Cardinal

Chapter 27

TW: sexual situations ;)

I tried to shut down our link and put a barrier on my emotions as I left Damian's room. It hurt to put him in a difficult position when I just wanted us to be in a place where we weren't hurting each other constantly. 

Our link was heavy in my chest and all I wanted to do was shut it down. 

I walked over to Will's room and knocked but he didn't answer. 

"Will?" I pushed the door open and to my surprise, it was unlocked. I was all for waiting outside but with the day that I've had, I wanted to pretend to be dead on a bed. 

I didn't know what I was expecting but it wasn't this. 

There were books everywhere. He also had plants in almost every single corner of the room that was surprisingly thriving and not dead. It was interesting to see the little quirks they had. Keenan had an obsession with the color black and I guess, this was Will's little quirk. I had yet to see Steel's room but I wouldn't be surprised if he added his unique flair to the obnoxiously large room. 

I perused through his collection of books, picking some from his table that was situated in the middle of the room. Unlike everyone's sitting room, his was a study space of sorts and it was surrounded by shelves upon shelves of books on every wall. I never anticipated for him to be a reader. A voracious one at that. 

"Ailments of the Gifted..." I read one of the books out loud which I picked off from a shelf of his bookcases. 

I feel his arms wrap around my waist and his face nuzzling the side of my neck. His wet hair was sticking against my cheek, but I didn't mind. I leaned into him, flipping through the pages of the book that I was holding, pretending like I knew what the words meant on the pages. 

"Mmmm, that's a good one." His voice was muffled against the skin of my neck, the sensation of his lips made my body react in all sorts of ways. 

"So you're a light reader..." I turn around to face him. He was exceptionally beautiful and I didn't know what it was with my men being freshly showered that turned me on but he was no exception. 

He looked breathtaking, to say the least. He was panty-wetting hot in his merc uniform but he was absolutely heart-stopping dressed comfortably and in his own element. His green eyes were like the color of moss, his skin slightly paler than everyone else, which was evidence of his days in with his books and his plants. He was beautiful. But beautiful wasn't typically a word to describe a man so I kept it to myself.

"Light reader on some days. I'm more than just muscles and abs, you know." He gives me his lopsided grin which makes the butterflies in my stomach go haywire. 

I put his book back into its slot in the bookcase and turned to face him. "Hmmm, let's see shall we..." I say, teasingly. 

He had an elegant and intricate collection of ink which was...intriguing. I start tracing the tattoos on his chest. One caught my eye in particular. It was a type of flower on his left peck and the only one with color-a light purple. It stood out from the otherwise black and gray colors of his other tattoos. An inkling of recognition rendered me speechless. 

"Is that a..." My heart was almost beating out of its cage, with both surprise and elation. 

"Lilac..." We both said it together and his already growing smile grew even larger with my recognition. 

"Keen, Steel, and Damian have them too. You just have to look." He winks at me with the obvious suggestion. 

"I don't know what to say." I really didn't. To say I was ecstatic was an understatement. No, I was completely enraptured.