Page 47 of Stolen Dreams

I step in and let the water rain over me, when the first tear escapes me.I wipe it away as another one comes and I fight them away.I don’t waste time, and when I get out of the shower and dry myself off, the aroma of steak now fills the house.I get dressed as fast as I can, grabbing my clothes and taking them with me.“Right on time,” he says, looking at me walking into the kitchen.“Just took the steak out of the pan.”He puts it on the plate.

“I’m just going to drop this in the room.”I hold up the clothes in my hand and he comes over to me.

“Give me that,” he says, grabbing my clothes from me, “and go eat.”

“You’re bossy,” I huff but don’t move from in front of him, wanting to touch him but not sure if I should.The way my stomach flips and flutters makes it even worse.I’ve been naked in his bed, yet standing in front of him, I’m so nervous I might throw up on his feet.I watch him walk back to his bedroom and then come back empty-handed.“Where are my clothes?”

“In my basket,” he states as if that is where they belong.“Why aren’t you eating?”

“How am I supposed to do my clothes if they are in your basket?”I close my eyes when the stinging starts again.

“I’ll throw them in with mine,” he replies.

“You do laundry?”I know the question is dumb but I’ve never thought of him as domesticated.

“If I want clean clothes.”He laughs.“Learned when I was eight that if I wanted clean clothes, I had to wash them myself.”He gives me a little insight into his past, something I’ve always been curious about, but never gotten the nerve to ask him.

“I can also do them,” I suggest.“I like doing it.”

“No one likes doing laundry, Lilah.”He laughs, and my hand moves before I can stop it, reaching up to his face, wanting to touch his face while he laughs.

“I actually do,” I say softly as my fingertips feel his cheek.“I’ll do it tomorrow.”

“Don’t you have homework to do?”he asks, and I nod.

“I’ll do a load before I leave.”I step even closer to him.

“How about I take care of that and you take care of your homework?Now, for the last time, go and eat.”

“Okay,” I agree, about to turn but get on my tippy-toes and kiss his lips.“Thanks for making me dinner.”I turn and walk over to grab the plate before going to the table and sitting down.“Will you sit with me?”I ask, and he comes over and pulls out the chair he always has sat in the last couple of times I’ve eaten here.“How was today?”

“Amazing,” he says with a smile as I cut my steak and put a piece in my mouth.The spices make my mouth water as I chew it.

“How did Rosy do?”I ask of the special horse I knew would go to Lucy the minute she walked in with Emmett.

“She was so good,” he replies, and I smile as I grab a forkful of the corn he made as a side, along with the roasted potatoes.

“How was Lucy?”I’m sad I missed it but happy the two of them got to share that moment.

“She was…” He shakes his head.“She’s a fucking natural.”He chuckles.

“Well, she obviously got it from her father.”I point the fork at him.

“She learned from somewhere,” he states, and I see his eyebrows go up.“Want to know what else she learned?”I tilt my head to the side, waiting for him to say whatever it is he needs to say.“She asked me when she could go fast.”I chuckle and then quickly put my hand in front of my mouth to stop the noise.“She’s out for the count.She slept like an hour last night and then I made her ride and muck stalls all day long.She was begging to go to sleep at five.”We both laugh now.

I finish eating the whole plate before I walk over to the sink and rinse it off and put it in the dishwasher.I’m wiping my hands when the room goes into darkness when the television goes off.I look over at his shadow walking to me.“Ready for bed?”His voice is low, and he slides his hand into mine as we make our way to his bedroom and his bed.

“Am I sleeping in here?”I ask as we walk into his bedroom, and he wraps an arm around my waist, pulling me to him.

“Yeah, baby,” he confirms before his mouth is on mine, and he walks me backward to his bed.“This is where you’re going to sleep.”I don’t say anything else because I get lost in him.

ChapterTwenty-Six

EMMETT

“What the hell is that noise?”I grumble as I hear the soft sound of bells fill the room.

“My alarm,” she mumbles from behind me.I’m on my stomach in the middle of my bed, and she’s draped over me.Her front is plastered to my side; her legs tangled with mine as her hand drapes over my back.“Can you get it?”

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