Caged Kitten (All the Queen's Men #2) - Rhea Watson Page 0,78
a whole lot clearer. Things had become much easier between us now that I understood why my body responded as it did—why my heart yearned to be near him. In a sense, it was biological, just a quirk of the supernatural world. That didn’t mean I liked that an unseen deity had chosen someone for me, prearranged my love story in the stars, took away my right to choose—our right to choose. Fortunately, Elijah was a gem, and now that we were both on the same page, it was just easier to breathe around him. We were less combative with each other, the group dynamic noticeably calmer now that our mounting sexual tension had finally exploded, and the fallout was good.
Because it could have been bad. Sex could have ruined everything, but it only made us stronger—more in sync. Not that that made the guilt inside me any less prickly. I mean, if I was fated to one man, why was I still interested—to varying degrees—in two others? Elijah hadn’t once commented on the fact that I blushed around Fintan, or that Rafe and I connected in a way I hadn’t with him. Still, I was desperate for another round with the dragon, starving for the best sex I’d ever had, but finding time alone in a prison was next to impossible with a legion of warlocks eyeing your every move.
Under the table, we struggled to not touch—feet, thighs, hands. Now that we’d had a taste, physical distance was torture.
Speaking of torture… Poor Rafe. Even though work kicked the absolute crap out of me for seven days straight, it was better than waiting around in the cellblock, twiddling your thumbs, because you couldn’t risk going out in the sunlight. While the rest of us left most days, able to stretch our legs and breathe some fresh air, Rafe and the other vampires were trapped in the cellblocks, hiding in shadows, only taking the risk to venture out to the cafeteria for meals. At the very least, our cellblock guards marched us down windowless corridors, but not every hallway was without. No telling if they did it for Rafe’s sake, or if that was just the established route for Cellblock C.
Besides my ever-present physical attraction, I just felt bad for the guy, which explained why, despite the ever-present exhaustion, I made myself to stay awake as late as I could for our nightly chats.
They were a staple now, our usual routine excluding the day Elijah and I had first, er, mated. Rafe had been silent that night, distant, but he’d whispered an apology as we lined up for breakfast the following morning, and I had let it slide. I refused to admit that I got it, his mood, his refusal to talk, but I maybe, sort of, almost did.
Thankfully, there hadn’t been any further nights of silence. As soon as lockdown started, we waited ten minutes before meeting on opposite ends of the mousehole to chat about anything and everything not prison related. Even though I had been absolutely wiped after yesterday’s bakery shift, the last in my seven-day stint, I stayed up discussing the merits of each Star Wars movie with him until I couldn’t keep my eyes open anymore. Two hours of space opera dissection with no awkward pauses; people paid for that sort of companionship in Xargi.
I craved our conversations.
With Elijah and Fintan, I had the opportunity to leave the group dynamic. We hung out for the entirety of our work shifts. Rafe didn’t get that chance, and while lying on the floor hurt at the end of a long day, it was our alone time, and I coveted it, protected it, like it was precious.
Because… it was precious.
“Try the other side,” my favorite vampire called from his cell. My eyes peeled open just long enough to glare at the wall, and I wiggled in place again, searching for the comfy spot that I knew was there if I just worked hard enough to find it. A brief bout of silence followed, and then: “Your left shoulder is shit, witch.”
“Stop eavesdropping on my naps,” I fired back, mouth stretched in a smile that, surprise surprise, also hurt. He was right though; I had screwed up my left shoulder sometime in the last week doing one of many physically demanding tasks required of me throughout the day, but at no point did I request a visit to the infirmary.