Page 14 of Essa

Essa nods, pressing gauze to my shoulder and ripping some medical tape with her teeth. She adheres the gauze with the tape to my shoulder, brushing her fingers over the bandage and my skin. I break into goosebumps. Everywhere she touches, I feel warm.

"That's good," Essa says, her voice soft and melodic, just like I like it. "I'm going to sit next to you until it wears off."

She scoots me further into the booth of the table seating. She grabs my water canister from the counter and brings it over before sitting down with me. Seth slides in on the other side, and I smile at being so close to both of them.

"Drink," Essa says, placing the water in my hand. I shiver at the chance to do as she says and work as quickly as I can, even though it feels like I'm moving through something thick. Her fingers run over the short strands of my hair, her dark nails pressing soothingly into my scalp. "Good boy."

Seth makes a snorting sound, another laugh that makes my heart swell. Essa shoots him an unhappy look, and he bites his lips to keep from laughing anymore.

"If he remembers this, he's going to hate you," Seth says.

My brows tug together at that. I don't hate Essa. I could never hate Essa. I lean against her, wanting to feel her touch more of me. She runs her fingers through my hair some more, and I shift as close to her as I can so our thighs are touching, my shoulder pressed against her chest. My hands are on my lap, but if I move them just a little, I can feel her soft thighs.

"Don't touch me with your hands," Essa tells me, and I settle my hands back in my lap.

"So good at obeying," she whispers and squeezes the back of my neck, causing a soft whimpering sound to leave my lips.

She turns to face Seth but continues to rub my head. They speak words that are too hard for me to keep up with. My body tingles with relaxation and warmth. I'm safe here, safer than I've ever been.

"Sleep," Essa whispers into my ear, and yes, sleeping sounds amazing. Sleep is exactly what I need.

I lean my head against her shoulder, her dark hair pressed against my cheek. I want to reach out and spin some around myfinger, but I don't get to touch. Not yet. I'll have to earn that. I can earn that.

six

Seth

"He's waking," Essa nudges me awake from where she's kneeling at the side of the bed on the other side of Adam.

We brought Adam back to the room when he fell asleep last night, but Essa wanted to stay and make sure he didn't have any harmful side effects from her venom. The bags under her eyes tell me she didn't sleep last night. I told her she should try, but it's clear that if she did, she didn't find any.

I sit up in the bed, extracting myself from Adam's arms. His lashes are fluttering, and he takes a deep breath through his nose. I tilt my head to the side, my hands close to his shoulders because I don't know what mood he'll be in when he wakes up.

His eyes shoot open, and he tries to bolt upright. I hold him down, keeping him against the bed, my face close to his, making sure he knows I'm right here. I'm in bed with him. There's a panic in his eyes, just like there normally is when he first wakes.

"Essa," he says, his throat working as he takes another deep breath.

His eyes are wide, and anger hasn't taken over yet, but I still don't trust it. He pushes against me again, trying to get up.

I need to find her.Adam tells me in his mind. He'd see her if he looked next to us, but I don't know if that'll be good or bad.

"Why?" I ask out loud, needing Essa to know what's happening.

The question or maybe the answer seems to clear Adam's mind enough to remind him that he hates her or is still pretending to hate her. His eyes darken, anger flickering, his muscles tensing.

"She fucking drugged me," Adam snaps, pushing against me again.

Essa gets the memo and scoots backward away from the bed. The movement catches Adam's attention, and he jolts to face her. He's quiet for a long moment, maybe remembering how he nuzzled into her touch and whimpered when she called him a good boy.

Now isn't the time to bring it up. It will get brought up, but not right now when he's obviously embarrassed by the memories resurfacing.

"You drugged me," he snarls at her.

"I told you I'd hurt you if you didn't back away," Essa says, her voice holding a stern edge to it.

She told me last night not to look at her if she and Adam start fighting because he gets her so worked up that she ends up looking like she did when we were in the entertainment room. I don't know what it is, but my mind screamed for me to run, hide, beg.

We talked about a lot last night. Adam told me I was fine to pursue her after our argument yesterday in the kitchen. I have no plans of doing anything other than getting to know her untilI know Adam's not going to be an ass to her every time they're near one another. Preferably, he'll admit he wants her at some point, and then we can really get to know one another.

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