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CHAPTER23
Evie
When I wake up and feel Owen’s arms wrapped around me, I’m sure I’m dreaming. As dreams go, it’s not a bad one. But this isn’t a dream. Somehow, this is real life.
I move against him, and he huffs out a soft breath against the back of my neck before slipping back into sleep. When I trail my fingers over his arm, he holds me just a little tighter. I never want to burst this bubble of happiness, but I desperately need to go pee.
Careful not to wake him, I gingerly step into the bathroom and close the door. I’m hoping that, when I get back, I can just slip back under his arms and fall asleep until tomorrow morning.
I wince when I settle down onto the seat. My ass ison fire.
Life has a way of throwing curveballs, doesn’t it?
Who’d have thought I’d be sleeping in Owen’s arms tonight?
And what the hell happened before that?
There’s still a tightness in my center, like my body hasn’t quite gotten over my last fantastic orgasm. I feel so sated, sosatisfied.
I wash my hands and step carefully back into Owen’s room. My heart sinks a little when I see he’s turned over onto his side, but I still want to climb in next to him. Maybe I’ll be the big spoon this time.
He sighs when I climb onto the edge of the mattress, and then murmurs something in his sleep.
I freeze.
Did he just say… Penny?
I push off the bed, wrapping my arms around myself as I stare down at his sleeping form. I try to convince myself that I heard wrong, but the damage is done. Suddenly, all my reservations about being here come flooding back. This time, they’re joined by a mental snapshot of Penny’s bruised neck.
I shudder and hurriedly pick up my clothes off the floor. This was fun, but I have to get the hell out of here before he wakes up. What if he wants another round… and what if, this time, he’s not as gentle?
My lips curl into a bitter smile.
He wasn’t gentle, Evie. That’s why you enjoyed it so fucking much.
I shake away the thought with a snap of my head before pulling my tank top on. I’m going to take a hot shower, and then get into my own bed and sleep off this nonsense… after locking my bedroom door.
At least now you have a key.
It’s not the key I was after, though. The one I snuck in here to find. And since I’ve already been punished for snooping, I might as well get what I came for.
I stop, staring at Owen’s sleeping form for a moment.
Using the light on his cellphone for illumination, I go through his room. Dawn is on the way, but there’s not enough light for me to see by. I leave the nightstand for last, hoping he’ll be sound asleep and won’t hear me opening it.
There’s a surprising lack of sentimental items in the room. Not a framed photo or a novel anywhere. Maybe he keeps those things at home, like Kat. Besides her clothes, she doesn’t have a lot of personal stuff in her room either.
My search turns up nothing, so I head back to the bed and carefully open his nightstand drawer. It’s difficult to see inside with just the soft glow from his locked phone’s screen, but I try to move around the items inside to see better.
As my finger touches something familiar, his phone beeps loudly in my hand.
I fumble it and clutch it to my chest, smothering the sound as I turn to the bed.
Thank God, he’s still asleep.
I put my hand back inside the drawer and pull out something long and thin. There’s a faintclinkof metal, and I know what’s in my hand before I see it.
My breath hitches. I would have swallowed had my mouth not gone bone-dry.
A collar.
I stare at it for the longest time as my heart pounds heavily in my chest. Slowly, I put Owen’s phone back on the nightstand. Just as slowly, I slip the collar back in the drawer.
But I can’t do it. I can’t let go.
It looks so… familiar.
Almost exactly like the collar I wore not a year ago.
