Page 96 of Lamb

“I give you my life, and this is what you choose to do with it?” I murmured, his fingers relaxing against the contours of my face. “Interesting first choice.”

Soft lips brushed over mine, followed by a gravelly, insistent, “Sleep.”

I sighed, my protest fading into the dark as our words mingled in my mind. It might have sounded like a joke, but I had been serious. Even if it had just been a verbal promise, the idea of handing my life over to Lamb felt like a weight lifted off my shoulders. It was nothing profound, but I still felt it shift, and I felt lighter than ever.

Even as my consciousness began to sink around me, I was not scared to sleep, even if nightmares awaited me. For the firsttime in a long while, I drifted into a deep, dreamless sleep, relaxed and content.

Chapter Twenty-Six

LAMB

Ash stared down at her lap, her face pale and eyes avoidant.

I slid the plate further toward her, drawing her eyes up to the tabletop before they made a hasty retreat elsewhere in the kitchen. I said nothing as she squirmed under my stubborn stare.

We’d been at this for a while already, the eggs and toast already cool, as our silent showdown continued. I expected it to go on as long as was needed; even if the food was stone-cold, I expected it to be in Ash’s stomach, and I’d take no less.

“Is this some weird game?” Jax interrupted. The cowboy stood propped against the doorframe, arms folded over his chest, eyeing us with a strange stare. I had no idea how long he’d been standing there, but I had other priorities.

I pushed the plate an inch. “Eat.”

Ash sucked her teeth between her lips, and I knew from the pallor of her face that the morning nausea was draining her today. Her detox was still working its way through her system, and it had become more of a challenge to get her to eat than it ever had been before.

Beautiful, whitewashed green eyes slunk up to meet mine, pleading with me across the breakfast bar counter, where I stood, waiting. Her eyes searched my face, squinting to make out details.

I sighed, releasing my grip on the plate, and for just a moment, relief flushed across Ash’s face, bringing back a hint of life.

I grabbed a stool, the metal scratching across the floor until I could sit comfortably in her space, my knees locking around her hips, so close her body heat seeped into the material of my jeans and warmed my thighs.

Misery sank back into her sharper features; our battle resumed. I fought not to react as I saw the bob of Ash’s throat, her purpled bruises shifting as those milky-white eyes began to focus on anything else.

I scooped up her hand and placed a fork tightly in it. Ash sighed, once again looking down at her food—the eggs, toast, and half of a banana sliced on her plate, like a mountain towering before her.

“Mint said you’d be fine to eat this type of thing now,” I pushed, releasing her hand with the fork. I let my own slide down into place on her thigh, her soft muscles relaxed and calm beneath my touch.

“I know,” Ash grumbled, her weak expression altering into a stubborn pout.

Jax, feeling neglected as the attention seeker he was, strolled further into the room, putting himself in my vacated place on the opposite side of the breakfast bar. “You got something against eggs?”

Her lip turned at the question. “No, but …”

“Jax.”

It was one single word. A name she’d heard a million times. Except, it was spoken by a voice she hadn’t ever thought to hear again.

“You got a minute?” Anna asked, her blonde head poking through the doorway.

I glimpsed her white-blonde hair out of the corner of my eye, but my gaze didn’t stray from the woman in front of me.

In a heartbeat, Ash had turned to fragile glass in my arms, her body brittle, barely breathing. I wanted to cage her in tighter but feared she’d crumble to pieces if I even dared to touch her.

“Uh, yeah, what’s up?” Jax responded, looking like a deer caught in headlights. His eyes bounced back and forth between Ash and Anna in panicked confusion.

“Meet me in the office in five?” Anna asked, not waiting for a response before she vanished from my sight, and all I could hear was the famous click of her boots disappearing down the hallway.

Jax glanced between Ash and the empty doorway, hesitating before quickly scuttering down the hallway in Anna’s wake.

I waited and watched.

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