Page 96 of Fated to the Hunters
After what felt like hours, the door opened again. His lungs burned just as fiercely as his eyes. The restraints stung where they’d cut into his skin. Her face paled and she rushed to his side, dropping the item in her hand to the mattress so she could cup his cheeks in her palms.
“Shh,” she soothed, wiping his tears away with her thumbs. “Breathe, Ezra. Follow my lead.” She took a deep breath. “Inhale.” She held her breath until he’d done the same. “And out. Good, just like that.”
Her touch, her praise, the serenity she radiated—everything made breathing easier and finally, the tears ceased. “Scarlett,” he whimpered.
“I’m here.” She kissed his forehead and then sat back on her heels, still holding his face. “What happened?”
“You left,” he accused, but still out of breath. “You left me.”
“You thought I left you?”
“You were gone.”
With the panic spiking again, Scarlett rested her forehead against his and breathed with him again until everything passed. Her thumbs brushed over his damp cheeks, and she climbed onto his lap and straddled his legs. Her weight was exactly what he needed, making her presence as solid as ever.
“I’m here, Ezra.”
“You left.”
“I wanted to fetch something, and I was only gone a couple of minutes. I’m sorry, I should have told you where I was going.”
Minutes? She must have been gone forhours. He inhaled her vibrant, orange scent and let it dissipate the fog in his mind. Okay, maybe it wasn’t hours, but it felt like it.
“I’m sorry.”
“I thought…” Ezra fumbled, trying to find words that didn’t make him sound like a total idiot. “I thought you left because I was too much for you. As if you couldn’t bear to be with me.”
Scarlett kissed his forehead, then picked up what she’d dropped on the mattress and scooted off his lap. “I didn’t mean to scare you. I just thought, when we’re close like this, I don’t want you in pain.”
He looked down at her hand and saw the vile of blood. One of the others must have given it to her.Fuck.Ezra felt ridiculous, but the hole was dug too deep now. A weak, “Don’t leave me,” was all he could manage.
“I won’t. I’m sorry I gave the impression I had.”
Ezra fell silent, watching as Scarlett popped the vial open and poured it onto the deep cuts. The skin tingled and itched as the cuts stitched themselves shut right before his eyes. “I want to hold you now.”
“Of course.”
Ezra held it together until Scarlett released him from the cuffs, then he collapsed onto her chest, releasing the emotion from his body with a heavy sigh.
Chapter Thirty
Ezra
With Scarlett in his arms, Ezra laid back down, letting her weight soothe him until he felt the closest to sane he’d ever get. “I overreacted.”
“You didn’t. Your feelings are valid no matter how strong.”
Ezra wrapped his arms tightly around his mate, flipping both of them until she laid on her back. He rested his forehead against hers. “I really thought you left me. It felt like hours before you came back.”
“I’m truly sorry I caused you distress.”
“Fuck, that really hurt.”
Scarlett wrapped her limbs around him, and Ezra slowly relaxed onto her. It was only then that he realised he was still fully naked, and his cock hardened against the fabric of her shorts.
“Princess.”
“Prince?”
