Page 64 of Dark Surrender

“You… what?!” Swinging my legs to the side, I hop out of the truck right in front of Dark. My chest meets his abs, and he sucks in a sharp breath, nostrils flaring, but he doesn’t move.

Boxing me in, one hand on the top of my door, the other on the frame, his gaze burns into mine. “Look, we don’t need to make this a thing. The brothers, Kali, and her sisters have been guttin’ this place and fixing it up in their spare time. It’s not done, but it’s almost there, and between all of us, we made it happen.”

I poke him in the shoulder. “You bought me a house.”

“Yeah. I did.”

“I’m not fucking you for a house.”

“There are no strings here. I swear it.”

“Uh. Huh. Sure. I…” Shaking my head, I peter out of gas. Ugh. I’m tired. So very tired. Tired of crying. Tired of running. Tired of… everything. “I can’t believe you bought me a house,” I whisper as a new set of emotions I don’t recognize clog my throat.

Having the patience of a saint, Dark steps back to give me space to breathe, and when I walk past him to stand in the middle of the lawn—my lawn— I stare in disbelief at the modest brick home. It has a stoop with a pot of bright pink flowers. There’s a black light on the porch. I’ve never had a porch light. Well, I guess I did, for a few days, in Kings Cursed. This house reminds me of Dee’s. I wonder if Dark showed her pictures. Not that it matters. She’ll see this place sometime.

Wrapping my arms around my middle, I breathe in the fresh air.

There’s a black knocker in the center of my door with a peephole.

Dark drapes his arm around me. “You need a home, so here’s home.”

“She looks like a Deloris.”

His chuckled response is thick and warm. The welcome sound settles in my chest, offering comfort. “Deloris it is.” Dark squeezes my shoulder and pecks my temple.

I gasp at the simple touch. His soft, pillowy lips linger there, and my heart goes mad.

“Welcome home, sweetheart.” His hot breath tickles my hairline.

My eyes slide shut, and I soak up the moment, pushing the fear away, the nerves, all of it, and I just live in the here and now, with the most terrifying man I’ve ever met.

Dark lets me take everything at my own pace. Never pushing me. Always watching. When he unlocks the front door and we walk into a bright white living room with a hardwood floor, I see what he means about renovations.

“What did it look like before?” I ask, as I slowly check out my house.

Gah!

My.

House.

How is this real?

“It had green carpet through most of it and wood paneling,” he explains.

“Why did you gut it?”

“There was a mess.”

“You can just say blood. I won’t faint.”

“Yeah. Well… I don’t talk to… I don’t… Fuck…”

“You don’t share things with others?”

“With my brothers, I do, and Kali, only if I have to. But I don’t talk… about stuff.”

Dark follows me to the bathroom, and I gasp as soon as I flick on the light. Black and white for miles. Tile and iron. A stand-up, glass-walled shower with a fancy wooden bench. The water comes out of a black showerhead in the ceiling.