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His lips curl into a smile. “What if I tell you there’s a huge, copper soaking tub in the backyard with its own solar water heater?”

He’s got to be joking. “One month.”

“I’m holding you to that,” he says, and kisses me again. “We can use it together when the jasmine vines bloom. Will you read the next one to me, Pet?”

“Really?”

Reed nods as he gathers me in his arms. “Your voice is my favorite sound in the world.”

“Yours is mine.”I brush our noses together before I lay in his arms and flip to the next book.“Natalia smiled up at the lavender sky as she and Eda trotted across the meadow. It was the first day of spring, and all of Galin was gathering together to celebrate.”

Chapter forty

Reed

The only thing betterthan falling asleep next to Petra is waking up to her. I’m groggy, exhausted after the multiple rounds we had yesterday and last night. Fuck, she was beautiful draped over the kitchen counter after our midnight snack. We’ve already used the shower once, but as soon as she’s awake enough, I’m determined to make enough of a mess that we’ll need it again.

It’s fate that my first time walking through the door was with her. She was radiant from the moment we crossed that threshold together, and the whole place is infused with her. Our first conversation in this house was difficult, but once we put that all aside, it already felt like home.

Petra’s eyes brightened while we unpacked, her body curving and brushing against mine with each reach and sidestep. Her hip fit under my palm like it was made to be there, and the curve of her neck was the perfect place to rest my jaw. When she laughed, her curls swung around her face as if they had a mind of their own, framing her green-flecked eyes and long lashes.

There’s rustling on the other side of the room, and a warm body slips under the sheet. Heat flares in my chest, and I smile as I reach for her. “I love having you here, Petra. I can’t wait for this to be routine.”

I wrap my arm around her waist, eager to pull her close. But her hip isn’t soft and round under my fingers.

The light, floral scent of my nightmares is back.

Roses.

“The hell?” I yank my hand back and shove, suddenly awake. “Kinley?”

“I love that you know my body in the dark.” Her voice is husky, and a shiver runs down my spine. I jump out of bed, yanking my pants on as quickly as I can.

“Get out! You—Jesus—I can’t even—” Sleep is a distant memory as adrenaline floods my veins. All of me hums on a frequency too intense to manage, as though I’m about to jump out of a plane. I’m two seconds from throwing up all over the floor. “How did you find me?”

Kinley prowls across the sheets like a tiger. “Good morning, Daddy,” she purrs.

Bile crawls up my throat. Those three words have haunted me for months. Ever since I woke up to them in Vegas. “Don’t fucking touch me. Jesus. You’re here,again, because no one matters but you and what you want!”

Kinley’s jaw ticks, her whole face stony, but she pulls her hand back. “Calling yourself a victim doesn’t change that we couldn’t have slept together if you weren’t turned on.” She traces a finger around her breasts, pouting, but she has zero appeal. I chuck a blanket at her to cover her up. “You’re just embarrassed because you said you didn’t want me. I went tojail, Reed. All because you couldn’t put your pride aside and admit you changed your mind!”

She balls up the blanket and throws it on the floor.

“Get the fucking picture, Kinley. I don’t want you.”

Her jaw clenches, and her slate blue eyes flash like sharp steel. “Do you know what I’vebeen throughfor you? I forgave you for calling the police. I had your back! And then I get released and you ghost me? You should be on your knees begging formyforgiveness.”

I slam my fist against the wall, propelled back in time. I’m reliving my worst nightmare. “You’re not the victim here!”

“We need to move past this and get back together already!” She screams, then takes a beat, composes herself. “Daddy, let me show you. Let me help you remember how good it was.”

Kinley reaches for me, pressing our bodies together. Her hand slides down my stomach to my waistband, and chills break out down my arms. I shove her away, but the invisible scales and talons are back and shredding at my skin. I’m desperate to peel it off.

“Keep your goddamn hands off me.” Rage courses through me, white hot, and my yell booms across the early morning air. “Getout!”

“Pooki, remember what it was like. Our memories are all around you.” She climbs off the bed and trails a hand over the dresser. “My lingerie in this drawer. My—”

My nails bite into the palm of my hand as my fist clenches. “You have ten seconds to put on your clothes, or I’m throwing you out the front door naked.”

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