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“You need healing.”
“You’re not just going topoofme away too?” Sexy-as-heck kiss or not, I wasn’t going to forgive him for taking Daphne away when I’d only just gotten her back. I trusted Cole in this, even if I was stunned he’d been able to do that, but I was still annoyed.
He chuckled. “You’ll have to settle for me carrying you.”
That was the issue with Cole.
It was too easy to settle for any scrap he’d give me. I was so lonely I’d take them all and smother myself with them.
Chapter XI
Colecarriedme,andwhile I fought to stay awake in his arms, sleep threatened to claim me at any given moment. He strode through hallways with the same confidence he always moved with.
In the back of my mind, I knew this was it. We were going to finally need to confront those things he’d told me. The fact he was the King of Hell, for one.
That I’d been his queen.
I meant to bring it up, I did. But then he took me to a room and placed me down on a bed. I sank into the mattress, immediately comforted, curling in.
And then I knew nothing.
My sleep was black. At moments, I edged towards awareness. There were voices. Growling. A gruff, grumpy voice that barked demands. A familiar female one that never changed. Warmth. My body stitched back together. Aches that had become familiar went away.
I woke up slowly. My eyes fluttered open, the rest of my body heavy.
I was in a magnificent room. A wave of déjà vu hit me from the time I’d woken up in Hecate’s guest room after being petrified. But this room was a thousand times more decadent. It was the size of a small house, if the bits of it I saw while lying down were any indication. Large curtains hung floor to ceiling on the far wall. The bedposts spiraled up at least eight feet, steady beams that were ornately carved. The rest of the furniture I could make out to one side was similarly spectacular.
My examination of the room ended when I saw Cole asleep, upright in the chair next to the bed.
It was the second time I’d ever seen Cole asleep. And the only time not at my own hand.
His face lost the harsh, controlled tilt I was accustomed to. Even when he flirted or teased me, there was an element of restraint that never escaped him. But here, the curls of his black hair fell aside. His head was tilted back, throat exposed. Skin trailed down, his shirt only half-buttoned with the edges of that entrancing tattoo peeking out.
“Developing a penchant for voyeurism?”
I jolted, flicking up to see Cole’s eyes open in narrow slits as his lip curled into a familiar twist.
My cheeks heated. “Just wondering how many hours I slept that you fell asleep waiting for me to wake up.”
A beat, and I knew more time had passed than I’d realized.
“It’s been four days.” The words were said without a trace of humor.
I started to sit up.Four days?“I need to get to Daphne—”
He was out of the chair in half a heartbeat, and with one hand, pushed me back down. “Your friend is fine. You’ll rest more until Hecate is confident you’re well.”
Annoyance flared. “I’m fine. Let me go to my friend.”
Cole’s face said he wouldn’t be yielding, but I attempted to sit up again anyway.
The blanket started to fall away, and another awareness took over.
I blinked. My clothes—all of them—were missing. “Where the frick are my clothes?”
His amber eyes narrowed on me, drinking in the exposed skin in a way that made me want to bare my chest instead of cover it.
I dragged the blanket up.
