Page 44 of Into the Night

As we push into the cafe, Maisy’s concerned face is the first one we see. She smiles kindly before immediately handing me a steaming mug and then pressing it into my hand.

“Here, eat up. I don’t know how you guys are still on your feet.” Producing two plates piled high with sandwiches, she sets one down in front of each of us before returning to the counter and cutting two huge slices of cake. “It’s too much. I know you want to find her, but you need to rest.”

There are a few people still lingering, with tired eyes and solemn expressions, and they’re all looking to Ben, hoping for some news.

He shakes his head.

Maisy brings more napkins and some cream to go with the cake. She points her knife at me, and Ben smirks, knowing I’m going to get the main brunt of her lecture.

“Especially you. I mean, you’ve been out all day, and then going back out every night. You can’t survive on a couple of hours of sleep each night, no matter who or what you are.”

Frowning, I chew my mouthful of food quickly. “What do you mean?” I ask, ignoring Ben’s curious gaze.

“You. I know you have better eyesight in the dark, but you can’t stay out there searching all night.”

“I haven’t been.” Shaking my head, I turn from Maisy to Ben, whose expression has turned dangerous. “I haven’t. I crashed last night around midnight, and I woke up when you knocked.”

Maisy purses her lips and stares at me. She doesn’t want to contradict me, but it’s clear she doesn’t believe me. “It must have been someone else coming and going then.” She’s being agreeable, and Ben knows it.

He gives me a hard look as he speaks to Maisy. “Who else is staying with you, Maisy?”

My palms are sweaty, and my heart is pounding. This is ridiculous. I know I haven’t been out scouring the hills around Sutton in the middle of the night. Yet knowing that Ben already barely believes me, I don’t want anything to damage our already tenuous relationship.

“A pregnant woman and an eighty-year-old couple,” she answers quickly, her cheeks pinking as she hangs me out to dry. “But maybe I’m mistaken. It could have been the wind, or…”

Ben stares at me, blinking once. The tension in the air is palpable. “Where are you sneaking off to in the middle of night, Griffin?”

The smear of mud on my hand comes unbidden to the front of my mind as I stare back, with no answers to give him.

“Nowhere.”

Ben looks at me and pushes to his feet slowly, leaving the tips of his fingers resting on the tabletop. Taking a long swig from his mug, Ben considers my answer, and I frown, wondering when he continues to stare at me, suspicious.

“What’s going on?” I ask, not liking where Ben’s thoughts appearing to be headed. He doesn’t trust me.

When he slams his empty drink down and shoves his keys into his pocket, it’s my turn to look confused, watching him head for the door to leave alone.

“Even if I knew, I don’t think I’d tell you.”

26

KALI

In my dreams, I’m back in my cabin. Nothing about this dream of mine is like my real life, though.

Griffin is here, for one thing. And looking at me like he can’t imagine a life without me in it.

The fire is burning brightly in the stove, and we’re stretched out before it, our sweaty bodies wrapped around each other, keeping the chill at bay.

The smattering of dark hair on Griffin’s chest tickles my back as he presses closer to me, his hard muscles moving, as he reaches over my hip and strokes my clit, oh so slowly.

Rolling my hips to add to the sensations, to encourage him to give me more, my tight core sings. When he rubs harder, I gasp, arching my back to give him better access to my neck.

Soft kisses pepper my shoulder and clavicle as he licks and nibbles his way up to that spot behind my ear that I love so much. My pussy floods with wetness, ready for him to sink deep inside and stretch me wide open.

“Mine.” He growls against my ear, taking my lobe between his teeth, adding a little pain to my pleasure.

When he sinks his middle finger deep inside me, I cry out, bucking against his hand, seeking more friction, which he obligingly provides, adding a second finger, then a third and curling them to stroke the front wall of my channel, finding that spot that makes my toes curl in ecstasy.

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