“Sorry,” she mumbled into the material.
His fingers trailed through her hair, over her shoulder and under the covers. “Why are you hiding from me?” he asked gently.
Eva lifted her head, found unearthly yellow eyes watching her. “I’m not.”
“Liar.” He smirked. Her tummy protested again. John laughed. “Hungry?”
She nodded. “What time is it?”
Rolling away, he reached for his phone. “Midnight.”
“No wonder I’m hungry. We slept through dinner. Why isn’t your stomach complaining?”
John shrugged. “Maybe you didn’t wear me out as much as I did you.” His gaze filled with mischief and Eva had to bite her lip to keep from smiling.
“Are you complaining?” She raised a brow, fake outrage in her tone.
“Yes,” he deadpanned. “I think you should try again.”
With a shake of her head, Eva sat up, the covers pooling around her waist as she poked him in the chest. “That was mean, John Warden.”
But John wasn’t watching her face anymore, his heated gaze instead fixed on her exposed breasts. “I lied. I am hungry,” he answered softly. “Starving in fact.”
Heat pooled in her belly, anticipation swirling through her veins. “John,” she whispered, both a plea and a warning.
He had her under him a second later, all thoughts of food forgotten. In fact, Eva realized she was as starved as John too.
Chapter 25
John
“A feast in bed for my woman, coming right up,” John announced, jumping from bed and pulling on a pair of shorts from his drawer. There was a spark in his blood.He was lighter, hopeful, happy. Eva was his drug.
“John,” Eva called before he’d reached the doorway. “Can you pass me a T-shirt or something?”
He studied her naked in his bed. “But I prefer you like that.” He pouted dramatically, bursting laughter from her lungs. The sound made his heart sing.
Dragging in a breath to calm herself, Eva shook her head. “I never imagine you’d be so… playful.”
Neither did I. Seemed for his future mate, he had all kinds of surprises waiting to be revealed. “I’m not playing. I want you naked from now on.”
Her eyes narrowed. “Clothes, John.”
Picking up the shirt she’d all but torn from him on their way in earlier, John tossed it at her. “Fine, you can wear my clothes.”
“Food.” She waved a hand at him. “Bad man.”
Chuckling as he left the bedroom, John marveled at his joyful state. She was more than he could have imagined, and he never planned to let her go. One day soon, Eva would be giving in and would be his in all ways. Connected to him on a level only mates had the privilege of knowing. He tried not to think about her wanting to go back to college; he wasn’t sure how he’d deal with that. A part of him wanted to refuse her leaving—the wilder, more primal side of him. But the human knew caging her would damage the very thing he loved about her—her spirit.
Birds who were chained forgot how to fly, and his Evaline was only just beginning to take flight. The weight of her sorrow was a crushing thing, something she’d only just begun to release, and he’d walk beside her as she dealt with all her pain. Past, present, and future. It was his job. His privilege.
Searching his cupboards for some food, John made a mental note to stock his kitchen with better supplies for future midnight feasts. He put what he could find on a tray that had been left behind from a delivered meal from the pack kitchen. Hot drinks followed, and then John was returning to his bedroom, tray in hand to find his woman sitting up in bed, looking delicious in his shirt, her hair mussed from his fingers, and her lips slightly swollen from his greedy mouth. She looked far more edible than the food he’d put together.
“You’re doing that thing again,” she murmured as he climbed into bed and put the tray down before them. “Looking at me like that.”
“Like what, Eva?”
Her gaze flickered up shyly, then back to the food. Her words were quiet and unsure when she said, “Like you’ve been waiting for me your entire life.”
He lifted her chin with a finger, making her meet his face. “I have.”
“I doubt that.” She scoffed. “I’m just a human, John, surrounded by people far stronger than me.”
A worm of worry made its way into his head. It wasn’t good she saw herself as weak amongst his kind. He needed to make her see she had a place here and felt as important as anyone else.
“You’re not just anything, Evaline. There are those in Dark Shadow who would have panicked in the face of what you did today with Oliver. Without the gentlest of us, we would never be a home. They are our heart, Eva, and the strongest of us, the ribcage that protects it. But strength isn’t always measured in the person’s ability to fight.” His hand found her heart. “Strength is measured here.”
“Then I am weak,” she whispered, tears filling her eyes.
“No, baby. To feel heartache and remain standing, that is strength. Do you honestly believe your brother and father would have gotten this far without you? You’ve kept your family together even as you were falling apart. No more doubt, Eva. You belong here just as much as anyone else.”
Blinking back her tears, Eva smiled. “My mom would have liked you.”
His chest filled painfully tight. “Let’s hope your father does too,” he replied, hoping to lift the sorrow from her eyes.
She laughed softly. “It’s my brother you need to
