Page 124 of Heat Lightning

“I fucked up. I kept things from you that I should’ve disclosed. Don’t feel bad for showing me your claws when I deserved much worse.”

I was shaking my head back and forth before he even finished. “No, you don’t deserve to be spoken to like that. You’re nothing like—” I swallowed. “Like your father, or the monsters you hunt. It’s not true, and I hate that I said that. I’m sorry.”

He kissed my forehead. “Thank you,” he whispered. “I won't hold things back from you anymore.”

I breathed a deep sigh, soothed by the overwhelming peace of exorcising our hurts and coming back together. “And I’ll stop jumping to conclusions if you do.”

A coy smile stretched across his lips. It was a newer expression, and I catalogued it among the ones I’d already memorized. “Maybe we could try couples therapy.”

I snorted. “I can’t imagine what Owen would have to say about the way we⁠—”

Fast as a whip, Atlas rolled us and ground his hips down into mine, pushing a pleasure-laced gasp from me.

“Go ahead,” he said, eyes flashing. “Say that man’s name again while I’m inside of you. See what happens.”

I grinned. “All I’m saying is I think Owen would have a field day if I told him—ah! At—Atlas!”

That big, scary Masked Man I loved so much it hurt blew a raspberry on my cheek.

“What was that?” he asked, rocking his hips into mine. “I couldn’t hear you.”

He blew another right over the place he bit me.

I squirmed, screeching in laughter. “Stop it! This is—hey!”

Another landed on my collarbone. I couldn’t stop my giggles when he began to tickle me, which was even more unfair because we were literally tied together, so I couldn’t escape. “Help! Somebody help me! This—is—torture!”

“There’s no one around to hear you scream, sweet boy,” he growled, attempting to sound low and threatening. It would’ve worked had his eyes not betrayed his devotion. “You know who you fell into bed with.”

“A frightening creature,” I sighed, out of breath. “Good thing I’ve already read those romances and know how this ends.”

He nipped at my earlobe, and I descended into laughter again. Finally relenting, he settled over me.

“You could barely walk half an hour ago,” I grumbled, tugging him down so he lay on top of me. I wanted to be delightfully squished. “You scared me.”

His face softened. “I’m sorry. How about I make it up to you?”

I raised an eyebrow. “What exactly do you have in mind?”

The grin he gave me would’ve sent me running down the hall, had I been able to move. “A few things, actually.”

His mouth descended onto mine, and I didn’t think about much of anything else for a while after that.

Later, much, much later, Atlas carried me outside to watch the sun set.

“I’ve never really used these before,” he said, setting me down next to one of those fancy Adirondack chairs. “Didn’t see the point.”

Four chairs sat around a fire pit, which Atlas cleaned out before lighting. We chose the two seats that faced the water, taking in the spectacular view.

From the western side, you could see the bay spill out into Lake Superior proper, stretching endlessly. A whole flock of waterfowl flushed from the brush below, their wings catching in the last rays of daylight as they skimmed the surface before landing farther out on the water.

The lights in the house across the lake, Mr. Marino’s house, were on, but my apartment sat quiet and dark. Gwen had texted that she’d keep Jeffrey company until I settled back in, wherever that was.

“Do you think Mr. Marino still wants me to cook for him, now that we’re together?” I asked.

Atlas smirked. “You really need to start calling him Saint.”

I scrunched my nose. “The guy just doesn’t give first name vibes, ya know?”