Page 60 of Roses and Skulls

I flip over on my back, ready to give him a piece of my mind but his palm covers my mouth before I can open it.

He stares down at me. “You were testing me too. Don’t lie.”

Was I?

His hand slides away from my mouth. And then his lips are covering mine. This time it’s slow, and gentle and nothing like the one he laid on me downstairs. That one was possessive, and it stole my breath. Both are… absolutely toe curling.

I squeeze my legs together as a slow burn begins in my nether region and he chuckles in my mouth, catching the slight movement.

My phone has been quiet ever since my family figured out where I was but now it’s buzzing again. Elijah slides his hand under my ass, not breaking our kiss as he slips it out of my back pocket. He holds it over my head before breaking away from me to see who it is.

No, I don’t want to stop. Ever. He could kiss me forever and I wouldn’t complain. He seems to be the only thing that can shut my brain off. His eyes meet mine in the dark and he growls, sitting up, his fingers flying across the screen of my phone.

I sit up and try to grab it from him but the look he gives me pauses my hand mid-air.

Then my phone starts to ring, and he places his finger over my mouth, telling me to keep quiet.

“Hey, man. Yeah, you know, her old man is an asshole, they had a blow-out, but everything’s cool. She’ll be back to work in a couple days, sorry we forgot to call you.” He narrows his eyes at me when I part my lips. “Naw, we got a place to stay tonight but we’ll be back in town tomorrow. She just needs a little time to regroup.”

Then his eyes drop to my thighs and his gaze turns murderous, making me whimper and scoot back on the bed. His hand darts out, grabbing me around the knee, keeping me in place.

“She’s good. I promise. We’ll be in soon. Sure, man, I’ll tell her. Yep.”

Elijah drops the phone on the bed before crawling over the top of me, forcing me to lie back. “How, may I ask, has Draven seen your legs?” he growls.

I swallow hard. Shit, this is worse than facing my dad.

“It-it’s not what you think,” I stammer. “He, well, he caught me cutting myself and…” I thought my dad had an intimidating look but it’s nothing like Elijah’s. His brows are furrowed together, his dark hair falling over his forehead and his brown eyes are hard, unrelenting as he glares down at me.

I whimper again, whispering softly, “I’m sorry.”

He blinks a few times, shaking his head like he’s coming out of a fog. “So, he didn’t touch you?” he asks, brushing the hair away from my temples with his thumbs, his weight fully on me now.

I shake my head. “I told you, no one but you has touched me… there,” I finish, glad that it’s dark so he can’t see my cheeks flush with my admission.

“I wish you would trust me enough to tell me why you are working there. I can see that he scares you.”

My eyes squeeze tightly shut.Please don’t force me to tell you. Please don’t.

It’s as if he can read my mind. “I’ll figure it out soon enough. You’ve had a long day, try to get some sleep.” He rolls off me and shifts us back into our original position.

My breath whooshes out in relief when I realize he isn’t going to push me on this.

“Goodnight, Billie Rose,” he says against my ear.

I try to wait for him to fall asleep first, because, well, I’m nervous. I’ve never slept beside a man before. What if I drool, or worse yet, snore? But he is so quiet behind me, the only way I know he’s awake is by the soft touch of his fingers, rubbing gently over my stomach. My mind starts to wander, going through all the events of the past few days.

Everything seems to be unraveling at the seam but then again, it kind of feels like maybe it’s all coming together. I’m so confused. The timing of Draven showing up and then Elijah. I smile to myself in the dark, remembering his lips against mine. He effectively erased the feel of Draven’s. And he did it without even knowing. Or did he?

Chapter Fifteen

Billie Rose

Iwoke up early, before him. I moved over to the chair so I could just sit and stare at him without the fear of reaching out and touching him. The sun is pouring in through the windows and he looks like a dark angel being bathed in light.

He’s fucking gorgeous. I’m trying to separate the man I see before me from the boy I knew all those years ago. But they are one in the same. My chin rests on my knee as I hug my leg close to me.

For the first time since the accident, I slept all night and I actually feel rested.

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