Chereads / MY CRUEL MATES / Chapter 19 - Chapter 19

Chapter 19 - Chapter 19

Claire

My body was still relaxed from our little adventure in the shower. I couldn't believe that I did that. They just looked so good, touching each other, the noises they made. God damn I could feel my body heating again and tried to take a few breaths to calm my rapidly beating heart.

"What are you thinking about, little demon?" Rowan asks and my heart flips at his nickname for me.

"Nothing." I squeak out making him chuckle as he carries me to the front door. He puts me down and I slip on my shoes as he watches me.

"The smell you're flooding out says something different." He says and I look at him confused. He leans down to whisper in my ear.

"We can smell when you get turned on." I gasp and pull away from him, my face lighting up with a blush as he and Bennett laugh together.

"That's not fair!" I yell and Bennett shrugs.

"Nothing you can do about it." He says, scooping me up in his arms and carrying me towards the car. Rowan slides in the driver seat and Bennett sets me down before opening the back door for me. I shake my head and he looks at me confused.

I round the car and pull open the drivers side. Rowan watches me curiously as I climb in and sit on his lap.

"Little demon..." He growls as I wrap my arms around his neck and settle on his lap.

"You woke me up early so I'm napping on the drive. And I seem to sleep best snuggled up to one of you." I say with a shrug.

I try to play it cool, but really the idea of sitting in the back seat, not being able to touch them sounds like a special form of torture. I'm not sure how to deal with these new emotions, but as long as they continue to treat me with kindness, I will take advantage.

Bennett gets into the passenger seat, watching Rowan and I with a warm affectionate smile. Rowan looks down towards the pedals, then looks back up at me.

"And how is this supposed to work?" He asks and I ponder that for a moment before swinging my legs up and resting them over Bennett's lap.

He chuckles again, shaking his head and holding onto my legs while I rest my head against Rowan's shoulder. Rowan lets out an annoyed huff, but starts the car and begins to drive. The quiet of the car, the rumble of the tires against the road makes me sleepy and I relax my body into Rowan, my eyes closing. I lift up a little and plant a kiss to his jaw and he rumbles a little in his chest before bringing his arm up around me, making it easier for me to relax into him. He holds me close to his chest and I peek my eyes open at Bennett. He's already watching me with a little smile and gives me a conspiritorial wink that makes me smile back at him. I drift in and out of sleep during the ride as Bennett and Rowan talk about something called 'The Council'. I don't feel comfortable enough with them yet to ask them about it, but file it away for the next time Rowan decides to answer my questions.

Much too soon I feel Rowan nudging me awake. I stretch my muscles and peek my eyes open, looking around. I yawn a little and Rowan smiles before leaning forward to kiss my cheek.

"We're here. Come on, let's go." He says, opening the door. Bennett is there in the next moment, lifting me down and steadying me on my feet.

We walk towards the building, one of them on either side of me like my personal bodyguards. I grip each of their hands and thread our fingers together, marveling at how much bigger their hands are than mine. Both of their hands feel warm, but Rowan's is definitely hotter almost to the point of making me sweat. My eyes ping between the two of them and they are looking at each other over my head. Bennett smiles and Rowan rolls his eyes, but tightens his grip around my hand a little. When we get inside I drop their hands to grab a cart and Bennett whines a little.

"It's been years since I've been in one of these." Rowan says, looking around.

"How do you get your food then?" I ask, pushing the cart down the closest aisle.

"We're animals, Claire. We hunt it." Rowan says, his eyes glimming gold. I gasp and back away from him into Bennett's chest. He wraps his arms around my waist as Rowan looks at me confused.

"What's wrong?" He asks and I take a step away from Bennett as my heart slows down. Rowan's eyes have returned to normal so I'm not so scared.

"Your eyes started glowing. That means you're angry." I say quietly, still keeping my distance. Rowan shakes his head and takes a small step towards me.

"It doesn't necessarily mean I'm angry. That is one explanation, but that just happens when my beast gets closer to the surface. I'm not mad, little one. I won't hurt you." He says and holds his hand out to run it down my face as if to prove his point. I nod and wrap my arms around him and squish myself into his body. He chuckles and hugs me back which is enough to assure me that he's being truthful.

I start to push the cart through the store and they resume their positions, one on either side of me, as I load up with enough food to feed us all for awhile.

"We'll need to come back once a week." I tell them and Rowan grunts.

"What?" I ask, a little sass in my tone. He narrows his eyes at me and stands behind me, putting his hands on the cart next to mine to cage me in. I feel him lean down into me until his hot breath skates across my ear.

"Be careful with the attitude, little demon. I won't hurt you, but I can find fun ways to punish you." He says making me shiver against him. I look up at him and he gives me a little smirk before stepping away. I look over at Bennett who is watching us with twinkling eyes and a bright smile. I huff and scold my traitorous body for wanting to know what creative things Rowan can come up with.

We have all of our food when I walk past a wine display. I stop and grab a bottle before looking up at my mates. They look between each other before Rowan crosses his arms and puffs out his chest. My eyes trace the bulge of his biceps and I can't help but bite my lower lip to stop the little moan that wants to be let loose.

"Have you ever had that stuff before?" Rowan asks and I shake my head.

"No. But I've always wanted to try it." I say with a shrug before going to put it in the cart. Rowan stops me and takes the bottle before looking over at Bennett.

"I don't think that's such a great idea." Rowan says and I pout out my lower lip. Rowan just grunts again and rolls his eyes, so I turn my efforts onto Bennett.

"Please?" I whine, making my eyes go wide and running my hand along his arm. Bennett groans and tips his head back before looking over at Rowan.

"Just let her try it. She probably won't even like it." He says and Rowan huffs at him.

"She's got that wolf wrapped around her finger, doesn't she?" Rowan asks, but there's amusement in his tone as he puts the bottle in the cart and starts pushing it towards the check out. I look over at Bennett with a little smile and he rolls his eyes. I grab his hand to follow Rowan, linking our fingers. As we wait, I push up on tip toe to kiss his cheek. He chuckles and looks down at me.

"Thank you." I whisper to him. He lifts his other hand to run it through my hair.

"I have a feeling you will get just about anything you ask for, little one." He murmurs making me smile.

The idea that these two lethal, powerful creatures could be under my control is an intoxicating feeling.

"I'll use my powers for good." I say solemnly and Rowan barks out a laugh as he pays for the food. He carries all of the bags in one hand as Bennett scoops me up and carries me to the car.

Rowan sits in the drivers seat again, but Bennett doesn't put me down. He slips into the passenger seat with me still on his lap, holding me close and tucking his face into my neck. I look at him curiously and he shrugs before giving me a beautiful smile.

"Rowan had you on the way here. It's my turn." He says cheekily making me laugh.

They both watch me and as I calm I start to get shy.

"What?" I ask, not used to having both of their attention focused on me.

"You're beautiful when you laugh." Rowan says.

"Yeah? You should try it sometime." I say cheekily making Bennett chuckle. Rowan just shakes his head, but I don't miss the small quirk of his mouth in an almost smile.

"Little demon..." I hear him murmur under his breath as I snuggle into Bennett, letting his warmth soothe me.