Page 60 of Possession

“Our place.”

I giggled like a freaking teenager. “Lana!”

“What? He’s hot and–”

“Nope, stop right there, I don’t want know.” I shook my head and laughed.

“See, all better, we’re all smiles again.” She lifted her right eyebrow and grinned as she started to back out of the lot.

My lungs filled with a deep breath as I raised my sleeves to my nose.

Declan.

I closed my eyes and let my head fall back against the headrest of the seat. I could feel his lips on mine, his hands on my hips, my stomach—my face. I felt his heavy weight along the length of my body. He’d released all the feelings I’d stowed away, and I wanted to catalogue each one, keep it safe inside me. I didn’t want to just survive it, I wanted to live it. If that meant when I left him, each time, I’d be reduced to a puddle of tears, then so be it.

I’d rather drown in a blue sea of longing than fade into the white noise of nothing.

Quotes, skulls, and a few anchors… I’d lost track of what I’d done all day. My head was full of Paige. Her voice, her mouth, her skin, the very feel of her under my fingertips. Halfway through the day I realized I could still taste her on my tongue. By day’s end, her scent started to crowd my thoughts; clean waves of soap, something inherently female, deep purple, and sexy. The buzz of my tattoo machine hadn’t provided a distraction, and my inner voice had gone missing entirely. This was how it had once been, not silence, but me. I was the only one haunting my skull. Visions of Paige beneath me, above me, my mouth on her stomach, on her thighs–everywhere, it was a welcome change from the macabre, the self-loathing, and the intruding thoughts of occasional death.

Everyone had left for the night, except for Liam, and as I locked up my supplies, I heard him laugh.

I raised my eyes. “Something funny?”

He leaned against the wall of my station and watched me for a moment as I turned to fully face him. “No, not really, you have a silly ass grin on your face.”

He didn’t give me his usual scowl, and I waited for his bullshit about Paige, but he said nothing.

“She makes me happy.”

“It’s dangerous, Dex, letting one person rule you like that.” He pushed off the wall and stood at his full height. His hard, brown eyes met mine and the crease between his brows deepened as he surveyed me.

I ran my hand through my hair and held his stare. “Maybe it is... some people, Liam… some people are worth the danger.”

I waited for him to roll his eyes, but he never did. Instead, the muscle in his jaw ticked before he said, “And you think Paige… is back for good? After what, one night with her? It doesn’t fucking work like that.” He shook his head.

“For you, Liam, it doesn’t work like that for you.” I pointed to my temple. “It’s quiet. It’s silent and I can see things, hear things, I’m back. She’s always been able to do that for me. She gets me, always has, this isn’t a bright and fucking shiny fresh start. It’s a continuation.” Liam’s shoulders fell as I pointed to my chest. “She never left, man, she never left.” My throat started to close off and I clenched my jaw.

Liam walked up to me, his eyes almost wet as he gripped the back of my head and pulled our foreheads together like he used to do when we were kids. He spoke in a low voice as he said, “I’m glad your back, little brother, I’m fucking glad, but I won’t lose you again, so be careful.”

I grasped his shoulder. “I will, but someday... you’re going to have to start taking care of you.”

He dropped his hold on me and leaned away, his eyes clouding over. “I’m fine.”

I increased the pressure of my grip. “You’re not, and if you can’t see that… that pride… it’ll make you just like him, just like Pop.”

He stepped back and shrugged out of my hold. “I’m…” His jaw flexed and he closed his eyes. “Shit, Dex, I don’t know what the fuck I’m doing.” His eyes opened again and he nodded his chin to the back door. “It’s getting late, don’t make her wait.”

The line of his jaw relaxed, and his features softened, but his eyes, they still held a stubborn edge. “Will you be okay?” I asked.

He nodded. “Of course. I got no other choice.”

Every light in The Gallery was on as I walked toward the back of the store. Paige’s music played through the open studio door, and I thought for a minute I’d heard her singing along. My lips curled up at the corners as my view came into focus. She was kneeling on the ground, wearing jeans and an oversized, white button up with the sleeves rolled heavily at her elbows. Her hair was piled at the top of her head, and the light caught a few of the strands that had escaped around the nape of her neck. The golden color was warm and invited me in as I stepped farther through the threshold of the studio.

Her hand stilled above one of the canvases she was working on as I sucked in a ragged breath. There were at least twenty of them on the floor. Each canvas was a different size. Some of them were covered in different shades of gray, blue, some had warmer tones, and from where I was standing, if you looked at them as a whole they created an almost pixelated collage.

“Paige?” Her name was a winded surprise.

She stood seamlessly, stepping back and lacing her fingers with mine.

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