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“It’s subsiding. It’s time to try to sleep.”
I felt a pull toward darkness that was nearly impossible, just as he’d done in the office. He’d just tinkered me, and I couldn’t do a thing about it but lie there, fighting it.
“Stop resisting it,” he said, running a hand through my hair in a caress that seemed almost too gentle to come from this man.
He was pulling my shoes off, and I rolled to my side. I let my eyes close, unable to fight the urge.
“It’s all right, Billie. You’re safe here,” he said, smoothing my hair back from my face.
I felt surrounded by warmth, as if nothing could touch me. It was the first time I’d felt so safe in more than a decade. It was the very last thing I remembered.
Chapter Fourteen
Iwoke alone, the pain still there, but a faded echo of what it had been. It was still dark outside, and I was in the middle of a very large bed, on sheets of silver gray. Although the room felt sumptuous, with a thick white rug and beautiful artwork, it had a certain lack of personal effects.
As I stood, the silky fabric of the pajamas I was wearing slithered over my skin. It was hard to be annoyed that Kaden had taken it upon himself to change me when I wouldn’t have put someone in bed the way I’d been. The fact that he’d seen me naked… I wasn’t going to think about that.
There was no clock in the room. I might’ve slept for a few hours or a few days.
I used the attached bathroom while searching for my jeans. The way these pajamas fell, they were sexier than some of the lingerie I’ve seen. I checked every corner and couldn’t find my clothes.
I opened the door, prepared to search downstairs, and heard voices. I crept slowly down the hall and then took one step at a time until I could hear them clearly.
“But why would you bring her here?” a woman asked, obviously annoyed by my presence in the house.
“Where else would I bring her?” Kaden asked, as if she already knew there wasn’t another viable option. “Was I supposed to leave her on the ground?”
“Why didn’t you have one of your people bring her to the outpost?” she asked, pushing even when I could tell he was losing his patience.
Whoever this woman was, shereallydidn’t want me here.
“She forced the transition early. You know that wasn’t a viable option unless I wanted to drag it out longer,” he said, his words becoming more clipped.
“She chose it. If there was a cost, maybe it would be a good lesson for her to learn, for her own welfare. She needs to understand that this world is different.”
As if this tactic wasn’t transparent, she was going to use thetorture her for her own goodline. Glad she wasn’t there when I was groaning on the ground.
“I wasn’t in the mood to watch her suffer more than necessary, even if it was her doing,” he said, sounding as if he didn’t hate me. This was getting interesting.
“I don’t know why you’re becoming irritated with me. It’s only natural for me to ask when you say she was thrust upon you but you keep showing so much interest in her.”
“Nettie, she’s an obligation that I’m stuck with. As for last night, I wouldn’t have left a dog in the street like that. Stop making more of it than there is.”
Hearing that everyone thought I was a burden didn’t give me the warm fuzzies. Or that he’d taken pity on me like I was a stray dog. That wiped out any bonus points he got for being kind of nice.
“Except it seems more than that. You seem…curious.” Her voice softened, some vulnerability leaking into her tone.
Did she think for a second he was interested in me? He probably hadn’t told her all my details.
“I’m not. Now is this going to be an issue?”
Nettie might not have realized it, because she seemed a little thick, but even I heard the warning in his tone, hiding around the corner like I was.
“I didn’t say it was,” she said, sounding a little desperate now. So shewasn’tdeaf.
There was a long, quiet pause, just enough time to make me wonder if I could walk in now as if I hadn’t heard a thing. Right when I thought it was safe, Kaden’s voice broke the silence again.
“I’ve never given any pretenses about who I am and what I’m capable of giving. It has nothing to do with you. It’s who I am, but I’m not going to change.”
