“No. I’ve been in here, keeping an eye on you.”
“I need to go find him.” Cally pulled back the duvet, swinging her legs out. “Damn it, he must be feeling like shit.”
Eve swung her gaze unashamedly to the bare skin Cally was showing, eyebrows coming up in appreciation. “He didn’t seem that bothered when he walked off while you were still unconscious, and went to have a powwow with Noah.”
Cally hesitated, sitting on the edge of the bed. “Maybe what he’d done upset him.”
“Yeah, maybe,” Eve said, with a tone that made it clear she didn’t think so. “You may have to face up to the fact that he’s changed. And to be fair, it’s not really surpri—” She broke off as two firm knocks sounded on Cally’s door. “Marcel doesn’t knock like that.”
“It’s probably Noah,” Cally replied, shuffling up against the headboard and pulling the duvet back into place. “Come in.”
The door opened, and it wasn’t Noah. Antoine entered, dressed in his usual black jeans and T-shirt, looking far less gaunt than he had a few hours previously. He pushed his hands into his pockets, the muscles in his arms tightening as a testament to his regained health, and looked briefly at Eve before addressing Cally.
“Please forgive the intrusion, but I heard your voice. I’ve been waiting for you to awake.”
Eve leaned back in her chair, clutching her pillow to her chest with ‘I’m not going anywhere’ body language.
“It must be time for coffee,” Cally suggested. “Eve, sweetheart, would you mind?”
Eve rose with poor grace, worry shadowing her eyes. “I’ll be right outside the door. Fetching coffees.” She didn’t spare Antoine a word, but the set of her stride and the snap of her head told Cally the glare she shot him would’ve cut glass.
Antoine waited until the door closed behind her, then took a few steps farther into the room, shoulders hunched. “I came to apologize.”
“No, it’s fine. I knew you needed to feed.”
“No, it’s not fine. I went too far, and I shouldn’t have let it happen.” He held her gaze, his posture stiff. “I endangered you, and I’m sorry.”
“You’d only just woken, after three weeks without feeding.”And going feral.“There’s nothing to apologize for.”
He inclined his head. “You are very kind, but I must beg to differ. I was in sufficient control to refrain from what I did. I am sorry, and it will not happen again.”
It wasn’t the admission that bothered Cally, but the stiff and formal delivery. She pulled the duvet up higher. “Are you better now?”
“Yes, thank you. Your blood has restored me.”
“Good. And the rest of you?”
Antoine didn’t reply immediately. Instead, he moved to the chair Eve had vacated, picked up her pillow, and sat in its place. The pillow looked incongruous resting on his lap.
“Truth be told, I don’t know,” he said quietly. “The Antoine who left you that night may not be the same one that sits before you now.”
“The Antoine who sits before me is the one I love,” Cally replied. “I never told you, not face to face. Not until you were already in that damn box. For that, I should be the one to apologize.”
“There is no need,ma chérie.You carry no fault; the time was taken from us.”
“We have all the time we need, now.”
“Alas, it is not all we lost.” He took a steadying breath. “I am trying to tell you, I am not… as I was.”
Cally pulled the duvet away and slipped out of bed, her T-shirt barely falling to the top of her thighs. Unlike Eve, Antoine’s eyes didn’t stray to the skin she exposed, but watched her almost impassively. But that meant nothing: Eve was a shameless flirt, and Antoine was not. At least, Cally hoped it meant nothing.
She crossed the few paces between them, and when he still didn’t move, she tugged the pillow from his lap. “I’m going to sit down. On you.”
He rested his arms on the sides of the chair, making room, and she took that as assent.
The high sides didn’t make it easy, but she perched on his knees, her T-shirt riding up. He didn’t react, save for a tightening of his jaw. She rested a hand on his chest, as much for the comfort of touch as for balance.
“I’m not going anywhere, you know,” she said softly. “We’re bonded, you and I.”
