The Ripple Effect

I stood silently in the hallway, the only light provided by the sunrise peeking through the window in the bedroom where the three boys slept soundly. My arms were wrapped tightly around me as I watched them. Guarding one boy had been tough, and two had tested me; but three was overwhelming. I swallowed the bad taste in my mouth and leaned against the door-frame.

“Sophie, you’re an amazing woman and mother,” Orion murmured, wrapping his arms loosely around my waist and pulling me against his back. “All three of those boys know how lucky they are; I know, too, I promise.”

“I…” I sighed softly. “My mother went to Clarice’s house on a Saturday, so I wasn’t there. I can’t help but wonder…if it’d have been different if I’d actually been there.”

“Of course it would have been different,” he whispered gently, smiling apologetically at me as I flipped around in his arms. “But dwelling on the what-ifs will drive you crazy. Now, it’s still so early. Come back to bed.”

I followed him back into the bedroom, noting that it was indeed only five in the morning. He pulled back the sheet for me, waiting until I got under the covers before he slipped down beside me. I rested my cheek against his chest, tucked beneath the crook of his arm as he stared up at the ceiling.

“I’m sorry for putting all of this on you,” I mumbled, splaying my fingers over his shirt. “I knew I had lost a lot when I had Rein, but I had no idea my parents had another child.”

“Shh.” I gave him a look when he pressed his finger to my lips. “Stop that. I offered, okay? You’re a mother, Sophie; I knew that when I met you. This doesn’t change anything, as far as I’m concerned. It just means… I have to share you with one more boy than I originally thought.”

“I think I want a daughter or sister next. Help me find one?” I muttered sarcastically, snuggling deeper against him as a genuine chuckle reverberated through his body.

“What, you don’t enjoy being surrounded by boys?” he teased, his seductive whisper sending chills up my spine and making my fingers clutch his shirt to pull myself closer.

“Orion… You never told me what you do for a living.”

His hold on me tightened. “I don’t know how to describe it to you.”

“Try me.”

He gave me a sad look.

“Oh, this has to do with your secret, doesn’t it? The extra person in your body?”

He gawked at me. “The what?”

“You know, the extra person you share your body with—the one with the raspy voice and crazy blue eyes that you fight with sometimes.”

“We only fight over you,” he lamented hesitantly. “Sophie, I’ll explain eventually; I’d wanted to do it sooner, but in light of the recent events… I want to wait. Your world is still spinning out of control.”

“Okay… But that extra person, is he mean?”

“I wouldn’t say he’s mean. He’s just…a lot more primal than I am. He doesn’t think about consequences; he just acts. I guess you could say he’s very brash.” He brushed his thumb across my bottom lip. “But he’s only like that because he’s a bit protective of you.”

“So…that guy in you is in love with me?”

“We’re both crazy about you,” he corrected, leaning towards me and running his nose innocently along my jaw before peppering a few soft kisses.

My fingers climbed until they caught both sides of his face, and he mumbled an incoherent question against my jaw. I pulled him farther down until his lips met the bend between my neck and shoulder. Something… Something told me that I needed him here. He growled approval against my skin, kissing a bit more roughly now. My hands held him firmly in place even when he shifted out from under me and moved to hover over me.

His lips parted, allowing his teeth to graze my shoulder; a violent shudder tore through me. It elicited a whimper from my lips, a sound I didn’t fully understand, which caused Orion to stiffen above me.

“Orion,” I groaned, grabbing feverishly at his shirt to try and coax him into moving again. “Please. I need something.”

His eyes were that intense colour again, and his chest heaved with rasping breaths.

“I know,” he growled, lowering himself onto me. His touch made my skin tingle everywhere, and every cell suddenly jumped to life. “I know what you need, but that fool won’t give it to you.”

“You’re not Orion, are you?” I breathed, still choking on this intense heat filling every sense.

“He is Orion, but I am Rex Regum. You are Sophie, but she is my Regina Regum. You have amazing control over your body; it is commendable. But I want to see my Regina.” He pressed his teeth deeper against my neck, and I wriggled uncomfortably beneath him and tried to press myself further into his mouth as I whimpered. “Come now, Sophie. Where is Regina?”

“Please,” I panted, and my hands fluttered to grab his face more firmly.

But then his eyes began shifting between Orion’s gaze and the primal intense stare. He began pulling himself from me, shaking his head.

“Stop!” he growled, throwing himself from me and the bed entirely. He was holding his head in shaking hands.

“Orion?”

I pushed myself onto my feet and grabbed his arm. His eyes snapped up, and he gripped my shoulder roughly.

“Tell me he didn’t!” he hissed, panicked out of his mind as he threw my hair behind me and examined my neck.

“What is wrong?” I cried out, watching this crazed maniac as he pressed his fingers to my neck.

“Sophie, you can’t trust him!” he told me firmly, pulling me into a suffocating embrace. “If he had… No, that doesn’t matter. If you see me get like that, you need to push me away.”

“You mean… Rex?”

He stiffened, but then he groaned. “Yeah, him.”

“And… Who’s Regina?”

Orion shook his head. “I can’t really think about going back to sleep now… Are you awake?”

I nodded.

“And…I’m sorry for what almost happened.”

“What exactly almost happened?” He looked away. “Just how much are you hiding?”