Bran watched him for a moment, his throat thickening with contented elation, and then made his way from the room.
He should have realized he didn't smell bacon and toast cooking before he made it to the kitchen.
It should have dawned on him there were no sounds of food being prepared, no clink of utensils against bowls as eggs were whisked, no knives striking chopping blocks as tomatoes were chopped, no coffee beans being ground or water being boiled in kettles.
All the wonderful, delicious sounds and smells he associated with Ruckus in the morning … absent.
All that greeted him as he padded into the kitchen on bare feet, his body aching in the most pleasing, perfect way, his mind still fogged with sleep and remembered pleasure, was silence.
Silence, an empty kitchen, and a note on the counter written in what he assumed was RG's neat handwriting.
Thank you.
xox
RG.
Bran frowned.
Thank you. What did she mean by thank you? Where was she?
Sucking in a deep breath, he crossed the living room to the hall table and picked up his mobile phone.
No text messages from RG. Plenty of other texts though, from various staff at Virt.Real. His PA had sent one at 1 a.m. wondering how the meeting with Ms. Bailey had gone.
Was it successful? she'd texted. Are you celebrating?
A lump filled Bran's throat. Successful.
Scrolling through until he found RG's number, he dialed.
It went to voice mail. "What's going on, RG?" he said after the beep. "Where are you?"
Ending the connection, he stared at his silent phone.
"Not good enough," he muttered, tapping out a message.
Can I assume you're just out buying breakfast for us all? Kidding. I'll make breakfast when you get back and Ruckus wakes up. When ARE you coming back?
He hit send, eyes burning as he waited for the little Delivered indicator to pop up. It did, turning almost straight away into a time stamp for when the message was read.
He waited Christ knew how long for a reply.
It didn't come.
"Alright," he muttered, dialing her once more.
Straight to voice mail.
A prickle of heat crept over his skin as he listened to RG's recorded message.
"RG," he said after the tone. "What's going on?"
His phone beeped with an incoming message as he lowered it from the side of his head.
Heart banging hard in his chest, he read it.
Business as usual. My people will be in contact with your people soon. RG.
Bran blinked. That was it?
Sure, he tapped into his phone. But when are you coming back here? To us?
Again, the read timestamp popped up immediately after the delivery indicator.
I'm not
A sledgehammer smashed into Bran's gut. He stared at her reply, that prickling heat scoring over him.
Why not? he typed back.
A few seconds passed, long and suffocating seconds, during which the typing icon tortured him from the screen.
It's time for you two to get on with what you started before I ever came along, baby. ☺ Continue to be perfect, okay?
What the-
"Where's RG?"
Bran jumped at Ruckus's sleep-scratchy question behind him.
He spun, knuckles aching as he gripped his phone, his stare locking on Ruckus.
Halfway across the living room, Ruckus stopped. He scanned the room with a slow, steady look and then met Bran's gaze. "She's gone, hasn't she? Done a runner."
Bran nodded.
Ruckus closed his eyes, slumping. "Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck."
The bleak acceptance in his voice tore at Bran. He didn't know what to do. Go to the man? Take him in his arms? Wait for Ruckus to move?
He didn't know RG personally. He wanted to. What he knew of her appealed to him on a level more than just sexual. He knew her business moves, her gamer moves, but personally? He was clueless. Which, given what the three of them had done last night, seemed ridiculous.
Last night, as they had lain in his bed waiting for Ruckus to return from the bathroom, a sense of perfect connection with her had filled him. As drowsy as he'd been, he'd found himself thinking how incredible her voice was, how wonderful it would be to hear it every night before he fell asleep.
He wasn't in love with her, but he could be. The last thing he remembered before sleep claimed him had been the heady notion of the three of them together in every sense of the word for the rest of their lives; an unconventional future for three far-from-conventional people who had joined in the most raw and truthful of ways.
And now she was gone and it felt like something had been cut from his soul.
Did he dare tell Ruckus she'd left because of them? Because of their past?
"Well." Ruckus's low growl scraped at the living room's silence. "I'm going to have a shower."
