Total pages in book: 110
Estimated words: 107166 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 536(@200wpm)___ 429(@250wpm)___ 357(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107166 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 536(@200wpm)___ 429(@250wpm)___ 357(@300wpm)
“I did.”
“Why?”
“Because you saved me.”
He leans forward, his hand leaving my wrist and lifting the side of my shirt. I feel his fingers tracing the scar that day left. I lift my own hand and place it over his heart and shake my head. “I didn’t save you. You saved me.”
“We saved each other,” Tobias answers as he moves closer. Our faces are a mere inch apart. “Why did you think I was dead?”
“He told me you were.”
“Who told you?”
“My dad—” Then I’m shaking my head. “My adoptive dad.”
Tobias’s eyes are wide, and they look deep and endless. “What exactly—?”
“Stop.”
He does.
“I don’t want to talk about him. I don’t want to think about him.”
“What do you want, then?” He leans in closer. So close, my chest heaves into his.
“To see you. To touch you. To understand how you are here. Are you here?” I move closer, tracing my fingers over his skin and down his jaw. I trace the lines of his face. Trace his face as if I’m remembering. And I am.
I remember the boy in the closet with me. The older boy who kept me safe. Kept me calm. He might think I saved him, and in a way, I did. I stopped him from falling to the same fate as my parents, as his dad, but he saved me. His presence has been with me since that day. He’s guided me.
I reach up and touch his cheek, feeling the stubble there. He’s so handsome with his dark hair and light eyes. I can’t stop touching him, and I don’t want to. He lets me. He lets my hands roam. My fingers remember, and then as I do, he barely breathes. He doesn’t move; he just stares, and then he’s touching me back. His hand wraps around my back and pulls me close.
“I was so mad,” he says as his lips hover over mine. “I thought you forgot me. I thought I spent my whole life looking for you, and you forgot me.” Something in his eyes makes me think he wants me to apologize.
“I’m sorry,” I say, the words falling out of my mouth before I can sort them out. Tobias pulls back, his eyes wide.
“Don’t be,” he says.
“I never forgot you. You were always with me.” He lifts my wrist to his mouth. “And still are.”
He kisses my skin, pulling back to look at me. His gaze lights a blaze inside me. My heart races. It feels like a moment on pause as I wait for him to do something. His tongue moves across the tattoo, sending shivers to run over my body. Then he pulls back, removing his lips from my wrist and pressing his mouth to mine. I kiss him back. The kiss becomes heated, and soon we are both breathing hard. I am lost, and if I’m never found, that’s a fate I would take just to be in his arms.
38
Tobias
I hear the sound before I see her. Blinking my eye, she comes into focus. Skye is walking in.
Lifting my hand, I scrub at my face. What happened? The last thing I remember was kissing Skye. Now, I’m lying down in my bedroom. The shot the doctor gave me must have knocked me the fuck out.
“You’re up.” Skye smiles at me as she crosses the space and stands beside my bed.
“How long was I sleeping?” I ask her before a yawn escapes my mouth. She laughs.
“A while,” she responds.
“That’s not an answer, Skye.”
“You’re right. It’s not.” This time she smirks. “It’s not important. You needed your rest,” she answers.
“I’m fine.”
“You most certainly are not fine. You were shot.”
“I’ve had worse.”
“Good to know.
“What happened last night? How did I end up here?”
Her cheeks color a bright shade of red. “Are you hungry?” she asks, trying to change the topic. It’s cute, but I’m not having it.
“I’m not an idiot. I know I kissed you. I mean, how did I end up in this bed, asleep? Alone?” I raise my brow.
“The doctor gave you something to relax you. I’m sure you remember that?” I nod at her question. “Then you kissed me . . .” she leads, and of course, I remember that, too. How could I forget that? I could be out of my mind on psychedelics, and I wouldn’t ever forget that.
“Still following.” I grin. “But that doesn’t put me in this bed.”
“That’s it. Nothing else happened. You walked us back to this room. Got in bed and fell asleep.” She shrugs before her eyes narrow in a sexy yet mischievous way. “You were a real letdown.”
“Ouch.”
“Just keeping it real.”
I laugh at that, but the movement makes me groan. I might not have sustained any serious injuries, but it will take a day or two for me to feel like myself again.
“Stop moving. You’re going to hurt yourself.” Skye moves closer to me, her hand reaching out to adjust my pillow. “So, are you hungry?” she asks again.