“You have to look for the light in the dark,” I breathed. “It’s all there is. There might not be much at all right now, but there’s something. Hold onto the good, don’t let the bad destroy you.”
His eyes bored into me, a churning sea of dark jade hypnotising me. He tugged my lapels hard and my mouth crashed against his, a fire bursting to life along my spine as his hands snared me and his tongue pushed between my lips. His pain washed through me, connecting to mine and suddenly I was falling apart, forgetting my shock and devouring this moment as my lips parted further to encourage him. I felt him everywhere, his hands crushing me to him and his powerful body encasing me like a wall moulding around my flesh.
I gasped as he bit my lower lip in his passion, his anger, his hate. And I clawed at the back of his neck, wanting to draw blood across the tattoo that bound him as a Night Keeper. I despised him, understood him, wanted him. I was lost and confused yet there was nowhere in the world I wanted to be right now but here, sharing that ache inside me with someone who truly knew what it felt like to suffer the way I had suffered over the loss of my sister.
His tongue moved in hungry strokes against mine and warmth spread between my thighs, a moan escaping me as my body came to life for him. Then his lips broke away from mine, kissing my tears away until I was trembling in his arms. His mouth pressed to my forehead last and I was folded into the most comforting embrace of my life as he rested his chin on top of my head.
His heartbeat thundered in my ear as I rested my cheek to his chest and I drew in a shaky breath as I found myself totally consumed by him. We were two broken creatures in desperate need of each other. And I didn’t dare let myself overthink that as I held him and he held me too.
“Here,” I said, dipping my hand into my pocket and pressing the watch into his palm. He looked down at it, his brows lifting and his face morphing into shock. “It was in the lost and found.”
“You…why would you give this back to me?” he rasped, his thumb brushing the precious metal as his brows pulled together.
Good question. Why did I give it back?
Before we’d kissed, I’d wanted to hold onto it, but now I’d tasted his pain, how could I not give it to him? I didn’t want to play games with something so cherished, even if he had played a part in taking the same from me. I guessed my heart wasn’t black enough to keep it from him.
He placed it into his pocket, tugging me back against him as he sighed a thank you, the tension running out of his limbs.
“I broke a rule,” he breathed eventually. “You should punish me.”
“Shh.” I shut my eyes tight. “It never happened.”
I knew I should have taken the chance to hurt him, but he was already hurting deeper than I could ever cut him. And for tonight, that was enough.
He remained quiet for a while, his breath stirring my hair. “I’m never going to let you go,” he said, his voice holding a vow in it that made a shiver of fear run through me.
“Maybe not,” I breathed. “But I will run away the moment I get the chance. And I will get the chance, Blake.”
He clutched me tighter, a growl in his throat. “Then you’d better run fast, sweetheart, because I’ve never lost a race in my life.”
***
The boys were in their rooms dressing for football practice the next evening and they’d decided to let me stay here while they were out. I couldn’t believe it. I mean yeah, Saint had left me fifty chores to do upon pain of death, but so what? I’d race through them in thirty minutes then have a whole hour and a half to myself to raid the food stores, put on a movie and chill the fuck out. I was so excitable about this that it had been almost impossible to keep a straight face around them when Saint had told me ten minutes ago.
Now, I was in the kitchen doing the washing up, shaking my ass to Hips Don’t Lie by Shakira in my head and biting my lip on a grin as the skirt of my long white dress danced around my ankles. It was kind of pathetic that my life had come to this. But I wasn’t going to dwell on the fact that I was over the moon about something which should have been entirely within my control. Instead, I was just going to enjoy my evening and spend the time plotting ways to bring about the Night Keepers’ demise. Bliss.
I placed the last of the plates in the rack and dried my hands, heading to the dining table where my gaze fell on Saint’s laptop. Just sitting there, abandoned. I glanced up at the balcony, noticing the door to the bathroom was open and light was spilling out.
It wasn’t like I cared who he bothered to email (most likely Cruella de Vil about his new fur coat), but Monroe had been vying to get his hands on Saint’s
