Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 79726 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 399(@200wpm)___ 319(@250wpm)___ 266(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79726 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 399(@200wpm)___ 319(@250wpm)___ 266(@300wpm)
“Baby, come here,” I say, opening my arms. He did all that and isn’t even going to come? Is he holding his pleasure at bay so he can stay? Oh my god. So many emotions choke my chest. I want to hold him tight all night long. And longer. Maybe even forever. A thought that should scare me more than it does. But he was right. Everything makes sense when we’re like this.
He pulls me into his arms instead, and I think about what he said about doing anything to stay. I should ask him if he has anything left in the flask he got from Layden. I should leap out of bed right now to get it in case he disappears this very moment.
But. . . won’t that just make it like when I first met him? Yes, I’d get him for an extended period, only to lose him again for God knows how long? Isn’t it better to get to know the usual rhythm of his and Romulus’s switches so we can all learn how to live together for real? If we actually want this to last.
Remus might not want to talk about his brother, but after the heights of pleasure he just sent me to, all my thoughts and worries are suddenly rushing back in like an unstoppable tidal wave. I’d rather get to sorting how we might actually make this work.
“You’ll always come back,” I say as he strokes his hands through my hair.
“You know,” I try, biting my bottom lip before going on, “I could be a sort of go-between if there are things you want to talk to Romulus about. I think if the two of you tried to communicate a little, then maybe we could all—”
But Remus just lets out a great scoff and hugs me closer to him. “I just got much-needed privacy from that bastard by separating our memories. The last thing I want is to communicate with him.”
I huff out a disappointed breath, but Remus doesn’t seem to notice as he squeezes me tighter. “It’s just you and me here.”
I relax against him and try to fight my eyes fluttering closed at how good it feels in his arms. I want to stay awake and horde every moment with him, but suddenly, the weight of all the day’s events and how long I’ve been up slams me. My eyes pop open only to blink slower and slower, closing several moments later as Remus keeps strumming his hands through my hair, lulling me to sleep.
“Just you and me,” he murmurs again, the last thing I hear before I drift off.
Chapter Nineteen
ROMULUS
I spring awake and blink in shock at the feel of the warm, naked woman curled in my arms. At least I have my pants on this time.
I should disentangle myself from her immediately. It’s wrong for me to stay here and steal this moment enjoying the thick curves of her leg thrown over my hip, my hand wrapped around her soft waist. Reflexively, my hands squeezes a little, and she responds, nestling her face in further against my naked chest.
For a moment, I can’t breathe.
And it strikes me that I—
Dear god I never knew what it was to want before this moment.
Because I want her. Not just sexually, though, yes, my rod is stiffening with wakefulness. But it’s so much more than that. I want to wake with her curled around me like this every morning. I want her to look at me with those laughing, teasing eyes of hers. I want to protect her and care for her so she is safe and never has a want or need that is not immediately met.
My chest lightens with this amazing discovery. But then I’m struck with the deep blow of loss the next.
Because the only reason she’s curled around me so intimately at this moment is because she was with him.
Remus.
My eternal nemesis who’s finally gone too far. If I could carve him out of the back of my head, I would. He picked the one woman in the world who was perfect for me but also had a big enough heart to care for him in spite of all his bullshit.
She’s impossible, and yet here she is.
The question is, what the hell am I going to do with her now? What are his plans for her? Because he’s somehow managed to block his mind and memories from me, so for once, I can’t see his schemes. I’m playing chess, blindfolded, with a maniac. And it’s not just a battle in the name of some faceless warlord I care nothing about.
This is for her.
I won’t let anything harm her. Especially not my twin.
Selfishly, I stay perfectly still, holding her for hours until sunlight begins to spill through the windows. Her face is so perfect and serene in sleep. Her beauty makes my chest ache.