Page 27 of Awakened by Sin

“I’ll wait with her until they get back. You’re crashing. When’s the last time you slept?”

“I don’t know.”

“Ate?”

“I ate marshmallows an hour ago.”

He paused as he settled her in the guest bedroom. How did he know that this was the room she’d been staying in?

“Marshmallows?”

“Comfort food.”

He smiled as he tucked her into bed as gently as if she was a toddler. “Your idea of comfort food is marshmallows?”

“What other kind is there?”

He chuckled as he leaned down and kissed her. It was slow, gentle, drugging. When he lifted his head, his eyes were heavy lidded and glittering.

“Do you feel alive?” he asked.

“Yes.”

His thumb stroked her cheek. “I’m glad you’re all right.”

“Thank you,” she said with as much sincerity as she could muster.

“The pleasure was all mine.”

He kissed her again—a short, unsatisfying kiss—before he eased away.

“I still want to know why Gavin trusts you,” she mumbled.

“The same reason you trust me,” he said.

She fought sleep. “I don’t trust you.”

He chuckled. “Yes, you do.”

Marcus said something else, but she couldn’t make it out because she was crashing.

5

Carmen opened her eyes.She was flat on her back, covers pulled up to her chin, staring up at a shadowed ceiling. Her mind was a complete blank. She floated on a sea of nothingness and watched the play of sunlight dance across the ceiling as the sun rose.

Nature called. She stretched and suddenly became aware of the burning in her calves as if she went on a long-distance run. Simultaneously, her vagina throbbed, and her mind lurched into gear. Everything returned in a rush. Lyla was safe, the monster was dead, and she had been fucked by Marcus Fletcher. She threw back the covers and raced out of her room like a kid on Christmas morning.

She knocked on Lyla and Gavin’s suite. No answer. That didn’t stop her from opening the door. She peeked her head around the door and found Gavin lying in bed with a gun pointed at her. He lowered the gun as she tiptoed forward until she could see Lyla.

“She’s asleep,” Gavin rumbled.

Carmen hovered over Lyla who had Nora cradled close and listened to the sound of their synchronized breathing. She closed her eyes for a moment and said a silent prayer of thanks before she noticed Beau on his doggy bed. She gave him a pat before she rounded back to Gavin’s side of the bed.

“You okay?” she whispered.

He grunted as he messed around with his phone. He’d never been the best communicator.

“Is it really over?”

---