Revolt (Legends and Love)

I excuse myself after, leaving Raff to talk to Gloria as I go to hunt Astro down. I’m starting to feel bad about how embarrassed he was. It was nice to see him lose some of that cockiness, but after his mom mentioned his mental health, I don’t want him to think my opinion of him has changed. After searching the main house, I head outside, spotting Astro’s dad working through the open door in a workshop. Curious, I move closer as he bobs his head to country music while he works on what seems to be an old muscle car.

“Morning,” I call.

He clutches his chest as he spins. “Wow, girl, you are quiet.”

“Sorry,” I reply sheepishly.

Laughing, he wipes his face with a rag. “Don’t worry about it. Morning, love, did you sleep okay?” His eyes sparkle knowingly, and I look away.

“Yes, great, thank you. Have you seen Astro at all?” I cock my head.

“Ah, the boy’s probably off in the forest. He usually runs in the morning.” He wipes his hands as he watches me. “Why?”

“Oh, I just wanted to talk,” I reply hesitantly.

“Uh-huh. Can I ask you something, Reign?” He stands, leaning on the metal door. “Do you love my son?”

My eyes widen in panic, and he grins.

“Okay, how about, do you care for my son?”

“A lot,” I respond without missing a beat.

He seems to sag in relief. “Thank fuck. Sorry, you’re hard to read and I can tell my boy is smitten. He might seem strong, but he wears his heart on his sleeve, and I would hate for him to get hurt.”

“The last thing I want to do is hurt him,” I say truthfully. “He means a great deal to me, but he’s stronger than you think. Truly, he is. I don’t think I would have managed the madness that is my life without him. He always makes me laugh, even when I don’t want to.”

“He’s good at that, always was, the class clown, but beneath that smile is the truth. He’s good at diverting attention away with a joke but never talking about if he’s okay. Just please don’t hurt him. You’re a nice girl, I can tell, and the others think the world of you, you wouldn’t be here otherwise, but please don’t hurt my son.”

“I promise I won’t,” I respond. “He’s lucky to have you.”

“Oh, um . . .” He rubs his neck self-consciously. “I don’t know about that.”

“He is. He has parents who love him enough to protect him and want nothing but the best for him. That is something special, and he’s very lucky. I would have done anything to have my parents love me half as much as you love your son and daughter.”

He eyes me sadly, and I wince when I realize I revealed too much. It’s my turn to duck my head in embarrassment, and I start to slide away. “Right, well, I better go find him. Thanks.”

“Reign?” he calls, and I stop. “Your parents are fools. That isn’t on you. It isn’t your fault they didn’t love you like they should have.” He takes a deep breath. “And if you want, there will always be a place for you here. You’ve noticed we kind of adopt everyone, and that includes you. I’m not saying we won’t be overbearing, and you’ll regret the day you said yes. We’ll call you when you are sick way too many times, we’ll check on you way too frequently and criticize your decisions, but we will love you with everything we have.”

“Why?” I ask, tears in my eyes. “All because I care for your son?”

“No, because you deserve it. You deserve to be loved, Reign. You deserve a family. My boys wouldn’t have brought you here if they didn’t think so. I love them, and no matter what, you’re one of us now, kid.” He kisses my head softly. “No matter where that road of fame takes you, we will be here.” Squeezing my shoulder, he steps back. “Go find him, he’s probably waiting for you. Just don’t be too late for breakfast or they’ll send out a search party.” He whistles as he strolls back in, bending over the car once more like he didn’t just heal some fractures in my heart.

Swallowing my tears, I turn away and head into the forest, searching for Astro. Now, more than ever, I want to make sure he’s okay. I need to see him.

His family’s laughter chases me into the brightness of nature, a welcoming sound that unlocks the tightness in my body and becomes the sound of safety and home.

“Astro?” I call as I duck under branches and carefully climb over roots. I’m not made for forests, not anymore, but as a kid, I used to spend hours playing under the trees with my brother. We would build whole worlds there, and as I smile up at the sun, I remember those good days now, not just the bad ones.

It’s been so long since I thought of his laughter and smile that when Astro pops out, I almost scream, lost in my memories. “Shit, you scared me,” I hiss, covering my racing heart.

Chuckling, he heads my way. “You were looking for me, baby?”

“Yeah, are you okay?” I ask softly.

He freezes, his eyes going to the house. “They told you?” He seems cold, and his face shuts down.

“Your mother just told me that you hide the same pain I have under all your humor. They are worried I’m going to hurt you.”

He brings his eyes back to me, swallowing hard. “And now that you know,” he whispers, “will you hurt me?”

I hate the distance between us so I cover it quickly. He steps back, hitting a tree, but I don’t let him go farther, plastering myself to his front. “Never,” I answer truthfully as I search his gaze. “I care about you a lot, Astro. I can’t say the words to explain how much, which is ironic for me, I know, but I do. This changes nothing. In fact, it makes me think more highly of you. You’re always so funny, so happy, Astro, but knowing you struggled and still struggle and fight every day to be that way . . . I’m in awe of you, you brilliant, kind, strong man,” I murmur, sliding my hands up to his shoulders. “I’m glad they told me, and I’ll never be more grateful for the day I met you. Don’t you know that you changed my life? I was closed off and on a spiraling path to revenge. You saved me, all of you did, and if you let me, I’ll save you every day. You’ll never struggle alone again. Just let me, baby.”

