My Soulmates are IDOLS Books 2+3 | 18+ [SoulBond Series]

209:status

Amber

JieMi was a restless sleeper.

Amber groaned as he snuggled up to her; his nose brushing against the nape of her sensitive neck. He sniffed and sighed; an adorable smile hooked at the edges of his puffy lips as he wrapped his arms around her middle.

She only knew that he wasn't doing it on purpose because when he was awake, JieMi had been stiff and awkward, his body curving away from hers despite his need for close contact. He'd only relaxed when he'd fallen asleep, his head lolling over her arm and his face turned towards hers. She'd spent the night with her eyes tracing his features—the long wispy lashes, the faint mole on his lip, the flush of sleep on his plump cheeks. She stroked his rabbit ears, ran her digits across the warm velvet, and he'd shivered, rubbing his cheek over her skin and making a face.

Cute.

She blew out a low breath, biting her lips. Something had changed last night between her and JieMi. Her fingers tightened over his, rubbing her thumb gently over the veins that popped over his beautiful skin. The hybrid soul bond had broken most of the tall barriers that he'd erected around himself; it had revealed his weakness. And in that weakness, Amber's heart had melted and broken for him. She'd decided to care for him, decided to loan him a piece of her heart, and treat him the way she wanted her soulmates to treat her.

She'd taken care of him as if they were the closest of friends, or maybe even lovers.

She'd taken care of him as if she were in love with him.

She'd taken care of him the way she wanted him to take care of her.

And now with her rabbit in her bed, there was a tenderness that blossomed in her heart for him. He was a worm that had wiggled its way into her apple, oxytocin forming in her body under his touch. She knew his limits; she knew that she couldn't have him. But she couldn't help giving JieMi a space in her heart, the space that believed all humans had a good and a bad side, and even the worse of men could be loved.

It helped that JieMi had apologised with sincerity; his cries had been genuine and honest, his sobs heartbreaking and filled with his pain. He didn't cry easily; her men had told her that when she'd waited for MinJae and Oliver to clean him up. Her soulmates had been grim, worry tight in their brows and tension thick in the air. Casper had pulled her to the kitchen into his warm, bear-like embrace, his expression pinched and sour with his concern.

"What happened?"

He knew most of it from her text, but she explained again, omitted the part on how JieMi had rubbed his cock against her clit. They wouldn't like that with the knowledge of how poisonous her relationship was with JieMi. She'd given them a simple 'he humped me' and a 'he acted on instinct'. Their jaws had clenched, eyes widened in disbelief.

"He was crying," Sieon had whispered, lips pursing together tightly, a hand through his curls. His jaws tight, muscle flexing from tension. "Crying." His words seemed to chill the air, raising the pulsating tension in the air. Amber watched as her men exchanged glances, and her brows furrowed.

"JieMi...He rarely cries," Casper had explained from above her, his foxy eyes bright with colours from their soul bond. They hadn't progressed enough for their bond to fully blossom, but the colours appeared sometimes when he was particularly emotional. "He doesn't express his emotions easily. This means that whatever he's hiding, whatever he's feeling, he can't cope with it. The soul bond is proof that he can't handle it."

"What do you think?" Sieon had chirped, nibbling on his lips as he glanced at Hikaru. "Do you think he's in trouble? Money? Blackmail? Drugs—"