And all his tension went away as if it had never existed at all.
Chapter Eight
Raven curled back into him, stretching her legs against his. “Dead?” she murmured sleepily.
“Go back to sleep. Everything is okay.”
His voice sounded thick, though, so she twisted around and studied the grim line of his lips in the soft glow from the window. “What’s wrong?”
“Just a dream. I wanted to sleep in here if you’re okay with it.”
“Of course, I am.” She faced him fully and then massaged the back of his neck to his shoulders. “If you say a dream out loud, it won’t come true.”
“It already came true.”
“Oooh,” she murmured. She ran her nails down his arm, then to his back. He rolled his eyes closed and moaned.
“I have a theory,” Raven uttered softly.
“About what?”
“About why you’re so funny and feed off of making people laugh.”
He cracked a smile, his eyes still closed against her scratching his back. “So, you think I’m funny.”
“Hilarious. But sometimes the people who smile the most are the ones who have taken on the most damage. Jokes are your camouflage.”
When he opened his eyes, they were the dark brown of his bull’s. “You’re terrifying.”
“Because I’m right?”
“Because you look too closely and see too much.”
She leaned forward and pecked his lips, then eased back again. “I feel the same about you, so we’re even.”
And then he told her a story about how his bucking name came to be—Dead of Winter. The words tumbled from his lips in the dark like a waterfall. He told her about the day after his birthday party, how his mother had gone to meet a drug dealer who was a shifter. That night would be the first time she slipped Filsa into his meal. He hadn’t understood what was happening at the time because he’d been a scared kid, but he’d put everything together with his dad later. She’d told him her boy was dead. Her ramblings went on and on, insults falling from her lips like the snowflakes fell from the clouds outside. That snowstorm was one that was burned into his head. Dead of Winter had been named. Only he didn’t choose it until years later when that memory visited his dreams every night for months. It was a way of owning his past. He told her he’d never shared the origin of his name with anyone but his dad, and her heart both hurt and soared for him.
Sharing burdens could be freedom, but often people didn’t learn that until their troubles had eaten away at them. And for a strong, independent, intelligent, tough-as-nails bull shifter like Dead? She would bet her pet plants that he’d let them eat away at him instead of burdening anyone else with the truth of how he came to be.
For her, though? She’d met a stranger, and the things he’d revealed allowed her to fall in love in one day. She knew she was falling. She could feel it down to her soul.
It wasn’t love at first sight. It was love at first share.
When he grew quiet, she snuggled closer to him and rested her cheek on his chest. His heart was beating so hard—bum-bum, bum-bum, bum-bum. Up and down his back, she gently ran her nails until his heart stopped racing and his breathing steadied out.
“I love your name,” she whispered. “It’s a stronger name than anyone even realizes.”
Dead laid a kiss on top of her head and hugged her tighter. “Sleep now, pretty Raven. You’re safe.”
And just before she slipped into sleep again, she murmured, “So are you.”
Chapter Nine
“So then I asked her to travel with me this week and see what my job is like.”
Raven sat up in bed with a grumpy frown. Dead was talking to someone in the living room. A glance at the clock, and she wanted to groan and pull the pillow back over her head. It was five in the morning.
“And what did she say?” Raven’s dad asked over the speaker phone.
What the hell? She bolted out of bed and stumbled down the stairs to find Dead, fully dressed, his hair wet from a shower and a bright grin on his face Facetiming her parents while he sat in the recliner.
“Mom?” she asked. “Dad?” They were both crammed into the tiny screen of Dead’s cell phone. “How did you get Dead’s number?”
“Your hair looks a little wild, honey. Maybe fix it a little so you can keep this boy impressed,” Mom said, right before she took a sip of coffee from the #1 Mom mug Raven had made her in fifth grade. “Dead called us to have a coffee date and introduce himself.”
“Okay, stalker,” she muttered, patting her hair into place as she sat on the arm of his recliner.
“Actually, your dad called your phone three times, and I didn’t mean to be nosy, but it was lighting up. I used his number from your phone and called him off my phone to make sure everything was okay. And also to introduce myself. Meeting the parents is a big deal. Also, your boss texted that you can have the week off. I didn’t mean to see that either. It came through when I was looking for your dad’s number.”
Excitement rattled through her. “Really? I’m off for a week?” She bolted to her purse and pulled out her phone and, yep, her boss had really agreed. About time you had some fun. Just come back next Tuesday. I can have Zeke fill in for you until then. He’s been looking for extra hours anyway.
“It’s so great that you finally have a boyfriend!” Mom said through Dead’s phone in her cute little high-pitched voice. But then she lowered her voice and her eyes grew
