Page 98 of Fated to the Hunters
“None of your concern.”
“You nearly gavemea panic attack, Ezra, now spit it out.”
He grabbed a water bottle from the fridge and filled a tumbler with juice. “Fine. You may not judge.”
“I always judge you, but I will try my best.”
“Scarlett tied me up and left after she saw the fresh cuts on my thigh.”
“And you were afraid she wouldn’t come back.”
“Precisely.”
“Have you two talked about it.”
Ezra nodded. “She said it wasn’t her intention, that she just wanted to ease my pain.”
There was a pause where Ezra braced himself for the ridicule. Though Mateo only offered him a weak smile. “Thank you for trusting me.”
“Never speak of it again.”
“And risk losing my tongue? I’m not sure how Scarlett will feel about that.”
Without a response, he returned to Scarlett and found her sitting on his bed. She reached out for her refreshments, which Ezra dumped into her lap and laid next to her, resting his head on her thigh and stroking over her other—carefully, so as not to end up with a black eye.
Once finished, Scarlett set the left-overs aside and laid down, easily drifting off to sleep in his arms.
Ezra only awoke when Scarlett slipped out of his arms. The noise that came from him was definitely a grunt—nota whimper—and Scarlett responded with a kiss to his cheek.
“I’m just going to the bathroom.”
“I’ll allow it,” he mumbled, still reluctant to let her go, but prying his eyes open so he could watch her leave.
“How gracious of you,” she laughed, disappearing from the room.
She lookeddeliciousin his shirt, and the memory of how she felt wrapped around him had blood surging south again. Of course, she wouldn’t truly be his until they completed the blood vow, but would he truly ever be ready to share his mind with her. What would happen if the others were ready, but he wasn’t?
The swirling questions only made his head hurt, so he banished them to the back of his mind.
When Scarlett returned, she snuggled close to him and seemed to doze off once more. He held her, soaked up her presence. He welcomed the butterflies swirling in his stomach, dreading the moment he would be forced to let her go again.
Far too soon, she stirred and stretched, her grumbling stomach echoing through the quiet room. “Are you joining me for breakfast?”
“I’d love to.”
Ezra sat up, waiting for her to slip into her shorts before she took his hand and dragged him after her.
“Good morning, love,” Mateo chirped as they came down the stairs.
“Hi,” she said, stretching onto her toes and giving Mateo a kiss that had blood rushing to his cheeks.
“When would you like to work out today?”
“After breakfast. I have a feeling I might feel too lazy this afternoon.”
“Sounds good to me.” For Ezra he asked, “Are you joining us today? She did wonderful yesterday.”
“I wouldn’t miss it.”
