Page 83 of Lost in the Moonlight

Toying with them, taunting them, would increase their fear.

And when it had spiked to an all-time high, I’d go in for the kill.

It would never make up for what had been stolen from me.

But it would take a tiny bite out of the anguish, and that would have to be enough.

Chapter Twenty-five

Lincoln

NEVER SAY NEVER

Performed by The Fray

I woke to a gray hazeenveloping the room and a warm body tucked up against mine. For a moment, I thought maybe I’d died. Heaven couldn’t be better than this. Soft lights and gentle touches. Sugary scents and delightful peace rippled through me.

How long had it been since I’d slept this long?

A lifetime ago.

Willow and I hadn’t moved from where we’d landed together.

And my body responded to the feel of her naked curves pushed into mine. She must have been awake already, because she felt all the parts of me that stiffened and laughed quietly, tipping her head back to meet my gaze with tired ones.

“Good morning,” I said and kissed her tenderly.

She put a hand between our mouths. “I stink.”

I chuckled. “If this is what you smell like when you stink, I might pass out from delight when you don’t.”

I let my fingers glide over her bare shoulders and her arms, and then back up. Fire danced through my veins. I wanted her again. I wanted her maybe more than I had before last night. I’d thought her an addiction before I’d embedded myself in her, and now she was simply a necessity. The unbreakable string that had knotted into me was no longer unwelcome. Instead, it felt like comfort.

I’d come to Cherry Bay to find myself and foundusinstead.

I nipped playfully at the fingers covering her mouth. “I demand access to those pretty lips.”

Her eyes flickered with a feeling I knew well. Remorse.

She pushed against me, breaking our connection, and I felt cold rush over me. Not just the air but the distance she’d somehow shoved between us while I’d slept.

She slipped out of bed, darting into the bathroom without another word.

I rose, pulling on the sweats I’d discarded before making love to her.

As I headed for the door, movement in the corner of my eye had my head swiveling to the side. Sienna stood by the television with a wry, knowing grin on her face as she scanned my shirtless torso. It disappeared into a serious frown as she said,She’s wrong. She won’t die. This isn’t the end of her story.

I wanted to demand she tell me what she meant. To stop speaking in riddles. But she faded as the toilet flushed.

I pushed my hair back from my face.

Why the hell was Sienna back at all? I’d slept all night. I hadn’t taken the drugs that could cause hallucinations. I’d given her what she wanted most—the gallery. It hit me like it had theday before that she must actually be real. Ghosts were real. Not just a twisted manifestation of my brain.

I didn’t have time to analyze it further.

Instead, I headed for the bathroom, focused completely on the distance Willow was trying to push between us. She’d pulled on the T-shirt I’d given her last night and wouldn’t even glance my way.

“I’m assuming you don’t have an extra toothbrush,” she said. “So, I’m just going to go home and clean up.”

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