Page 110 of Fallen Princess: Shadow Stalker

“Huh,” I say, contemplating. I remember my panic attack. Everything else is a total blank. “So Asher and I had—”

The shake of his head interrupts me.

“No?”

“No,” Jagger replies sternly.

“Has this happened before?” he asks, tilting his head slightly to the side. “Finding yourself nude in bed and not wondering what happened?”

“Ughhh, no,” I lie, and I know the truth about that answer.

“You drank the tea Ash brought up. He was long gone by the time you finished it, and you decided to have a bath.”

“Okay, well, that’s nothing unusual. I usually have baths after my tea and before bed.”

“Not when you’ve lived here, you haven’t. Except this time Catalina was here, and she prepared your tea.”

“And probably drew my bath, like she usually does. So what?”

“Callum found you practically faced down in the bath. Who knows what would have happened had he not reacted in time.”

It's not the first time I passed out in the bath, but I won’t let Jagger know.

“I wasn’t trying to unalive myself if that’s what you’re thinking.” I clarify, even though years ago, the notion crossed my mind as a desperate escape from the haunting memories. They still linger, but I've developed the skill to push them aside.

“Unalive?” Jagger huffs a laugh. “For someone who doesn’t use social media….”

“I don’t like the wordsuicide. Okay?” I cast him a side-eye glance and look away. He doesn’t need to know everything.

“So what happened, babe?” He looks at me with concern.

“It’s happened a few times, especially when I was stressed. Nothing to worry about.”

“You’re not concerned that it might be a medical condition?

“Usually, I have Catalina around when it happens. It started after the invasion of my home in Bel Air.”

“Are you sure it isn’t some kind of sleep aid Catalina gives you via your tea to help you relax?”

“That would imply she’s slipping shit behind my back,” I glare at him, but my gaze suddenly softens. He’s concerned, that’s all, and I had to live and accept it for what it is for ten years. He’s just learning about my undiagnosed narcolepsy.

“Catalina comes off strange but she’s lived with me since I was fourteen. She’s like my mom but with a salary. A paid mom. I mean, that’s what I initially hired her for. I can’t see how, after all these years, she would drug me. For what purpose?”

Jagger opens his mouth to say something but rethinks and shuts it again. As much as I’m curious to know what he wants to say, I’m also glad he doesn’t expand on the topic.

Sensing the end of this topic, I get up to leave, except he reaches out and pulls me back onto the bed. Crashing into him, he leans back onto the pillows, taking me with him.

“Now that I have you naked and awake, I don’t see any reason why I should let you go. Do you?” there’s a charmed look on his face and an amused raised brow that makes me giggle.

“Oh?” I say, already feeling his arousal against my leg. “I can think of a ton of reasons, starting from my two-day-old breath.”

He scrunches his face in the most amusing manner. “Could be a turn-off, but it isn’t a reason to let you go.”

As I roll my eyes, he grabs my hips and settles me down to straddle him. Now his arousal is teasing my backside, eager to find its place inside me. Except there’s a piece of fabric between his cock and my core, and his shorts remain on.

He leans up and takes one of my nipples in his mouth, grazes his teeth over it, and lets go with a pop.

"You, Eden Rivers, are the flame that ignites within my chest whenever I look at you.”

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