Page 115 of Consume Me

Returning from my mental wanderings, I focus on the screens in front of me. I can’t disappoint Bailey. I said I would watch the screens, and I will. But I’m leaving the moment the sun is up, so Mia will wake up and find me beside her.

Hours tick by with no new information. I pluck my small dagger from the strap around my ankle and read the inscription.There are two sides. And neither is completely right or wrong.I wonder, and not for the first time, if Grandmother knew what I did. Something tells me she did, but it was too late, anyway. The untraceable poison had already destroyed her organs. Yet she wanted me back.

The guilt over what I had to do will never be erased. But it was her life or my friends. I won’t ever apologize for that, yet it tainted my soul to the point I wanted to die and be holed up in hell as punishment.

And for what? They want us dead anyway.

When the first timid rays of the sun peek through the curtain after a long, silent night, I rub my eyes. I have spent hours observing the screens with no new intel. But at least I came up with a plan to present to the group.

I stand up, cracking my neck to loosen my stiff muscles. I’ve been trying to ignore the pacing outside the door, knowing it’s Hunter. But now I need him to take my place.

When I open the door, he sits on the floor with his back against the opposite wall. He scoots up, looking like he hasn’t slept either.

“How is she?” he asks.

“Asleep. Watch those screens for me, will you?”

He nods and tiptoes inside.

The moment I am back in my bedroom, my heart fills with emotions I never thought I could have.

Mia whispers my name in her sleep, warming my chest. I climb into bed, pull her to my side, and close my eyes for a bit.

When I wake up, she’s not there, and I groan low, rolling out of bed. Going in search of my light, I find her in the kitchen alone, preparing a batch of muffins.

Stealthily, I move to wrap my arms around her from behind when she tilts her head, grinning.

“I knew you were there.”

Crossing my arms and hands around her belly, I place my chin on her shoulder. “Is that so?”

“I had training, plus I always sense you.”

Yes, we’ve gravitated toward each other since the beginning, an inexplicable yet indelible connection binding us.

“Did I give you permission to leave my bed?”

She giggles, rolling her eyes at me playfully. “Didn’t know I had to ask.”

“Now you do.”

She turns into my arms and cups my cheeks. “You needed the sleep.”

“I need you more than that,” I say, brushing my nose against hers. “I was in Bailey’s room until dawn, and I could only convince her to sleep if I watched the screens.”

“You’re such a loyal and trustworthy person.”

Those words stab at me, but not worse than her eyes brimming with affection. I push the lump down my throat, knowing I will have to tell her what I did, but I am scared shitless of how she will react. I doubt I will survive her leaving me.

“No, I’m not, Mia.”

She opens her mouth, surely to contradict me, but I claim her lips in a deep kiss, letting myself get swept away in the heaven of her.

While I help her put the muffins on a separate plate, I snatch one. “You have me addicted to these.”

“What else?”

“Your presence, your mouth, your touch, your body, your pussy. You in your entirety, and it’s your fault.”

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