Page 80 of Snag
“Don’t,” he says roughly, squeezing my thigh. “Don’t try. Just stay here with me.”
“I will avoid dying as much as possible.”
Rought looks at me hard then, nothing playful or charming in the expression. And even though he’s seriously calling me out about my lack of self-preservation — which I’m only aware of because it was previously pointed out by Coda — I don’t blame him for it. His being hard with me, if only with a single look, if only for this moment, makes me fall for him just a little bit more.
“I like you too,” I say, instead of all the other things that want to tumble out of my mouth, out of my mind. The adult me is still holding myself back from the past unveiled in Mack’s photos. The adult me is still unsure that the Conduit is a person capable of loving and being loved.
Rought’s gaze drops to my lips, and when those eyes flick up to meet mine, they’re once again warm and welcoming. “I’m yours.”
The words resonate through me, as if he’s sent them telepathically as well as voicing them.
He straightens, grinning. “I’ll need a full report about what exactly went on with the gryphon …”
Because, he continues in my head,I’m pretty certain I couldn’t reach you like this when I fell asleep.
“That’s between the gryphon and me,” I say, feigning haughtiness. Then I focus on sending my next words along the shimmering bond that now stretches between us. That thread is still thin, but embedded deeply.But you obviously get to reap the benefits.
Maybe a … demonstration?
That could be arranged.
He laughs out loud even as his amusement, his pure joy, filters through to me. It feels as if it curls around my heart,and for a moment, I struggle with the grief that rises in response. Over how alone I’ve been, and with no chance to even know it.
“Zaya?”
“I need to call Harlee,” I say, covering my pity party by reaching into my bag for my phone. I’m still ridiculously pleased at having my unlabeled designer bag back, along with a favorite pair of sunglasses. Maybe being just a little self-centered, a little indulgent, comes naturally to me. “Coda might need some help locating Bellamy. And the sooner she’s neutralized, the more time we’ll have for … demonstrations.”
Rought laughs again, reaching for the phone he’s already got propped on the dash and going along with the subject change even as he clearly sees it for what it is. “I got it.”
“The mage is on my retainer,” I say, just a little stiffly. Because I’m apparently still a loner asshole at my core.
Rought throws me a knowing look. “And who the fuck do you think I work for now?”
His phone vibrates with an incoming call even as he picks it up. He swipes the screen to answer before I can come up with a response to what I’m fairly certain wasn’t a question.
“You’d better not be fucking on the side of the fucking road,” Rath growls through the phone speakers. “I want these answers.”
One of those delicious shivers that apparently only Rath can trigger — even while being a complete asshole over the phone — runs up my spine.
Rought side-eyes me knowingly.
I’m fairly certain the nascent psychic bond between us is way more open on his end.
Holding Rought’s gaze intently, I lean toward the phone and drawl, “I’m game if you are.”
A choked silence emanates over the speakers.
I tilt my head playfully — for Rought, because Rath can’t see me. “You like to watch, don’t you, dragon?”
Rath groans over the phone speakers. “Fuuuck …!”
Then he hangs up.
Spinning the wheel and tapping the accelerator to get us back on the road, Rought chuckles, both pleased and amused.
“What?” I say like a total brat. “Am I wrong?”
The Outcast MCcompound sprawls across a thickly wooded estate set with multiple outbuildings. We navigate a long circular drive that leads to the main house, with a large industrial-looking structure that I presume is a garage and workshop on the far left. Rought stops alongside the front entrance.
