Page 140 of Untamed

For a moment, they’re unfocused. Drowsy. The haze of sleep softens the blue of them, and she looks like she’s still halfway in whatever dream she was tangled in.

Then she sees me.

Her whole body stiffens. “Ares.”

My name in her voice, it does something to me I can’t explain. Still sleepy, still breathless, but real and present.

“I told you to go home,” I say quietly, not a question, just a fact. A quiet observation that sits between us like something enshrined.

She pushes up slightly on one elbow, Ladro sliding down into the crook of her arm with a grumble. “I was, but then I came to see how he was doing and... I fell asleep.”

I sigh, narrowing my eyes. “Once again, you didn’t listen to me.”

Her lips part like she’s going to defend herself, but I shake my head.

“I’m glad you didn’t.”

Jordyn studies me for a moment, she’s taken aback by my response. Her eyes scan over my face. “Where did you go?”

My jaw tightens. I don’t answer right away. I don’t lie either.

Instead, I sit down more fully on the edge of the bed, careful not to jostle her.

“I needed to remind someone what happens when they threaten what’s mine.” Her breath catches, not in horror, but something else. Something she won’t name when her gaze drops and she notices the blood stains on my clothes, arms and hands.

“Uhm,” She swallows hard, and shakes her head. “Is that...”

“Blood?” I nod once. “Yes.”

Jordyn chews on her lip nervously. I can see she has a thousand questions at the ready to fire at me, but instead, she swallows every single one down.

“I saw the supplies,” she murmurs, trying to shift the weight of the moment, glancing toward the kitten. “You bought him everything.”

“I didn’t want him wrecking my furniture,” I mutter, deadpan.

She smiles. Just barely. But it’s real, real enough that it makes my heart flutter.

I look at her then,closely, and for the first time tonight, I breathe.

Not sharp or shallow. Just…breathe.

Like seeing her here, in my bed, with her messy hair and sleepy eyes and that damn cat curled against her, makes the world make sense again.

And fuck, I know I don’t deserve it, but I want it anyway.

“I should shower,” I murmur, dragging a hand down my jaw. It’s a throwaway line, meant to break the silence, meant to redirect the weight between us before it swallows me whole. But when I say it, her eyes lift to mine.

She doesn’t look away and I remain locked in her gaze.

And then, she shifts off the bed and reaches for me. Her fingers find my hand, small, warm and steady, and she threads hers through mine like it’s the most natural thing in the world. Like touching me, after everything,even with the blood stains on my hand, doesn’t shake her to her core.

She doesn’t speak.

Just gives my hand the faintest tug.

I don’t fight or question her. I just let her lead. Through the room and into the bathroom. The tiles cool beneath our feet, the lights dim and soft, casting long shadows against the marble and glass.

The silence stretches between us, but it isn’t awkward.

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