on, and then took another bite of bacon.
Feathering his hand over my hair, Fin tugged one curl. “You look better.”
I grunted.
He lingered for another couple of heartbeats, and then his hand fell away as he moved to collect his own breakfast. The sudden chill prickling over my skin warned me of the new arrivals, even if their silent footfalls didn’t. Rogue said nothing to me as he gathered his own drink and food. Alfred bypassed all of it and plucked me out of the chair despite Maddox’s snarl.
The dragon rose to follow, and the two glared at each other as I balanced both my plate and tumbler. Fortunately, neither fell. Honestly, I didn’t have time for this. I just wanted a meal in peace.
“You’ve had her for days,” Maddox said. “Leave her alone.”
“I’m not harming her,” Alfred countered. “Your mood, however, is far more dangerous.”
The smoothness in the words demanded we side with him. The asshole didn’t even have to try and compel me, it clung to every syllable and nuance. The stare-off continued until Rogue said, “Give her to me.”
Give me? What the fuck was I? A damn object to be passed around?
I’d struggle, but that would just end up making a mess. I wasn’t as strong as Alfred, no matter how much strength I’d gained. I wasn’t as strong as any of them for that matter. If they wanted to pin me, I wasn’t going anywhere.
The air crackled with agitation, then a second set of unfamiliar steps punctured the tension. This time, a woman made her way across the library toward us. Though, ‘made her way’ was too pedestrian a description. She practically glided. Dressed in silk and lace with a waterfall of pure midnight hair and eyes so dark I half-expected there to be stars glittering in them, she was probably the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen.
Ruby red lips parted as she smiled. “Alfred, my love…”
The ice plunging through the air completely smothered the fire. Alfred all but thrust me at Rogue. Well, at least he put me on my feet before passing me that way. Fin let out a low groan as Alfred faced the woman.
“Eleanor,” he intoned as he moved to meet her. Maddox settled a hand against my lower back, but it was Rogue who tugged me back toward the chair.
The woman paused three steps from Alfred to dip into a curtsey that nearly took her to her knees before him. The lace and silk sheath of a dress left nothing to the imagination. Her dark nipples strained against the fabric, already peaked and pebbled. As she straightened, we all got an eyeful of shaved cunt.
“I have missed you,” she said, her lyrical voice that of a siren as she stepped toward him.
It wasn’t my imagination as she cupped his face and rose to kiss him that her eyes flashed toward me. Our gazes locked as she pressed her lips to his, and it wasn’t a fraternal kiss of any kind. It was an open-mouthed, tongue twisting, wet kiss that bordered on the obscene.
She also made too much noise as she let out a little moan. I raised my brows because while her lust might be rolling like a cloud around her, Alfred’s was a cloudless day of disinterest, though he certainly didn’t push her away.
When she pulled away to offer him her throat, I rolled my eyes and moved back to my chair. Let him play with the vixen. I wouldn’t kick her out of my bed, except she was trying way too hard and that beauty didn’t extend past the surface.
As I settled, I found Maddox and Fin staring at me intently, and I raised a piece of bacon with a smirk and took a bite of it. The hiss of breath suggested Alfred had taken the offered bite and hadn’t been remotely gentle about it.
Good.
Hopefully, it fucking hurt.
Rogue let out a grunt as the woman’s liquid voice spilled over me. “My lord,” she whispered in a breathy ‘please fuck me’ voice. She had her hands on him, and he stared down at her with an unreadable expression. So much for turning my back on her, since she planned to continue her show in front of me.
Blood trickled from the wound on her neck. It was a trace amount. Negligible, yet she still arched her back to press her breasts to his chest and bare her throat. With almost practiced boredom, he bit her. There was no movement of his hands