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I stood straight, holding my breath.
“Maddie?” I cautiously called again, hoping like hell my overactive imagination was playing tricks on me. It wouldn’t be the first time.
“Stop…”
The whispered protest came again, and a shot of adrenaline ripped through my veins. It was like a large magnet had been switched on, and I was being pulled forward, to hell with anything in my way.
I’d go over it, under it, through it.
I passed by the open rooms, frantically checking each until I reached a closed door. Jiggling the handle, I tried to push it open, but this house was old, and many of the doors needed a little persuasion. I shoved my shoulder into it, not giving a damn about the shooting pain that ripped like an electric current down my arm. Almost losing my footing, I fell inside.
The light from the hallway illuminated the room.
“What the hell—”
“Valen.”
My entire body jolted back to life, like those dreams you had when you were falling and you woke just before your body hit the ground. The violent jerk had me tossing the ice pack he’d handed me across the room. Reed stepped in, wrapping his arms around me. I pressed my forehead to his chest and took a couple of deep breaths.
I didn’t speak about Maddie very often because this was what happened.
It was like a wound that had never healed.
Never scarred over.
And every time I bumped or scraped it, the damn thing reopened—painful and bloody, just as though it had happened yesterday.
“Breathe,” Reed ordered, rubbing his hands up and down my thighs.
I blinked, a couple of stray tears I hadn’t noticed dripping onto my cheeks.
“This happens every single time,” I whispered, irritated at myself for falling to pieces. I was stronger than this, than these thoughts. “Sorry. It takes me by surprise sometimes.”
“You wanna talk about it?” He reached up, gently brushing my hair away from where my stitches were, before curling it around the side of my face and cradling my jaw. I leaned back, taking advantage of the opportunity to see his eyes up close. The pools of blue were a little darker today than they had been before. It was like staring into the ocean, knowing under the surface, things were far deeper than most people could imagine. And that could be scary for some, but for me, I simply wanted to dive in and explore.
“No. I don’t.” I cleared my throat, then added, “At least, not today.”
“Okay.” I was happy he didn’t push it. “You need something else to focus on.”
I laughed. “And what exactly do you sugge—”
His mouth claimed mine, the kiss soft and brief at first, leaving me a little stunned when he pulled away just enough to allow a breath of air to pass between our lips. “What are you doing?” I whispered, reaching out and twisting my fingers in the bottom of his T-shirt.
“Helping you focus on something else.”
Chapter Fourteen
VALEN
His lips moved away from mine, brushing along the edge of my jaw.
We’d done this dance only a few hours earlier, but this time it felt different.
There was no one else here.
We weren’t posing for cameras.
This was him and me.
