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I drift off, and after a few minutes, a sound jolts me awake. It feels like only moments have passed, but the room is dark, and I’m disoriented, as if waking from a deep sleep. The air is thick, like an electric current brushing against my skin, and as my eyes adjust, a tall, dark silhouette hovers over me on the side of my bed. His eyes gleam beneath a dark hood, the rest of his face lost in shadow.

My heart explodes…

I move to my knees, reach out, and touch him, just like I used to in the bunker. His abs flex at my touch, and I pull my hand back, not wanting to believe it. I slide my hand up his torso; every part of his body is so familiar. It’s like seeing a ghost because he is a ghost. Or I’m still asleep.

“Are you real?” I breathe.

He leans in, and I lean back. It’s a dance of death, fueled by deadly secrets. My heart aches with shame for not remembering him.

He reaches out and pulls my head to his stomach. I shift up, and his teeth graze my neck, sending chills down my spine. “I’m real, wildling.”

Something dark wells up inside me. Terrifying. Appealing. Every sexual nerve in my body, electrifying at the sound of his deep voice. I missed him so fucking much.

Not trusting myself, I reach up and touch his face, needing to feel his flesh. I move my hand to his heart.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

I revel in his touch…and melt in his arms like the pathetic victim I am.

Running is sure death. I can never run from him.

A piece of myself shatters. I press my lips into his, wrapping my arms around him. He pauses, then lets out a low growl. He picks me up, sweeping his tongue across my teeth. I press myself against him and stare into his eyes. I can tell everything from his eyes. He nudges me backward and leans in for another kiss, causing me to fall on my back and I lift my knees, wrapping my legs around his torso.

Visions, memories, and snippets begin to flood back. Years of them, overwhelming my present like a vortex, or like those precious moments before death when your life flashes before your eyes. Four years of Nick appearing and disappearing out of my life. When he was home, I was with him. Endless days at his cabin in the woods. He taught me to garden, taught me to hunt, and showed me the reason for living. Until one day he didn’t come home.

“Where did you go?” I ask him, squeezing my knees around him. An hour ago, I was convinced he was dead. I had definitive proof in my hands. Now I’m not so sure. I run my hand down his face, and my eyes adjust to the darkness. He angles his head, and the dim light from outside illuminates his scars and eyes, making my stomach twist.

“I didn’t go anywhere, baby. You’re the one who left me.”

“No…I wouldn’t have. I promised you I wouldn’t. I was going to stay with you there forever. You were supposed to take care of me.”

He grabs my chin. “Think hard, Layla. The memories are in there.”

Foggy memories come rushing back. Me running through the woods, crying myself to sleep on the forest floor. Endless days in the dark bunker.

“Nick,” I whisper, pressing my hand into his chest. “Take me with you again. We can disappear together and go back to the cabin.”

He shakes his head, and my emotions bubble up to the surface. “Can’t do that, wildling.”

I let out a small sob. “Why?”

He moves a piece of hair from my face. “You were a distraction, Layla. An incredible distraction, but still a distraction. I need to stay focused. You broke my concentration.”

I was a distraction.

“You want to kill my family,” I accuse.

He swallows down an emotion of his own. The only evidence that he feels anything at all with how cold he’s being. “It’s always been about you, wildling. From the very beginning.”

His words send fire through my veins. God. This man…

“Nick...” My bones chill.

He runs his hands down my arms. “Don’t call me that name anymore. Nick’s gone, baby. But the Archer’s here, exactly the way you like it.”

His hand finds the strap of my tank top, and he slips it down over my shoulder. It doesn’t take much for me to shimmy it off. I slip my sweats off all on my own, leaving me in my underwear, bare and wet beneath him.

He eases my hair from my face. “You haven’t been a very good girl, wildling.”