Page 242 of Fangs
My lip trembled, and I took a shaky breath.
“You should try to rest, okay?” he added. “I’ll be back.”
I managed a nod, and he released my face and stood. He approached Lee, who was waiting with a closed expression. Wolf clapped a hand on his shoulder, leaned in, and began speaking to him, too quiet for me to hear. Lee sighed and replied, and the two of them conversed briefly. Some of the tension between them seemed to ease.
Wolf disappeared into the woods as silently as Lee had appeared. Lee stayed on the other side of the campfire, but his eyes found me again, a muscle flexing in his jaw. Emotion started to trickle back into me, prickly and uncomfortable.
He slowly moved around the fire toward me and crouched at my side. His dark eyes glittered in the firelight. “I’m sorry,” he said, his voice low. “I fucked up.”
I didn’t answer, my head a mess of hurt.
“Please, Ember, tell me how to make it right.”
“You left me there,” the bitter words escaped.
“I know.” The two words were heavy with guilt and regret. “I’m so sorry. I’d do anythin’ to go back and do it all over.”
I pressed my lips together, sorting through my tangled emotions, but he shifted to his knees.
“I’ll grovel on my knees if that’s what it takes.” His low voice was rough. “I can’t lose you.”
The way my chest ached—not the brand, but myheart—it was almost like… like…
“I know you said you can’t offer me anythin’, but gods, Ember, I’ll take whatever you’re willing to give me.”
Fuck.Ilikedhim. That’s why it hurt so much. Whatever this was between us, it wasn’t just physical. Maybe it’d never been just physical. He made me feel safe.He coaxed me out of my head and away from the ledge every time I was in danger of falling apart. He saved my life, kept me company, and made me laugh.
“Why are you calling me ‘Ember’?” I asked.
His throat bobbed as he swallowed. “Doesn’t feel like I deserve to call you a pet name.”
The emotion filling my chest scared me, but it wassoft.It was nothing like how I’d felt about Trey. There was no deep well of emotion opening up in my chest to swallow me whole, and that knowledge was strangely reassuring. Maybe… maybe it was okay tolikehim.
“I like it when you call me ‘Freckles,’” I whispered, my eyes prickling.
He shifted closer, gently resting his hands on my knees, all of him intensely focused on me. A light flickered to life in his eyes, like hope. “Freckles, please forgive me.”
“I forgive you.”
He blinked, his lips slightly parting before he recovered. “Are you sure?”
“Sorry, did you want to grovel some more?”
He blinked, then gave me a devilish smile that made my blood heat. “I’m more than willin’ to stay on my knees in front of you.”
“Smooth,” I said dryly, but the wave of relief made me feel almost drunk.
“Don’t blame me,” he murmured, gently taking my face in his hands, “I’m addicted to you.”
I arched an eyebrow, “Addicted?”
“Helplessly.” He leaned in closer, and my heart went into overdrive. “Addicted.”
His lips brushed gently across mine, and I wrapped my arms around his neck, pressing us closer. Moving hurt like hell, but I tried to ignore it. I wanted this moment. I wanted him. After everything that had just happened with the Voiceless, it felt fucking powerful to make a choice—tohavea choice. The pain couldn’t control me, just like the Voiceless couldn’t control me.
Then I shifted, and pain made stars fill my vision. My entire body locked up. Maybe the pain was stronger than I thought.
“Freckles? Hey, you okay?”
