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That familiar guarded expression he wears just about pushes me past my breaking point.
My shoulders slump. I throw my hands up in the air and sigh. “Oh, Nine. I— what the hell are we doing here?”
“Riley?”
“And I don’t mean here,” I say, just in case he gets the wrong impression. “This is the only place I have until the queen hunts me down.”
His eyes flash. It’s the most emotion I’ve seen from him in ages. “I won’t let that happen.”
He might not be able to stop it, either.
I can feel that my time is running out. Every morning, I wake up and I’m surprised to find that I’m still here. That I’m still with my parents, with Nine. I keep getting this feeling like she’s getting closer and closer to finding out where I am, that as soon as she does, Melisandre will drag me kicking and screaming back to Faerie where we’ll settle this once and for all.
I know I’ll regret it forever if I leave things with Nine as they are. I’ve always been on my guard. Always careful to keep myself apart from everyone else because, well, in the end, they always leave.
Only, this time, I can’t shake the feeling that I’m going to be the one who leaves everything behind.
Before I go, I have to settle this. I have to let him know that my feelings haven’t changed.
“You might not have a choice. But, just in case, I want you to know that I love you. And you don’t have to say anything—”
“I love you, Riley. More than anything else in either realm. You must know that. I’ve always loved you, even if I love you… differently than before.”
I latch onto that. “Differently? Differently how?”
He clenches his jaw, almost like he’s said too much.
Oh, no. I’m not going to let him off that easy.
“Are you talking about how you claimed me?”
A muscle in his cheek jumps.
Gotcha.
Forgetting all about the groceries, I dare to cross the room, moving closer to Nine than I’ve gone since I used the Brinkburn on him.
“Are you talking about how you touched me? About how good it felt when I gave you permission and let you in?”
I want to let him all the way in.
“Riley. What are you…”
“Do it again.”
He wants to. Holy shit. I can see it in his eyes… he definitely wants to. But then he shakes his head.
Damn i
t.
“I don’t want to hurt you, Riley.”
When he touches me without my permission, it doesn’t hurt me. It hurts him. The last couple of times I let him touch me, I only felt pleasure.
I want him to feel that.
I move closer.
