Page 53 of Watch Me Burn
It took Damien’s mouth on me to understand that I’d already given my heart to someone else.
I’m in love with a killer whose face I’ve never seen.
How fucked up is that?
But there’s Damien too. He fills different spaces in my chest. Brilliant and controlled, he treats me like I’m something worth protecting rather than conquering. He respects my work, seems to care about animals as much as I do, and he makes me laugh and think and want.
I’m torn between them. Two different men, yet both make my pulse race and my thoughts tangle into knots. One thrives in shadow; the other in light. One takes, the other gives. Both have pieces of me I’m not sure I can reclaim.
My chest tightens. I press my palm between my breasts, trying to ease the pressure building there. This can’t continue. Something has to break, either them or me.
Sleep pulls at me—the gala, Damien’s mouth, my wolf’s claiming all blending into exhaustion. But consciousness refuses to fade completely. A whisper surfaces in the darkness of my mind, the question I’ve buried beneath rationalization and denial.
What if there is no choice to make?
The thought is absurd. That’s why I keep dismissing it. Yet there are these ever-present, recurring moments when something feels familiar. The way Damien’s eyes darkened when I refused to stay at his penthouse. My wolf’s hands tonight, gentle where I expected brutality, tender after my betrayal. The way both men look at me like I’m air and they’re drowning.
It’s a dangerous thought, one that could shatter the delicate balance of my complicated life. But as sleep claims me, I can’t quite push it away. No matter how insane it is.
Chapter fourteen
Luna
Irun the ultrasound wand over Ricky’s belly, my eyes glued to the screen. Under anesthesia, he is the least active he’s ever been. My boobs are safe as I try to see what is going on inside him.
I let my mind drift to Saturday night. Daylight has a way of making the impossible seem foolish, like childhood fears that dissolve with the sunrise. In this bright examination room, I can push down the wild theories and convince myself I’m seeing connections that don’t exist. There is no way Damien and my wolf are the same man. I’m just seeing things I want to see. Things I wish were true.
I frown as I see the issue inside Ricky’s belly just as Maren walks up behind me.
“What’s the verdict, doc?”
I point to the screen. “It looks like he’s got a kidney stone.”
“Shit. Where the heck would he get that? Can raccoons get kidney stones?”
“It’s not common, but yes, they can. It’s not very large, but I can see why it’s bothering him, especially when he pees.”
“Poor perv.”
“Shit!” I sit back in my chair. “I don’t have a lithotripter.”
“That’s the machine that uses shock waves to break it apart?”
“Yeah.”
I rack my brain, thinking about what I can do. The surprise anonymous donation we received for Titus is gone. I used most of it for the new enclosure, but I also had some unexpected expenses, including having to replace the barn roofafter part of it caved in during a nasty thunder and lightning storm two weeks ago. It was a miraculous gift that came at the perfect moment.
“CSU has one, right? Call them and see if they’ll let you use it.”
“It won’t be free, Maren. I can’t afford this.”
“Can’t afford what?” A deep voice cuts through our conversation. My gaze jerks to the doorway. Damien stands there, bouquet gripped in one hand. His eyes lock onto mine, questioning.
My lips curve into a smile. “Hey, what are you doing here?”
“Just wanted to stop by. I have some unexpected business that’s come up out of town. I have to leave this evening, but I wanted to see you. What can’t you afford?”
I turn my chair to face him. “Ricky has a kidney stone. And I don’t have the equipment here to treat it.”
