AllFreeNovel
Share Us
It was the start of something wonderous and new.
Chapter 17 - Macy
Hours passed on that bench with Juriah. I should have told him then what was brewing in my belly. I should have given him more details about why I was snapping, but I didn’t. I hadn’t. I just couldn’t.
Because I wasn’t sure what to do yet.
By the time we both agreed to head back to Silverdawn, my ass had fallen asleep along with most of my left leg. Explaining that to Juriah made him offer help, and I didn’t even mind the pins and needles feeling that came with it as I hopped with him back to his truck.
As soon as I pulled my seat belt on, he jumped into the driver’s seat and started the engine. “How did you get here without a car?”
“Izdor flew me out.”
“And he didn’t stick around?” Juriah searched the parking lot, nostrils flaring.
I frowned. “He didn’t communicate with you? He told me he would say something.”
“No, I didn’t hear anything.” He scratched his head. “Perhaps I was preoccupied with our engagement.”
“Can you reach him now?”
He was quiet for a moment, an eerie feeling sneaking into my chest as I watched him concentrate. Relief came with his smile.
I sighed. “Don’t scare me like that.”
“I just got a hold of him. He said he has eyes on us.”
“Good. That’s good.”
My heart thumped a few extra times for good measure. Good goddess, Izdor probably just got distracted, but it was strange because I didn’t see him as that type. Disregarding the alarms in my brain, I sat back and tried to focus on the fact that I had Juriah to myself.
The ride back would probably be nice and quiet. That was the thing about Juriah that felt odd too. He usually got quiet for a bit, and I usually didn’t mind it. Silence typically meant people were scheming, or at least that was what I had always experienced. With someone like Juriah, silence just meant comfort. I was getting used to it.
I might have been enjoying it too.
It was weird feeling safe with him. I’d never felt safe with anyone. But the past couple of weeks had shown me he meant it when he said he would give me space. Other than the handful of run-ins in the kitchen, he stuck to his word. Which annoyed me. And impressed me. And made me frustrated too.
I had wanted to jump his bones so many times. I wanted him to pin me against a wall and rail me like I was his personal toy. Every other moment with him felt like torture. Either it was desire or sheer hatred. There was no in-between.
Until today. Until we sat on that bench and talked to each other.
One conversation was enough to drop part of my guard. While I didn’t want to let him all the way in, I knew I couldn’t get to a good living point if I didn’t try. He hadn’t attacked me. He hadn’t tried sneaking into the room at night. He didn’t demand to know what I was thinking about or interrogate me about where I had gone when I went for a walk.
I crossed my arms over my chest. And then I promptly uncrossed them.
I didn’t need to hide from Juriah. As confusing as it felt to like him, I didn’t want to deny the feeling any longer. It hurt to turn him away, and I was just tired of hurting. For the first time in my life, I wanted to be around a person because they made me feel good, not intimidated.
I wanted to hang on to that feeling for as long as I could.
Juriah reached for the radio. “Music?”
“Sure.”
Country came through the speakers. I laughed when he made a face.
“I’m just not used to it, I suppose,” he confessed. “I like the orchestra.”
“Do you like opera music?”
