Reclaiming Her Heart

Chapter 49 - Tailspin

Adam

Her body was pliant. Her mind a haze with blissful fog. She was comatose in the aftermath of the intense intimacy we shared.

Above her, my vision swam, a bit lightheaded from the rush. My arms shook with my weight. My legs straining to keep me upright. Sweat dripping down my body.

Damn! That was the most intense coupling we'd had to date. And that was saying a lot.

Reaching for the vibrator, I gently slid it from her body.

With my mind still enmeshed with hers, I cleaned everything up, including us, before settling ourselves beneath the blankets. Laying on my back, I pulled her pliant body on top of mine, relishing in the after glow.

For hours, we drifted on the wings of euphoric sleep. Until she finally woke up in the wee morning hours. Her comforting weight on my chest shifting so she could gaze upon me with half-lidded bedroom eyes. She looked so damn sexy with her hair mussed, lips swollen, and her eyes glazed from passion. "What have you done to me?" she whispered the question, afraid if she spoke too loud, she would break whatever spell was cast over us.

Within the tendrils of her mind, I knew exactly what she meant. She'd never felt such love, passion or intensity before.

And neither had I.

Before she'd been abducted, I'd held myself back with insecurities and lack of confidence.

Something happened to me during our time apart. Something changed me. I wasn't as timid. I was more assertive. Coming into such power within myself made everything so much more intense and deep.

Like I wasn't as afraid to live every day like it was our last.

She was a silent spectator in my mind while I mulled over my thoughts.

"I love you."

Her whispered confession drew me up short. My gaze sharpening on her instantly, my body stilling, heart constricting. I hadn't expected to hear those words from her for some time, based on previous history. Something within my chest broke, and I could feel the emotion bleeding through. "I love you too," I whispered, elation spreading through me like a balm, knowing those words from her held far more meaning and significance now than they had before.

We stayed conjoined, so embedded in each other, we became one being for a time. Hearts beating the same rhythm. Our breaths coinciding.

I didn't want this to ever end.

***

Jadea

Once dawn lit the sky, we decided it was time to break the spell we'd cast over each other the night before.

Taking another shower—this time shorter and without the shenanigans—we got dressed and ready for the day. Emerging from our room, we realized we were the first ones up. Adam started making breakfast while I did my writing for the day. Luckily, the topics Caden chose for me to do deep dives into weren't that difficult to write out on paper. It was all rather therapeutic and soothing to get it out of my system in a different way.

Caden came shuffling out, tempted by the wonderful aroma wafting through the cabin.

"Good morning!" I beamed at him.

"Morning," he bit back gruffly, slumping down into a chair. He looked haggard. Like he didn't get that much sleep.

"Well, someone's grumpy," I snorted.

Those intense eyes of his captured mine, his pheromones permeating the space, and I knew exactly why he was grumpy. My mouth formed an O as I tried, and failed, to find some way to remedy this situation.

Adam, still so enmeshed in my mind, realized our dilemma as well and paused at his task.

Flames rushed up my face, my gaze fluttering away from his, my heart rate picking up.

I'd sworn an oath to Caden. We were still very much so in tune with each other's minds and emotions despite the amount of time that had passed since we'd last engaged in such a dynamic. I'd inadvertently connected with him during our love making last night.

It hadn't been on purpose.

Being in that Dom/sub relationship and having to be so open with each other backfired on us.

"Well, this is awkward," grumbled a sleepy Agamemnon as he shuffled in then shuffled right back out of the kitchen, deciding not to deal with our sorry butt's this morning. We heard the front door close sharply. I winced.

"Whoops," I smirked, unable to stop myself from seeing the humor in this.

"That's all you have to say for yourself?" Caden asked cryptically. "Whoops?"

"I mean..." I fumbled, an exaggerated smile pulling at my lips from the humor and awkwardness of this situation. "You at least got a good porno out of it."

"Jesus, Jadea!" he exclaimed, bolting up out of the chair to pace.

"It's not like you won't ever have that kind of connection. You just haven't found your mate yet," I blabbered on, reasonably.

When there were no snide comments in return, a concern took root. My attention zeroed on him as he furiously scrubbed his temples, still trying to calm the burning inferno raging within his bloodstream. "That was some f*****g intense s**t last night," he grumbled, but that wasn't why he was so upset. Jealousy, black and vengeful, tore through his chest at an alarming rate. He craved that kind of soul-defying connection in an unhealthy way.

"Caden." I spoke his name with authority and compassion, pulling his mind away from the tailspin he was in. Standing up, I grabbed his arm and spun him around to face me, my gaze searching his as I felt something deeper simmering under the surface. I just couldn't quite grasp what it was.

Strong, ample fingers snapped around my neck in a possessively dark way, clenching hard enough I couldn't breathe. My gaze clashed with his. Deep in them, I saw the fractures. Something about Adam's and my transcendent lovemaking last night triggered something deep and dark within him. A void opened, so wide and despondent, I could feel the yawning oblivion of desolation and emptiness about to consume him whole.

What was I missing?

"Stop this," he commanded sharply, his wolf baring down on me so harshly it made me wince.

I felt Adam charge closer, his attention focusing solely on us, his wolf gnashing to be released. He feared Caden would hurt me. Adam's wolf curled through my mind with an order to stand down. At the same instant, I snapped at him to stop.

Gently reaching up, I wrapped my fingers around the wrist holding me hostage, the pads of my fingertips feeling Caden's agitated pulse. My sight lost so deep within his rich chocolate eyes I swore I could see into his very soul.

There were disadvantages to having been so intimately connected and familiar with each other right when our wolves had been at their most volatile. Caden and I, while obviously not soul mates, shared a very deep connection that had been forged within the fire of our youthful traumas. While he could hide his deepest and darkest secrets from everyone else, he couldn't keep them from me. His hold on me shifted, his hand resting across my mouth and jawline, fingers curling in just enough to be a warning, as if this could prevent me from speaking his closely guarded secret, and heartbreak, into existence.

Blinking, I refocused, bringing him into sharp repose. Tears leaking from the corners of my eyes as shards of emotional glass bit deeply into my heart. His expression mirrored mine as his truth bled into our conscious thoughts. "Please," he begged. It wasn't a plea to keep his secret.

No.

His cry for help went far deeper than that.