Page 123 of Heir

Or perhaps he was just reacting to my freak-out from last night.

It could be both, or it could be none of those things, and I wasn’t sure which I hoped would be the case.

When I was about half done with my coffee, I set the mug down on the nightstand, meeting his eyes for one, two, three long seconds before I couldn’t take it and looked down at the sheets.

I squirmed a little on the bed.

I wished he wouldn’t focus so intently on me.

Finally, he put his coffee mug next to mine on the nightstand.

“I suppose we should talk,” I said, not meeting his eyes again. “You probably want an explanation, don’t you?”

“Yes,” he said simply.

I looked up at him.

His face remained impassive.

I wished he wouldn’t treat me so coldly. I wished he’d taken me in his arms and promised everything would be okay.

Why was he acting like this?

I didn’t know, but it was making me want to cry.

“My mom’s looking for me,” I said quietly.

He didn’t say anything. I pulled the sheets up a little higher. I wished he would have let me dress, at least.

“Can I put on a shirt? I don’t really feel like talking about this while I’m naked.”

He made a small indistinguishable noise in the back of his throat before he pulled off the shirt he was wearing and put it on me.

Holy. Hell.

Did he think this would make me focus more?

His shirt was warm from him, and it smelled so much like him that I couldn’t focus.

Then there was the fact that he was shirtless, his hard muscle and ink on display. My eyes automatically went to the butterfly tattoo on his neck. It had been visible even with the shirt on, but now it was like a beacon in a stormy sea.

I couldn’t help but look at it.

“Kai,” I said, my hand twitching to reach out for him. But his odd mood this morning was throwing me off. I realized this was the first time I had ever felt unsure since we started sleeping together, not knowing if he would welcome it.

My bottom lip trembled a little at the thought.

He made a small, tortured sound at the back of his throat, surprising me, and then I was in his arms.

The moment he had me wrapped up in his warm embrace was the moment I could breathe again.

Breathe in, breathe out.

I peeked up at him. “Why are you acting so cold this morning?”

He frowned. “Was I cold? I didn’t want to scare you.”

Now I was mirroring his expression. “How would you scare me?”

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