“No, sweetheart. Tonight was just for you.”
“But last time was also just for me. I think it’s time I pleasure you.”
He rose to his feet, bringing me with him. In the next breath, clothes reappeared on us both.
“Next time,” he said, tucking my wild hair behind my ears.
My brows furrowed. There was something in his gaze that made me question him.
“You sure?”
Aspen raised a hand and smoothed out the lines in my forehead.
“I want you to savor your pleasure, without having to return it, sweetheart. You’re new to this.”
“Okay.” But I didn’t believe him.
Was it his tone? His words? He sounded considerate. Although the last part rubbed me the wrong way. I didn’t think he meant it negatively. Still, it reminded me how little I had lived, and that there was probably a giant list of all the females he’d had—like… Nalini.
Heavenly Shit.
How the hell would he react to knowing she was a soul living in Hell? Aspen loved Nalini, and her death destroyed him. I felt it.
He lifted my chin. “Are you okay?”
I opened my mouth, panicking.
“Earlier, you seemed upset when you came into my dream.”
Being the coward I was, I took the out he gave me.
“Oliver and I had a fight after our late-night run, and I don’t think he’s speaking to me,” I said, feeling yet another weight on my shoulders.
Aspen pulled me into his arms. “The Nephilim will get over it.”
“Yeah.” But I wasn’t so sure.
The dream’s scenery flickered, and Aspen stepped back.
“Dream-walk to me again soon, sweetheart.”
Everything dissolved into a background of darkness, and Aspen vanished, leaving me with an illuminated ball of my power and a weird feeling.
Chapter
Twenty-One
LUCILLE
After my dream-walk, I wasn’t able to sleep. Aspen and his actions plagued my thoughts. I couldn’t shake the feeling he was… off? Hiding something? I wanted to trust him. Ishouldtrust him—especially if I thought I loved him. But was love really this rollercoaster of want, confusion, frustration, and lust?
The questions rolled around in my head as I limped my way to the library. Each step tugged at my sore muscles, reminding me I should be resting and icing my legs.
Rune followed along. I couldn’t make her stay in my room or go to the general’s.
I paused at the Doors of Moirai, studying them closely. They depicted Ni standing in her Hell Squadron uniform. Odd. Besides the vacant expression replacing her normally inquisitive gaze, she lookedthe same. Although… I stepped back, noticing something off about her neck. Black veins crawled around the gash as if it were infected.
The Doors of Moirai were supposed to reveal glimpses of the past, present, and future, but I couldn’t tell which this was. I saw Ni a couple days ago, and there was no sign of this infection.
