Page 181 of Hidden Kingdoms

And as he pressed his lips to mine in a slow, sweeping kiss that explored every inch of my mouth, I knew he didn’t, either.

64

CHAPTER SIXTY-FOUR

ELODIE

The taste of Kaius still lingered on my tongue as I stood before the mirror. I had excused myself to the bathroom, needing a moment to clean up and change. I stared at the shining, polished surface instead.At the tangled hair and swollen lips. The smear of blood on my chin.

Something familiar about the light that glimmered in my dark eyes told me that there had once been a time it had been present, and I found myself searching my reflection for signs that the girl I was before was still there.

I wasn’t sure what before even meant.

Was it the time before I had been brought here, unaware of how my life was going to spiral out of control or the one even deeper than that? Before my mind—my memories—had been stolen away. Vital parts of me hidden behind walls I couldn’t possibly breach.

I was so tired, yet never had I been more awake. So much had happened to me, I was having a hard time putting it into order, of making some sense of it all, but I had no starting point in sight. Nothing to pinpoint when it all began. The lies and secrets, just a jumble of events I had to accept.

No longer interested in figuring it out, I turned from the mirror, changing into fresh underwear and a long T-shirt I had left in here after finding them folded in a drawer.

I left the bathroom as the main door opened, my heart dropping at the thought he had left, but Kaius was kicking the door shut, his hands full with food.

His gaze found mine instantly, like two magnets drawn together. The look on his face as he ran his eyes over me dripped in heat, reminding me what had happened in the very spot he stood. All signs of the vines he’d held me in place with, gone.

“Hungry?” Kaius asked, a smile pulling at his beautiful face that had me starving for more than the food he had brought, but as my stomach growled on an empty protest, I realised I hadn’t yet eaten.

“Apparently so.” I laughed, aware of how loud that rumble had been in the quiet, and a little thrown by how relieved I was he hadn’t left without a word.

I headed to the bedroom, holding the door ajar in an offer I needed him to accept.

“As long as you’re ok with crumbs on the bed?” he teased, walking through into the mirrored room.

“I think I’ll survive,” I replied with a smile so easy, it curved my lips with no prompting from me. Following close behind, I climbed onto the bed and pulled one of the grey silky blankets over my naked legs as Kaius moved to the other side, placing the food between us and kicking off his boots before he took a seat.

We ate in a comfortable silence that I rarely found with others, though considering I spent little time with anyone that wasn’t Nanna or Polly, that was hardly surprising.

I couldn’t stop from trailing my eyes over the tattoos that covered him, nor could I stop them from flicking to the small cut that marked his bottom lip.

I had done that.

Heat flushed my skin at the memory of that bite, and I looked down at my food instead, hoping he was too preoccupied with his own to notice.

It took little time for either of us to devour the chicken sandwiches and miraculously still-warm brownies he had brought from gods knew where. I savoured every piece of its chocolatey gooeyness until, happily full, I sunk back into the bed. Despite its huge size, it felt markedly smaller now that I was sharing it.

Though Kaius’ sizeable bulk still left me plenty of room, being here right now felt more intimate than any time we had been in the same bed before, as if doing something as simple as eating together had forged new tentative bonds between us.

We were choosing to be here, with each other. There was no nightmare that needed taming or agendas to fulfil.

Just us.

Never mind the other things we had done.

After moving our leftovers to the side table, Kaius settled back next to me, his long legs crossed at the ankles and one muscled arm tucked behind his head, the other only inches from where my own lay above the blanket.

“Can I ask?” Kaius says, breaking the quiet with his deep voice.

I sat forward, hands twisting within the folds of the fabric I had draped over me. My eyes met his in the floor length mirror that faced the bed, the surface duller in the muted light of the room than his shining irises that were fixed on me. “Ask what?”

“You know what.”

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