“Reign.” He swallows hard, closing his eyes for a moment. “I hate the darkness inside me, so every day, I chose light. I chose laughter and love, but from the moment I met you, I chose you. You are what keeps me alive. You are what keeps me fighting. Maybe it’s too soon, but I can’t help it. I met your eyes and I knew I was lost. I don’t believe in true love, Reign, but I believe in you.”

“I thought I was supposed to be the one who’s good with words,” I reply, smiling, “yet you all leave me breathless and speechless for the first time ever. I don’t even know how to put what I feel when I’m around you into lyrics.” Grabbing his hand, I place it over my heart. “Know I’m right here with you. The moment you walked into my house, you changed the trajectory of my life, and I can’t be anything but thankful for that.”

“No more words.” He covers my lips. I place my hand over his racing heart, feeling it beat in time with mine. Our two melodies are in sync, creating something magnificent.

Our lips meet in a flurry for what we feel when we are together. We’ve searched our whole lives for this, and I find it in his kiss, in his touch, in his presence. I’m not ever going to give this up. It makes a mockery of everyone who came before and they cease to exist. There is only Astro and his touch.

Groaning, he grabs me and turns us until my back hits the tree. His knee presses between my legs, and I grind down on it. “Baby,” he murmurs, nipping my lip. “I need you.”

“I need you too, so fucking badly,” I admit.

He grabs my shirt and hikes it up, his tongue darting out to lick his lips while his bright eyes darken with lust. “Panties off, Reign, I want them in my pocket when we go back there.”

Under his watchful gaze, I shimmy down my leggings and panties and hand them over. He meets my eyes and, with a wicked grin, licks the length of my panties with a moan. Shuddering, I lean back and part my legs, feeling my desire on my thighs.

One promising look from any of them and I’m wet.

It’s annoying but great in this situation, since I need him too much to wait. He tries to drop to his knees, but I drag him back to my lips as he stuffs my panties into his pocket. “I need you fast and hard. Make me come, Astro. Show me how much you want me. Show me we are still alive despite everything this world has thrown at us.”

“Reign—”

“Astro,” I mutter, biting his lip. “Fuck me right here, right now. Don’t make me wait.”

“Never.” He grips my hips and lifts, and I wrap my legs around his waist as he fumbles with his zipper. My head drops back as he drags kisses and teeth across my neck, making me shiver in want. I need him so badly.

Swearing, he tears at his jeans, and then his thick cock presses to my entrance. We meet each other’s eyes as he drives into me. I cry out as he thrusts through my tightness, forcing himself all the way in, and then he starts to move.

He fucks me hard and fast like I wanted, forcing me to accept it. Our heavy breathing mingles as birds squawk above us. “Reign. Fuck, baby, I love this. I love being inside you. I love your taste. I love the way you look at me,” he growls, and we both know what he wanted to say.

He loves me.

He doesn’t, though, and instead, he shows me.

He drives into me hard and faster until my head falls back as I cry out.

Snarling, he pulls from my pussy, making me whine as he turns me. My face hits the tree, and I grip the bark as he yanks my ass back and slams into me. He covers my mouth and muffles my screams as I claw at the bark.

“Shh,” he hisses into my ear before he groans as I tighten around him. “Be a good girl and stay quiet so my father doesn’t hear my baby screaming her release. He might try to come and stop me, but baby, I wouldn’t, not even knowing he was there. I wouldn’t be able to. I’d be pumping into you even as you screamed your release, filling you with my cum.”

Shit, shit, shit.

My eyes close as I push back, the smack of our hips loud in the forest. I bite his hand and hear him hiss in my ear, and in retaliation, he bites my neck so hard, my back bows and pussy clamps on him as he roars.

He hammers into me harder and faster. “Come for me,” he demands. “Come for me right now, Reign. Cover my cock in your release.”

How could I do anything but?

The words send me over the edge, screaming into his hand as pleasure explodes through me like a bomb, leaving me unable to stand. He catches me, fucking me through my release and straight into another, and yet he still doesn’t stop. I whimper, and when he reaches down and tilts my hips so my clit hits the tree with his thrusts, I’m lost once more.

His hips stutter. “Shit, Reign, I can’t hold back. You feel too good, baby. I love the way you come for me. That’s it, take me.” He groans loudly, slamming into me as deeply as he can and bellowing his release as I slump into the tree. Panting, he shifts his hips, forcing his cum deeper before covering me with his body, holding me up against the tree as we both pant and shake.

“So much.” He kisses my neck. “One day, you’ll let me say the word. You’ll be ready to hear it and I’ll be waiting. I’ll wait forever if I have to because I plan on keeping you until we are old and gray.”

