Page 68 of When the Woods Go Silent

Really, I should leave something for the next time.

“Okay?” he asks, tipping my chin up so he can see in my eyes.

I smile, the post-orgasm chemicals giving me the satisfied feeling of a cat stretching in the sun. “Perfect. I guess you want the favor returned now?” I tease, palming his cock through his pants.

He blinks at me, then frowns as he understands what I mean. His fingers grasp mine and pull my hand back up to rest against his chest.

“This wasn’t a sale, Rose. It was a gift. I gave it, and you took it. You took it like averygood girl.”

And I practically melt.

This. This is new.

I’ve had a lot of sex in my short life, and I’ve enjoyed a good portion of it. Still, I learned pretty early that it’s always a transaction. More often than not, I even get stiffed with the bill, needing to finish the job later with my vibrator. But this? This is so much better.

Part of me doubts that it’s real, but holy hell.

What if it is?

I grin up at Kier, a different and new sort of pleasure soaking through my limbs. I open my mouth to tease him back, but suddenly, I feel lightheaded and tingly, like when you stand up too quickly. My fingers and toes get the pins and needles sensation like they’ve fallen asleep, and my knees go weak as my head flops forward into his chest.

Kier gathers me in his arms before I can collapse onto the floor. My face feels hot, and I’m hyper-focused on how weak I am, how strong he feels around me.

“Are you okay?” he asks again, concern flickering across his handsome face just as my vision goes blurry.

“Puh-fek,” I manage, although it’s a damn lie. My lips aren’t moving the right way, like after a trip to the dentist. My head is spinning, and I know I would be on the floor if he wasn’t guiding me to a nearby reading chair.

As I sink into the chair, my fingers curl into the fabric of his shirt, pulling him down with me. He kneels on the floor, moving my hair away from my face and pushing me gently against the back of the chair as I struggle to calm my breathing.

“What... where did you find this?” he asks a few seconds later, and I feel him uncurl my fingers and hold my hands in his. I blink up at him, then down at our palms, feeling woozy and more than a little embarrassed. What the hell kind of orgasm was this?

My eyes are itchy, and I rub at them with the back of one hand, finally able to focus on what he’s holding. Or what I’m holding, rather.

It’s a rose.

And when I reach for it with my other hand, I find that there’s another one, already there between my curled fingers. A fragile pair of delicate pink roses flushed with red, each resting in one palm.

The fuzzy feeling shrivels in the shadow of growing fear, and shock wakes me up immediately. I drop the flowers like they’re burning coals and stand, skittering across the room on shaky legs.

Kier bends to pick them up, watching me carefully as I lean against the wall.

“Where, Rose?” he repeats, his eyes narrowing.

“What do you mean?” I say, trying to make sense of what happened. I didn’t have roses to find. They’re definitely not the flowers he brought, and I know every inch of this shop. Where did they come from?

“Where did you get these?” Kier asks a third time, his voice tight and almost angry, like he thinks I’m keeping secrets.

“I didn’t,” I protest, my voice sounding too loud for the small space. “I didn’t have those.” The way he’s making such a big deal out of this is freaking me the fuck out. I don’t like things that aren’t easily explained, and I definitely hate practical jokes.

He brings the crushed petals to his nose, inhaling deeply, and I see his fingers begin to shake. “Rose. Where did these flowers come from?” He’s acting like I’m holding out on some vital information.

“I don’t fucking know!” I yell, pissed now and fuming at the hard edges of his glare. Whatever this is, it’s not my fault.

I feel like I’m being pranked, but my brain rejects that idea as quickly as it came up, knowing it’s not true. I’ve been ignoringmy gut for days now. Playing dumb, and resisting seeing the pattern that’s been forming right in front of me.

A thought I’ve been suppressing for too long now begins to force its way to the surface.

What if it’s notmegoing crazy, but the world itself?

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