“Two weeks, and you can pay me back by taking care of yourself and promising me you won’t sneak out on your own again.”
“God, you're impossible.”
“Just… Call Darius or Ash if you need something tonight, okay?” Ronan grabbed my hands, pressing a kiss to my palms.
The touch of his lips sent a zing across my skin, and when he lingered there and closed his eyes, inhaling my scent, memories of our earlier kiss rushed through me once again.
That kiss had surprised the hell out of me—maybe it’d surprised us both. But it hadn’t been some caught-up-in-the-moment mistake. It wasreal. I knew he felt it too—now and then.
But for whatever reason, Ronan was backing off.
“I should head out,” he said. “Promise me you’ll stay put unless you’ve got backup?”
Disappointment washed over me, head to toe. Maybe he didn’t want to screw up our relationship. Maybe he felt guilty for snatching some small moment of pleasure in the wake of our friend’s death. Maybe he thought it was too trivial, too distracting with everything else we had to face.
Maybe, maybe, maybe… I could think of a hundred more of those, but none of them outweighed my convictions that what we shared was right. That it was special, just like he’d always made me feel in his arms.
But when I looked into Ronan’s eyes now, all traces of his earlier vulnerability—of his earlier heat—had gone.
“Okay. I promise,” I said.
“Good. Lock the door. Get some rest. Once it gets dark, I’ll have Asher and Darius check on the house a few times. I’ll try to swing by on my break.”
Great. Darius was one thing—I wouldn’t mind a visit from him, actually. But Asher was the last demon I needed showing up on my doorstep. “You guys don’t need to swing by on my account.”
“I’m not doing it for you, remember? I’m doing it for me.” Ronan grinned, brushing a lock of hair from my forehead. “What can I say? I’m a very selfish demon.”
You don’tkisslike a selfish demon. You kiss like the kind of man who takes his sweet, delicious time, touching and teasing and kissing every part of me until I’m trembling…
The heat crackled between us, but when Ronan leaned in this time, it was only to brush his lips quickly across my forehead, a once comforting and familiar gesture that now left me cold and wanting.
“Later, Gray. Be good.”
Ronan headed out the front door and down the porch steps, and for the first time in the history of our friendship, I didn’t watch him go. I turned away and shut my door before he even hit the sidewalk, my lips longing for his kiss, my core aching with unmet need, and my heart heavier and more confused than ever.
Twenty-Three
Gray
My bed had never seen so much action.
And by action, I meant my butt planting itself snugly in the middle of the lumpy Queen-sized mattress, and remaining in that exact position for two straight days, waking only to send a few check-in texts to Ronan.
He was right—I was totally exhausted. I had no idea whether Asher stopped by, or any of the other brooding supernatural men who’d suddenly become part of my life. But when I finally dragged my butt out of bed on the third day, the sun had already gone down, my house was still standing, and I was pretty sure no one had tried to kill me in my sleep, so I was counting that as a win.
Then again, maybe I’d just scared them off with my eye-watering smelliness.
Hey, whatever works.
After a much-needed shower, I dressed in clean PJs and turned on my phone, returning a few texts to let everyone know I was rejoining the world of the living. There were a bunch from Ronan, just checking in, and a couple from Emilio—he didn’t have anything new to share about the case, but wanted me to know he was around if I needed anything.
There was also a voicemail notification, but I didn’t recognize the number.
I hit the playback button.
“Hello, love,” Darius said, the liquid caress of his voice sending a spark of awareness low in my belly. “I despise the impersonal nature of this black magic they call voicemail, so I hope you’ll forgive the brevity of my message. I am so sorry for your pain, Gray. So, so sorry. And I do hope you know I am available should you need anything at all, whether that be the promised cheeseburger, or a midnight stroll, or just some intelligent conversation—something I’m sure you’re sorely lacking, given the company you keep. Nevertheless, I understand you may prefer your privacy at this time, so no worries at all about returning my message. But if you need anything, do get in touch. Either way, I shall ring you again soon, love.” He let out a low chuckle. “Well, so much for brevity. In any case, thinking of you. Be well.”
I smiled and saved his info to my contacts, surprised and touched by his thoughtfulness. The message included several more minutes of muffled crowd sounds and clicking glassware before he came back on again with a flustered huff. “Bloody hell, I thought I’d… Where is the damn button? Yes, I realize that, but it’s a new… Here, you do it, then.”