“You better,” I whisper, showing my weakness for once.

We get knowing looks over breakfast, and when Cillian picks bark out of my hair with a smirk, I want the floor to swallow me up, but I smile. Astro disappears into the garage with his dad, and Cillian and Raff are dragged off by a hyperactive Theo, leaving Dal and me alone.

“Why don’t you take Reign to the falls, Dal?” Gloria suggests as we help her clean up. “It’s going to be a nice day for a swim.”

“Oh, that sounds fun.” I peer at him, and he smiles at me, and Gloria gasps, covering her heart. When we both look at her, she turns away, but not before I see the sheen in her eyes.

“Go get ready. I’ll make you a picnic,” she mumbles.

I nod, and Dal takes my hand and leads me to the house. I look back to see his mom watching us with a wide, loving smile, and I swear I hear a whisper on the wind.

“Thank you, God.”

I put on some tennis shoes and a hoodie, and by then, Dal is ready. He runs back to grab a basket, and then we are off. The silence between us is comfortable, allowing me to take in the views as we wander down a dirt trail.

It only takes us twenty minutes, and then we come upon a clearing with a waterfall. Rocks are built up on either side with clear marks from climbing, the water rushing down into a crystalline pool at the base. It’s big enough to swim in, and there’s grass surrounding it. Dal quickly spreads out a blanket from the picnic basket, but I kick off my shoes and shuck off my hoodie.

He turns to me then, his eyes darkening. “Do you want to explore?”

I grin. “No, I want to swim.”

“Okay, sweetheart. Did you bring something to change into?” he asks.

“I don’t have a swimsuit,” I reply, tilting my head with a wicked grin, and as his eyes sweep down my body, I drop my dress and, with a wink at Dal, dive into the pool.

When I resurface, Dal is already naked and striding into the water, unwilling to leave me even for a second. I wait for him, and when he’s close enough, I launch myself at him. He captures me midair and lets me climb his body until I’m wrapped around him. Grinning, he dunks us, and I sputter and giggle when we resurface. I brush my hand across his face to remove the water from his lashes, pushing his usually perfectly styled hair back with the water. He freezes under my touch, and I soon see why.

At the very edge of his hairline is an old white scar. “What happened?” I ask, peering into his beautiful eyes.

“One of my mother’s friends tried to scalp me for my disrespect.” He says it so casually, like one would discuss the weather, but my heart breaks for the little kid who suffered through that.

Taking his hand, I guide it to a tattoo on my side. “Feel that?”

I bite my lip as he carefully runs his calloused hand across the scar like I’m breakable. “What’s it from?” he murmurs, anger in his eyes.

“My father stabbed me with a beer bottle. Took ten stitches to close it.” He blinks, and I grip him tighter. “Your scars don’t scare me, Dal. I have my own, and one day, I will know every one of yours and their story and I will kiss them all better. No matter how you feel now, you hurt back then and I’ll make it better.” I drag my lips along the scar, and I hear him inhale harshly.

Unlike the others, Dal feels differently. Emotions are deeper, more intense, and unsure for him. He hides it so well, but in moments like this, I know he feels. He calls himself a psychopath, but I think it’s only because he had to become one to survive.

He was given no other choice.

We float in each other’s arms, two broken, scarred beings with pasts so dark that shadows still haunt us today, but here is the thing about shadows—the sun always chases them away.

“I love you, Reign.” My eyes widen and my heart stops. “I never knew what that word meant before. I should ask the others, but I can’t explain these feelings any other way,” he mumbles. “I think about you every waking moment, day or night. I can’t sleep without knowing you are okay and happy. I wake up and my first thought is to check on you. I worry about you eating and drinking enough. I want to know every thought in your head and make every hope and dream come true. I see the sunrise and I think of you. I watch the moon and I hear your lyrics and laughter in my head. Everything I see reminds me of you, and when you’re not at my side, I wonder what you are doing. When I see something beautiful, I want to take a picture and show it to you, so yes, Reign Harrow, I believe this is love. “

“Dal . . .” I don’t even know what to say.

“You don’t have to say it back. I just needed you to know. I refuse to wait another second without you knowing that you own me mind, body, and soul. You have my heart, something I didn’t have until you. It’s new and scarred, but it’s there and it’s yours. I’m a man who has done terrible things, Reign, and I will never be perfect, but one day, I hope you love me too because I would give everything to be loved by you. Until then, this is more than I thought I would ever have or wanted. I needed you to know that.”

Before I have a chance to respond, not that I would know what to say, he kisses me softly, telling me with that kiss that it’s okay and he understands. Tears slide from my eyes, mixing with the water of the pool, and when he pulls back, I bury my head into his shoulder and he holds me.

No expectations, no rushing me or getting angry.

He didn’t tell me he loves me to hear it back. He told me he loves me because it’s true, and that is what makes me start to fall more in love with him.

Yes, more. I can admit that they have my heart, but it terrifies me, so knowing they are willing to wait without rushing me makes me want to cry.

How could one person ever be this lucky?