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Body.
Mind.
Soul.
FORTY-ONE
Ryth
We slept,tangled in each other’s arms, drifting into the darkness. Only we didn’t stay there, waking every so often to turn to each other. Gentle brushes of lips. The soft stroke of a hand, until the weight settled against me. Sleep wasn’t welcome, not when we were so raw.
When I woke in the morning, I was alone. Faint light spilled in between the closed blinds. For a second, fear moved in, making my heart hammer. I jerked my head up from the pillow, to see Caleb sitting on the chair, watching me. “Easy, princess,” he reassured. “We thought you could use a sleep-in.”
I sucked in hard breaths, trying to quell the pounding of my heart. “What time is it?”
“A little after ten.”
“Shit.” I kicked out at the blanket. “We need to—”
Caleb rose and crossed the small space between us to caress the mark on my cheek. “The only thing you need to do right now is to breathe and relax.”
The door to the next room opened and closed and it took me a second to remember that it was my room next door.
“There she is,” Tobias muttered as he stepped through the connecting door and headed for me, bending low to kiss me on the lips. “You sleep okay?”
“Kinda,” I answered.
He gave a slow nod, the dark circles under his eyes telling me he’d slept the same. In fact, we all looked the same.
“We ate all the food from last night.” T gave a shrug. “So I jogged down to the bakery to get you this.”
He lifted a small paper bag in one hand, then a coffee cup in his other. “And this.” The smell of the brew made me groan and reach for it. But he just chuckled and pulled away at the last minute. “Easy. Not so fast. What are you going to do for it, first?”
“What?”
“I mean.” He gave a shrug. “I had to run for this.”
A smile tugged at the corners of my mouth. I scowled and crossed my arms over my bare breasts. “What do youwant for it?”
He scowled, squinted, then lunged, dropping the bakery bag onto the end of the bed to push me backwards. “How about you, baby?”
I let out a bark of laughter, glancing at the cup. “Better not have spilled that.”
He just smiled, then eased away and handed over the cup. “What do you take me for?”
The outer door to the other room opened and closed, and the familiar thud of Nick’s steps echoed through the door. “Someone’s wasting damn time,” he growled, looking at the cup in my hand as he came into our room. “Want to eat that on the road, I kind of want to get moving?”
“Sure.” I pushed up from the bed. “Can I grab a shower?”
“Absolutely.” He gave me a smile. “I’ll get our things together.”
I took a sip of coffee and headed for our bathroom, shaking my head the moment I stepped inside. Wet towels were dropped in a pile on the floor but there was a fresh set sitting on the counter for me. I closed the door, reached in and turned on the faucets to adjust the temperature, and stepped in. By the time I was done, I felt more alive than I had in a long time.
“Knock, knock,” Caleb murmured as he turned the handle and opened the door. “Figured you could do with some clean clothes.”
He handed me the same ones I’d worn yesterday, only this time they were freshly washed and dried. “Thanks.” I grabbed the clothes and pulled them on.
“Nick’s organized a replacement car.” Caleb leaned against the doorframe and watched me as I tugged my jeans up and reached for my bra.
