I should speak up and stop the war that could break out here but—

I’m tired.

“Where is Lips and Ash? I’m surprised you found me first,” I mumble, and Luca huffs at me.

“They went to the Jackal’s private rooms, where I’m sure he wants to be found. I knew better. He wants the Wolf in his lair but you? He’d want to play with you here. Avery, if you need me to kill Aodhan, tell me now and I’ll get you out of here without any fallout. I won’t breathe a word to anyone about what I saw and we can say the Jackal took him out before I got here. Say the word.”

There’s a click and the collar finally comes off but Aodhan doesn’t move and I can’t pry myself away from him.

“If anyone needs to die for what happened in this room, it’s me. I was the one who forced him.”

My voice cracks and Aodhan’s arms tighten around me. “Take out the camera. She doesn’t fucking need that looming over her. Throw me your jacket, I need to get her cleaned up. Avery, just breathe.”

I didn’t realize I’d stopped but I tuck into him tighter and take a deep, gulping lungful of air. Luca grunts and frees Aodhan’s legs before he goes to do as he says, compliant now he has a little more information.

I’m sure he’s seen enough of what the Jackal enjoys to make his own assumptions about what happened.

Aodhan uses the shredded remains of my camisole to clean me up and then he helps me back into my scuffed up yoga pants, his hands gentle and always conscious of the bloodied mess my feet are in. There’s a steady stream of blood trickling out of the stab wound in his stomach but he doesn’t pay it any notice at all.

Makes me wonder if it’s not the first time he’s been stabbed.

Once Aodhan has me tucked into Luca’s jacket he helps me to my feet, holding my hips until he’s sure I can stand without my legs giving way. All of these little things he’s doing, all of the little things I have no idea how desperately I need until he’s giving them to me, I feel so unworthy of them all.

I didn’t give him a choice. Even before the Jackal forced our hand with the