Page 216 of Sorrow & Strangers

Iplace a line of kisses along his jaw, enjoying how his stubble makes my lips tingle. We’re mostly clothed. I’m still in my bikini, and he’s wearing sweatpants but is shirtless. We did nothing, not even kiss. We just lay together in his bed and talked. Well, there was some kissing, but never on the lips. Not again.

“I need to go meet Alice and Rafe.”

“Or you could stay here,” he says, running his fingers through my hair.

“Our portal opens in less than an hour.”

He moans and slides his hand down my back to squeeze my ass. I already miss feeling him caress my body, exploring me with his large hands.

I bite his neck hard, leaving a lasting mark as he did to me weeks ago. When I pull back, he cups my cheek.

“Hi,” I whisper, staring into his eyes, wishing I knew what they really looked like.

The ache is starting in my chest again. Will we go back to how it was before? I have no idea. The person I am here differs vastly from the person I left in Avalon, but perhaps this is what healing feels like.

This weekend, I have gone from feeling guilt to lust to happiness to anger, and then back to lust again. Now I am feeling sadness, and as I look into his eyes, I know I’m going to miss seeing them, seeing him.

I try to find a whisper of the anger from last night, the way he acted, the way he pierced me, but I can’t. I’m drawn to his possessiveness and, worse, I relate to it.

“I don’t want to leave,” he says, looking up at me as I sprawl on top of him. He leans up, kissing the corner of my lips. It makes me yearn for more, but these aren’t his lips.

“Me neither,” I say. Every truth I have been able to confide in him this trip has felt like a gift to myself.

He strokes his thumb over my cheek, and there is such tenderness in his touch that it makes my breath catch.

“Will you miss me?” I ask, and he gives me a droll look, making my lips tug into a smile. “What?” I ask somewhat playfully.

“That is like asking if I need air to breathe,” he says, wrapping his hand around the back of my neck and pulling me down to bite my earlobe.

I shiver. “Will you say it?” I ask, and I’m not wholly certain where the question comes from.

He pulls back to search my eyes, no doubt seeing my vulnerability. “I’ll miss you,” he says, making my stomach flutter.

“I really have to go.”

“Say it back,” he growls, making my stomach twist in a completely different way.

“I’ll miss you,” I say without hesitation. Because I will miss him. I will miss the version of who we are here in this secluded bubble.

“I’ll be at the portal,” he says, kissing my forehead.

“Okay, I’ll see you there,” I say with a nod, reluctantly climbing out of bed and leaving his room. I am careful not to look back, very aware of how weak I am in resisting him.

When I return to the suite, Alice has her belongings scattered across the floor and is stuffing them into her suitcase. “I thought our cases were packed by runes,” I say with a frown.

“They were,” she says, looking up at me and blowing a stray lock of hair out of her eyes.

“Okay, so . . .”

“You think I’m leaving without a souvenir?” she asks, and I glance at her case, seeing the white fluffy sleeve of the bathrobe.

“Gotcha,” I say before knocking on Rafe’s door. He opens it a moment later, and I notice his bag is also unpacked. “You’ve not activated your rune yet either?”

He shrugs.

“Mira gone?” I ask.

He plops down on the bed, looking defeated and forlorn. “Yeah,” he says, then he looks up at me. “Stranger?”