Stranded with my mates: Rejected & Claimed

Chapter 62: Chapter 62

The tops of the trees creaked in the wind and I feared one would fall, smashing us all against the cold hard ground. The fire struggled to stay upright, flickering with the wind despite its size.

Sitting against the log, one man on either side of me was growing more uncomfortable in the weather. The sky had darkened in the late afternoon, the rain waiting to be released.

I scooted myself lower, using the mass of bodies to shield me from the whipping wind. Conversation halted while the storm inched its way around us. A quick gush made me squint my eyes as dirt swirled in the air.

"I think it’s time to take shelter," I said, my voice against the growing roar of wind.

When neither moved, I pulled myself up while the sky threatened to push me back down. I looked down to Jax questioningly.

"Coming?"

His arms were folded against his chest while his face was scrunched to block the debris that flew around the air.

"In a bit, you go ahead."

I stood confused for a second and glanced at Grayson whose eyes were fixed on the fire. The pause didn’t push for either of them and another gush made me stumble. Suit yourselves, I thought and fought my way towards our hut.

The interaction struck me as odd as I took shelter, both men were acting strange and I wondered if it was my fault.

In the hut, the wind was successfully broke, though the leaves that were tied around it slapped the wood loudly.

I fluffed up the sack we had brought to use as a pillow and a chill made me shiver. The rain would arrive soon only adding to the uncomfortable air. The sack felt lumpy beneath my head and I found myself highly irritated that my personal pillows and heaters had refused to join me when requested.

Folding my arms over myself, I curled up into a ball to conserve heat when the door was removed. Grayson emerged, resecuring the door behind him. I sensed the tension in his shoulders before I saw it. He was angry for some reason.

I stretched out on my side as he stepped around me, the hut too short for him to stand fully. I wondered why Jax was remaining outside and thought of the odd look on his face. Could he have wanted me to go ahead of them so he could push Grayson to come talk to me?

The tension between us was obvious but what would Jax have said that would make Grayson actually come break the silence of our days long form of the cold-shoulder.

He crawled to the ground, settling at my back. The heat radiated from him, warming me even though he wasn’t touching me. I waited but he didn’t move, didn’t speak as he lay quietly behind me. Drawn out moments passed while my unease strengthened.

Turning over so I could see his reaction, I asked, "What’s wrong with you?"

His body froze but the back of his jaw twitched. He glared down at me as though I had asked the most egregious question.

"Nothing," was his only response and I rolled my eyes.

"You’ve been...distant." I watched him carefully, physically and in my mind to see if he would give anything away.

He blinked a few times, his eyebrows scrunched up. He let out a hesitant sigh as he contemplated how to answer. He looked pained and my want to push faltered. I wondered if he was thinking about Dominic. Had I been soured, Grayson’s bond weakened now that another had taken hold?

I turned away, shame hitching in my chest. Fear that we would never be the same as the night I lost my virginity made my eyes water.

His hand fell on my waist, his hand gentle where it rested against my side, but I ignored his touch. He was wanting to console me, not care for me. I didn’t want his pity, I wanted to reverse time and stab Dominic in the chest before he could have ever laid a finger on me.

Grayson’s fingers gripped the bone of my hip and he pulled at it. I curled into myself, holding back the hot tears that were welling up.

"Rebel," he said in a strained voice, like he was struggling to express every emotion he felt in the way he spoke my name alone.

A spark in my lower belly made me turn back, his hand drifting over the spot that added fuel to the feeling. He strained, words he wanted to speak failing to fall from his lips. Hope left me waiting, needing to hear his voice against the raging storm outside.

"I...I’m sorry," he finally said.

My face scrunched in confusion. I had expected blame, anger, even jealousy not an apology.

"For what?"

He took a deep breath, staring at my face but keeping his gaze from my eyes.

"I failed you. I left you behind to find Jax and I let him take you. You should have come with me, Julien had warned us Dominic was planning a trap and yet I still left you all alone. I fell right into his trap and you paid the price."

His eyes met mine then, "I’m sorry," he said again.

The tears began falling. I wanted to tell him it wasn’t his fault, that it was mine. That I could have done so many things differently. That I could have fought harder too. Nothing came out as I opened my mouth to speak.

Our chests seemed to rise towards each other. Words were on my lips that refused to fall out and his gaze drifted down to the part in my lips. His mouth connected with mine, absorbing every thought and apology and cry I held.

I returned the kiss, my body sighting into him as I relished the hands that gripped at me with desperation.

I plunged my hands into his hair and pulled him closer, missing the feeling of his body on mine. One of his arms found its way underneath me, his hand trailing my spine. His kisses were ferocious. Angry and soft, devouring and kind.

Thunder cracked above as he pulled me over top of him, our hips joining as his hand moved behind me. He squeezed into the roundness of my rump, the purple fabric following his grip like a second skin.

A moan fell from me that made his hips swerve. His other hand spread through my hair, the tie I had fastened breaking and the flow of waves falling around our heads. He breathed me in as though I was a memory he had lost and only just now resurfaced.

His grip in my hair loosened and his hand moved to my cheek, pushing me away from his lips to stare up at me from where I lay on top of him.

The look in his eye was so deep that my breathing quickened from the unspoken words they spoke. He let me in to see his feelings and I gasped. The shame and anger and sorrow he felt was the same as mine.

What I felt towards myself was the same as what he felt towards himself. We didn’t blame each other and held a guilt that only each other could ease. I fell into him, wanting to erase every bad feeling he had and fill him up with only happiness.

His embrace tightened around me, our desperation for each other growing. The need to become one made my body gain a strength that moved me against him. His skin was hot, his hand strong, muscles tensed as he angled himself up to match my pull.

Grabbing around my back, he flipped us over. Rain began to fall and I ignored the thought of Jax stuck in the storm as I savoured every touch that Grayson placed upon me.

Every kiss, every swipe of skin, every grip of fingers felt like he may disappear if I let go for too long. He needed to be inside of me, then and only then I would know he belonged to me. My hips called for him as my moans told him my desire.

His hands washed over me, making sure not to skip an inch as he felt the entirety of me. Moving lower, he groped my ribs, then hip, then thigh.

He twirled his fingers at the edge of the material that wrapped itself around me. When nothing happened, he broke from my mouth to look at where he tried to enter me with an exasperated noise.

My hips continued to reach for him while I waited for the breach.

When it didn’t come, I raised onto my elbows to take in what was unfolding, or lack thereof. His eyebrows lifted and he looked at me questioningly.

"Little help?" He asked and I dropped my hands to my waist.

I tugged at the shorts that wrapped around my waist and thighs in their blockade. The silk was so delicate yet it was unmovable as though it had been fused to my skin.

Frustration boiled up as I tried different edges and angles but every attempt at removing them was futile.

"What seems to be the problem, love?" He asked in his snarky British accent.

"I can’t.... what the hell?"

I gripped at the thick ribbon that wrapped around my chest, not even my breasts were allowed to be free.

I sat up, staring at Grayson. I thought about when the clothes were made, the feelings that had brought them up. The sorrow over my body betraying, not only me, but the man I cared most about.

Irritation filled me as I realized that my powers hadn’t just provided my naked body a covering, but cursed me into celibacy.

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