Page 46 of Penance

I am.

I feel the burn in my lungs as I suck in a deep breath, and the fog blows away.

Draco sits beside me on the couch with a sigh.

He doesn’t touch me, doesn’t speak.

After a while, my eyes feel so unbelievably heavy. I slump against him, curl up in his lap, and before I can even ask if it’s okay, I fall asleep.

Chapter 10

Draco

The darkness is heavy.

It’s weighing down on me.

Is that… guilt?

Something else?

Mercy lies draped across my lap, her chestnut hair spilling over my thighs and gathering like a dark pool on the couch cushion beside me. Her breaths are slow and steady—calm.

She doesn’t twitch.

Her eyes are still behind her fluttering eyelids.

There are no nightmares, even if she’s in the presence of a monster.

When was the last time she slept without her pills?

A smirk tugs at the corner of my mouth as I watch her. Reaching out, I slide two tattooed fingers under her jaw and follow it back to her ear, tucking a stray strand of hair behind it.

She doesn’t move.

Her breathing doesn’t even change.

I can’t remember the last time I watched her sleep so soundly. And I have been watching her sleep for such a long time.

She’s so fucking perfect. It only makes me angry.

My gaze traces the curve of her cheek, the softness of her lips. The soft sound of her breathing is addicting, intoxicating.

It’s like blood in the water, and I’m a Great White.

I could wrap my fingers around her throat right here and now.

I could strangle the life out of her before she even woke up.

No.

No, not yet.

She’s mine, and she’s growing our baby inside of her.

I shift slightly, the wood deep in the couch creaking under my weight as I slide to the side. Mercy stirs, a soft sigh escaping her lips, but somehow she stays asleep.

I freeze, waiting, but she nuzzles against my leg with a soft moan, and it’s only a few seconds before her breathing is deep and even. Satisfied, I begin to move again, a slow, careful dance as I ease her off my lap.

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