Page 56 of Those That Defy the Realm

Leaning forward, I drop a wet kiss on her button nose.

“Look out below!” Ash bellows a second before he lands in the water in a tight ball, causing such a big wave that takes both me and Claire by surprise.

She splutters as I try to turn quick enough to shield her from the worst, but we both momentarily go under as the water sloshes.

“Ash!” I yell out, pretending to be angry at the wolf.

“I’m totally going to get him for that,” Claire says quietly. Ash is still under the surface, but I think she only wanted me to hear it.

“Oh, I’m with you,” I tell her.

Ash resurfaces and Claire untangles herself from my body, pushing off my chest in the direction of our partner. As soon as she’s in striking distance, she sends water in a cascading wave over him using her arm.

Having just wiped his face, he once again gets soaked, his wet blonde hair falling, and sticking, over his eyes.

“Oh, it’s like that is it?” he retorts.

“You started it!” Claire shrieks as Ash reaches for her through the water.

She nearly escapes but he must grab her leg and pulls her back into him before diving down.

I dive, determined to rescue my girl, only to see her wriggling free and dunking him further down on her way back to the surface. Following Claire, I come up for air making sure my body is between the two of them. As soon as Ash breaches the surface again, I give him all of one second to take in a lung full of oxygen before I push him back down.

He comes up further from us this time, spluttering but also laughing. “Oh, you’re ganging up on me now?”

He sends more water our way.

We continue play-fighting for several minutes, Claire somehow swapping sides at some point and ending up on Ash’s shoulders as I try to dunk them both.

Eventually we all tire and take to lounging on the grass just beyond the bank of the pool. The heat from the afternoon sun drying us off and warming us through after being in the cold water. Claire is stretched out on her back while Ash and I lay on either side of her on our sides, our hands linked over her stomach.

I haven’t bothered putting my prosthetic back on, although Ash went to collect it so it’s nearby in case I want it. I like having it off but don’t like it being out of my sight for long.

We talk for a while but the sun quickly lulls us all into a sleepy silence, content to simply be with each other. Shuffling to get comfier, I lay my head down and simply listen to the sounds of both their heartbeats over the rushing water from the waterfall.

“His name was Declan,” Claire’s voice is barely above a whisper, but I hear it clear as day. So does Ash from the fact he suddenly sits back up.

“Who?” he asks.

Claire’s stomach rises slightly under my hand as she takes a long inhale. “My ex.”

Meeting Ash’s eyes over our female, he’s wearing an expression I’m sure matches my own. Is this the thing we feel she’s been hiding from us? The thing that makes it feel as if she’s always got one foot out the door on this relationship?

Neither of us respond, although Ash’s fingers move under mine, telling her we’re listening. We patiently wait for her to continue.

“He was my first, my only serious boyfriend. We met in the first month at university. He was doing a psychology course. Looking back, I can see how quickly we got very serious, but at the time it felt right, felt natural.

“Anyway, hindsight is a wonderful thing. He was great, until he wasn’t. And again, at the time I didn’t see the signs until it all ended.”

“What did he do?” I ask softly.

Her head momentarily turns to me, her eyes catching mine for the briefest second before she returns to looking at the sky. “You mean what did I let him get away with?”

“No.” Ash beats me to responding. “We can hear the pain in your voice. If he hurt you, he is solely responsible.”

“I should’ve seen the signs. Should’ve walked away a lot sooner.”

My pulse is beating heavy in my veins as Claire talks, and the monstrous side of me is already preparing to hunt this fucker down.