Page 33 of What's Left of Me

Reading his body language, I slipped my hands from his face and wrapped him in my arms devouring his cries, breaths, and vulnerability. I could stay like this all night if it was what he wanted.

We parted, and I didn’t know how much time had passed. His eyes opened slowly, followed by a blooming grin.

“That was amazing.”

I chuckled. “Outstanding.”

“I knew it would be okay…like, I wanted this, but I didn’t think it would be mind-bending.”

This guy was good for my ego. “Mind-bending, huh?”

His smile faltered. “Was I…was it good for you?”

I rolled my eyes and felt him try and pull away more, but I held strong. “It was the greatest kiss I’ve ever had.”

His head tilted. “You’re not just saying that to comfort my fragile psyche?”

My neck arched, and a boisterous laugh exploded out of me. After I calmed down, I was relieved to see he was trying to hold in his own laughter.

“I wouldn’t mind doing more of that,” I answered.

“Really?”

I wouldn’t rush him; he wasn’t ready. But he was craving safe touch, something that would bring him joy, and the rush of knowing he was very much alive.

I gestured to my bed. “I’m not doing more than kissing you right now, Phoenix. Maybe you think you’re ready, but I’m not. But what I would say hell yes to is maybe some cuddling and kissing.”

He eyed my bed, then bit his lip. If he said no, I’d make sure he understood that the truth was what I wanted.

“I…I think I’d like that.”

“Let’s give it a try, and if you hate it and want to leave, just go. No hard feelings.”

Neither one of us slipped out of our clothes; we stayed above the covers. I got on the bed first and lay on my back with an open arm. Slowly, Phoenix crawled onto the bed, rested his head on my chest, his arm draped over my stomach, and I wrapped him up close.

We were silent, didn’t in fact kiss, and within minutes we both fell asleep.

My phone was going off,and an alarm was blaring from my computer speakers.

“Noel!”

I shot up, my eyes going directly to my monitors. The one set up by the shop was going off. I grabbed my phone; the camera was picking up on something. There was a loud knock on my door; of course all my brothers had been alerted.

“It’s okay, Phoenix. It’s not at the house. You’re safe.”

He nodded, but there was no hiding how shaken he was. I wanted to hug his fear away, but I needed to act on this.

I rushed out of bed and opened my door to Nick. His gaze went to my bed briefly before looking at me.

“They aren’t breaking in, just triggered the alarm nearby.”

I nodded and went to my monitor, and he followed. I could go to the tech room, but these were closer.

“A flatbed,” I whispered. “It’s him.”

One thing we were able to determine was that this shitbag needed to transport his victims carefully. The way he broke their bodies, he had to be careful moving them. But the timeline wasn’t matching for this to be one of his masterpiece dolls. This was what Aziza had warned us about.

“I’m calling Rose,” I heard JJ say, so he must have been here too. “I don’t care at this point how this fucker is caught.”

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