Page 109 of Through the Flames
The words clawed their way out of my throat, desperate and raw. “You never saw my face, but it was me. It’salwaysbeen me.”
She was finally facing me, her face unreadable. “I know.”
Two words, uttered calmly, with no hint of accusation.
“You—” My knuckles whitened against the leather. “Youknow?”
The corners of her mouth twitched. “Hunter, you think I wouldn’t have pieced it together the second I felt you again?”
Heat shot up my neck, shame and need in the same pulse. “It wasn’t supposed to be like that. I wanted you so bad, I just snapped—”
She reached out and slid her hand over mine, this first touch breaking the static between us. “You think that was the momentyou took me?” she asked softly. “You’ve had me since before that.”
My chest caved in and expanded at once. Relief. Obsession.Worship.
I swallowed hard. “You know nothing about this — us — is normal.”
“Maybe,” she said. “But I don’t want normal. I just want you.”
The wheel blurred. For once, I didn’t need control. For once,shewas steering.
The rest of the ride was quiet, except for the storm in my chest. By the time we reached my place, I didn’t even think. I just killed the engine, turned, and looked at her like she was the only light left in the dark.
Carrying her up the stairs, I set her down gently on the bed,ourbed, feeling nothing but calm and connected to her in a way I’d never experienced with another person. I’d given her something no one else would ever get.
Piece by piece, I undressed her, slow enough she could stop me if she wanted. She didn’t.
Her eyes never left mine, even when I tugged my shirt over her head and slipped it down her arms. It was too big, swallowing her whole, but when she pulled it close, it was like she was pulling me close too.
She looked so small in it. So mine.
I slid into bed beside her, and she immediately curled into my chest, fitting there like she’d always known it was waiting for her. My arm locked around her waist, my palm spreading over the curve of her back, holding her in place like she might vanish if I didn’t.
Her breathing slowed, each rise and fall syncing with my own, until the rhythm pulled me under.
I’d shown her a glimpse at the ugliest part of me, and shestayed. I’d let her touch the broken, jagged edges no one else could touch, and she held on tighter.
My arms tightened around her, holding her like the last good thing I’d ever get to keep.
No one else would ever have this,or me.
Thirty
Hunter
Sleep never used to come easy, at least not until Ella started sleeping curled up next to me.
Tonight was different, though. The old issues crept out, without asking, sneaking up on me and hitting me like a fucking sucker punch.
One second, I was staring at the ceiling, languid and relaxed, enjoying the warmth of Ella’s body. The next, I was under. Dropped straight into hell.
Screams tore through the darkness. High-pitched. Familiar. The air was thick with blood, choking me. I slammed my fists into something solid — a wall or a door, I couldn’t tell — but it wasn’t enough.
It never was. My body moved on instinct, fighting off the shadows refusing to die.
Then suddenly a soft voice cut through the haze.
“Hunter.”
