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Ijerked awake, breathing hard.
Back in the cell, chained to a wall and wondering whether they’d kill me cleanly or torture me first.
“Hey, take it easy.” Brien’s voice. His earthy green musk enveloped me.
Memory flooded back. I wasn’t trapped in a windowless cell. I was in Brien’s bed, cuddled up with him under the duvet, his long body curved around mine, spoon-fashion.
I dragged in oxygen. “Sorry. It’s dark and I—”
“Bedroom—ambient lights on,” he said, and small LEDs lit up along the baseboards and the bed’s teak headboard.
Grabbing his hand, I focused on a round copper vase on a shelf across from me and drew a few calming breaths, grounding myself in the here and now.
“Can I get you something? Water, maybe?”
“Water? Yeah. That would be nice.”
He tried to tug his hand from mine. My fingers tightened.
“You’ll have to let me go.” His voice was soothing. “But if you’re not ready, I can stay—”
“No. It’s okay.” I forced my fingers to release him.
He unwound himself from me and left the bed with a vampire’s easy, animal grace, returning with a glass of water.
“Thank you.” I sat up and took it from him. The water was cool and welcome to my parched throat.
Brien climbed back into bed, drawing me between his bent legs and leaning back against the headboard. I felt his arousal against the small of my back, but he seemed content to simply hold me. He was being so nice, when guilt was a hard lump in my stomach.
I finished the water and looked down at the empty glass. “I’m sorry,” I said lowly. “That I didn’t tell you sooner. I wanted to, but—”
I gave a little shrug. He didn’t need to hear my excuses. In the end, I hadn’t told him and that was on me.
“It’s done. You should’ve told me sooner, but I know you had your reasons.”
“I was going to tell you tonight. I was waiting for you to wake up. You don’t have to believe it, but it’s the truth.”
“Like I said, it’s done. I accept your apology, if that’s what you want to hear. Forgiving you is going to take a little more time.”
“Fair enough.” I sighed and put the glass on the night table. “What time is it?”
“Three.”
“Three in the morning? The night’s almost over. You should’ve woken me up.” The challenge was in less than twenty-four hours, and even if he won, there was still Kuro.
“You needed the sleep.”
“I should get up. I can help.” I pushed at his arms, but he kept me where I was.
“Relax.” He nuzzled my loose, disheveled braid. “Cain and Talon are looking into it. There’s nothing any of us can do until we have more intel.”
“You don’t understand. Kuro is still on the island—I’d bet money on it. He’ll know I accepted your blood bond. There might even be another slayer on the island—a backup plan. SI always has a backup plan.”
“You’re worried about me?” He sounded perplexed.
“Of course, I am. I told you, I…care about you.”
I wouldnottell him I loved him again. It made me too vulnerable, like pulling up my shirt and inviting him to stab me in the heart.
