Page 241 of Kingdoms of Night

“Here.” He handed me a bottle of water. “Drink that.”

I didn’t argue; I just obeyed. Which required me to move a little, but each swallow seemed to cool the ache inside me more and more.

Then he gave me a plate of fruit, causing my eyebrow to inch upward.

“There’s a garden nearby. No one has harvested it in a while.” He shrugged. “I sensed your heat was finally waning, so I ran over there this morning to pick some fruit from the plants. I also pulled a few peaches off the tree next to it.”

I picked up one of the strawberries and groaned at the sweet flavor. “Oh, this is good,” I said.

His lips quirked up, a memory clearly lurking in his gaze.

I didn’t ask, because I suspected I’d said something like that about his cum.

He settled beside me and eventually helped me sit up so I could eat more easily. But he didn’t say anything. He merely brushed his fingertips over my bruises, his gaze assessing. And when he reached the claiming mark on my shoulder, I flinched.

His mouth curled downward at the tell. However, he didn’t speak. He let me finish eating instead, which I was grateful for because I was starving.

I finished two bottles of water before I started to feel somewhat okay again, but I still ached everywhere.

He took the empty plate and bottles from me, then set them on the nightstand.

Another moment of silence lapsed between us.

And finally he looked at me again. “Are you all right?”

I touched the bite mark. “I’m…”Confused? Overwhelmed? Pained?I couldn’t really find the right word.

My reaction seemed to unnerve him a bit because his gaze shuttered in the next moment.

“You gave me permission, Riley. You told me to claim you.”

I frowned. “Yeah, I remember.”

“Yet you regret it now?” he pressed.

My eyes widened. “You think I regret it?”

“Don’t you?”

“No,” I answered immediately. “I’m just… processing.” There. That was a good word to describe how I felt.

His jaw clenched. “I smell doubt.”

“Any doubt you smell isn’t a result of me questioning your claim. I’m struggling to remember everything… after that. Up until now.” I reached for him, realizing that I’d inspired this sense of uncertainty in him because of my behavior over the last, well, year.

His eyes met mine, the fierceness in them taking my breath away. “I don’t regret it.”

“Good,” I told him. “Because I don’t regret it either.”

“Good,” he echoed.

I arched a brow.

He arched one back.

“Are you going to kiss me now, or do I need to beg?” I demanded.

He huffed a laugh and shook his head. “I think I want to hear you beg.”

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