Eventually we made it to the beach where the cave which led into the catacombs was hidden and I scrubbed the water from my face and hair as I strode up the sand.
My heart was pounding with victory and my limbs were trembling with a mixture of exhaustion and adrenaline and maybe a little bit of hypothermia too. But fuck it. I gave no shits. Because the smile on my face wasn’t going anywhere any time soon and my grief had fucked all the way off.
Even the huge slash on my left bicep wasn’t enough to dampen my mood. That was exactly what I’d needed and I was more than ready to face the rest of the night now.
I gave Toby a genuine grin and turned away towards The Temple, setting a fast pace as I shivered in the cool evening air. I swear I could actually feel my balls trying to crawl up inside me and my dick shrivelling to a way less impressive standard than I was used to as the cold bit at me.
The glow of orange light spilling through the enormous stained glass window on the front of The Temple called me home and I hammered on the door as I arrived, hoping one of those douchebags had already brought my stuff back.
The door swung open and I was gifted a look at Tatum pouting in a deep blue halter neck skater dress before her eyes widened and she quickly stepped back to admit me as my damn teeth started chattering.
“What the hell happened to you?” she gasped, her eyes widening in what really did look like concern.
“Are you worried about me, Cinders?” I teased, but through the shivers my usual panty-dropping tone fell flat.
“Tell me about it while you shower,” she insisted, catching my arm and tugging me away from the living area where I could see the other guys and Monroe chatting on the couch, though they didn’t look my way. We carried on through my room and finally moved into the bathroom.
Tatum set the shower running, checked the temperature and gently pushed me in.
“Your arm is a fucking mess,” she tutted, eyeing the jagged cut the rocks had given me. I really was lucky to be alive.
“Tell it to me straight why don’t you?” I joked.
“I can hardly understand you while you’re shivering like that,” she replied, narrowing her eyes on me like I was offending her by being cold. “But my dad taught me a lot of survival shit, including first aid for wound care. So I can stitch that for you if you wanna avoid a hospital visit?”
“No way am I going near a fucking hospital,” I growled and she nodded in agreement. Everyone knew that hospitals meant the Hades Virus. Doctors and nurses who were wearing entire biohazard suits were still managing to catch that fucking illness way too fucking often. And it was damn clear to anyone with two brain cells to rub together that going and sitting in a hospital waiting room was akin to suicide these days.
“I agree. I’ll go find what I need then.” Tatum turned and headed out of the room.
It occurred to me that I hadn’t ordered her to take care of me or help with my arm. She’d chosen to offer. And that made me feel all sorts of uncomfortable. I’d treated her with nothing but ire at the very best since I’d found out about who her father was and it was more like pure venom most of the time. I didn’t deserve any kindness from her.
I dropped my soaking boxers and cranked the heat a bit more as I thawed out and the shivering quit. Thankfully, my dick had stopped playing turtle too and I ran my hand over it slowly as I thought about the way Tatum had looked at me when she found me bleeding on the doorstep.
It made me wonder if I hadn’t totally screwed everything up with her. Because surely if she still gave a shit about me after everything, then there was hope. Just the tiniest, almost invisible thread of it. But maybe, she didn’t entirely hate me. Maybe there was a chance that I could fix some of the mess I’d made between us.
I thought about the way she’d looked at me that night we’d spent together before everything. I remembered how much my body had reacted to hers. And how much hers had seemed to ache for mine.
I hadn’t gone near another girl since that night. I couldn’t summon the enthusiasm to even try. Because I knew that none of them would come close to her.
I stroked my cock again as I remembered the way I’d claimed her. How tight she’d been, how wet. And the way she’d called my name when-
“Jesus!” Tatum cursed and my eyes snapped open to find her standing in the doorway with a needle and thread and some antiseptic wipes.
“Shit,” I cursed, my hand still wrapped around my rock hard dick. I didn’t really know at this point if releasing it was better or worse. I didn’t want her to think I was carrying on while she was still here, but if I dropped it she’d just be looking my hard on in the eye. “I assumed you weren’t coming back in here…”
“Seriously? That’s the line you’re going with?” she asked, arching a brow at me which said she clearly thought I was full of shit.
“I swear,” I said innocently, raising both hands in surrender and her gaze instantly fell on my cock which really just encouraged it.
“Fine,” she huffed. “I’ll just wait in your room for you to…finish I guess.” She hesitated and the corner of my mouth twitched as her gaze raked over my naked body.
“Finish?” I asked with a filthy smile. She’d