Bran blinked. "You're what?"
"Having a shower. Want to join me?"
The lump in Bran's throat turned fat and hot. "So that's it? The woman you love has gone, left us, left you, and you're going to have a shower?"
"Yep. What else do you want me to do?"
"Go after her, you fucking wanker."
Ruckus's eyebrows shot up his forehead.
Bran stared at him, stunned not just at the man, but at his own behavior.
"Why?" Ruckus regarded Bran with an unreadable expression.
An incredulous snort vibrated low in Bran's chest. "Because she's fucking amazing. Not just to fuck, but in every damn way. Because she made you finally pull your head out of your fucking arse and see there are people in this world who actually like you, love you, despite how broken you think you are. Because she brought you back to me when she could have had you for herself."
A muscle ticked in Ruckus's jaw. "I'm back here, Brannum. With you. There's no fucking way I'm ever walking away from you again. Ever. I never should have in the first place."
"Yeah, about that. Why did you walk away? Why did you cut me from your life?"
Bran's gut churned. His head roared. He'd never talked to Rick this way. Was it because it wasn't his ex standing in front of him, but the man he now knew as Ruckus? Or was it the thought of losing something amazing? Something he'd tasted, experienced for a fleeting moment?
"You fell in love with me, Brannum." That muscle in Ruckus's jaw twitched again. "I told you not to do that."
Anger shot through Bran, an icy jolt stabbing straight into his chest. "So because I wasn't a good little submissive, you left?"
Ruckus flicked Bran's groin a look. It occurred to Bran they were both still naked. "There's nothing little about you. And you were a very good submissive."
"Now's not the time for your patented Richard Tyrell humour, Ruckus."
A ragged sigh burst from Ruckus. He scraped his nails over his bare scalp. "You didn't need my baggage, Bran."
"Fuck your baggage."
Ruckus recoiled. Good.
"That was not your decision to make," Bran went on. Christ, when had he been this angry? "It was mine. So you're secretive. A broken mess. Who isn't? Jesus, I've got more screwed-up father issues than you'd ever hope to understand. Why do you think I've spent so much of my life living in a game? Pretending to be an invincible, untouchable warrior in a make-believe world? But guess what? Part of your appeal is that you're a secretive, broken mess. If you weren't, you'd be too perfect, and too perfect is boring.
"If I wanted a boring life partner, I'd go out with one of the numerous beige men and women my mother and sister constantly try to set me up with. I don't. Because I don't want them. I want you. Mysterious, damaged, dominating, in-love-with-a-woman you. And as it turns out-thanks to you-I now want that woman as well. I want us, Ruckus. The three of us. I'll fucking fight for it if I need to. I'll fucking go out there and find RG and drag her back here and tie you each to a chair and make you both fucking see this thing we've discovered last night, this amazing, incredible, powerful thing is too important, too real to let go."
He stopped and glared at Ruckus, chest heaving, breath ragged.
Ruckus raised an eyebrow. "Are you finished?"
"Fuck you, R-"
Ruckus destroyed the distance between them, fisted his hand in the hair at the back of Bran's head and silenced him with a long, hard kiss. "Okay," he whispered when he pulled his lips from Bran's. He moved his hand to Bran's jaw, his touch gentle.
Bran swallowed. "Okay what?"
"Okay, let's spend the rest of our lives together. Okay, let's go get RG."
A wave of relief crashed through Bran and he closed his eyes for a heartbeat. "And bring her back here where she belongs," he said, looking at Ruckus again.
Ruckus chuckled. "You know her place is bigger than yours, right? Much bigger?"
Bran smiled. "Again, I say fuck you, Ruckus."
"Later." Ruckus flashed him a grin. "Let's go get our girl back first."
Chapter 8
Ruckus should have known she wouldn't make things easy. When she made up her mind to do something, RG never did it in half measure.
He couldn't find her. She didn't answer his calls or texts. She wasn't at home. Her security system-a system he'd set up for her and maintained-revealed she hadn't been to her home in the six days since she'd left him and Bran asleep in Bran's bed.