Page 218 of Evil Hearts

“Shoulda thought of that before you crawled into bed naked.” I felt my way onto the bed and promptly planted my hand on Ruven’s bare chest. Fuck, that was a nice chest. “You’re lying in my spot.”

An arm snaked around my waist and tugged me down against him. “I was informed that I wasn’t to leave you a wet spot,” he muttered, manhandling me so that I was halfway on top of him, straddling his thigh with an arm across his ribs and my head resting on his chest. “I told you my control is poor, andmy body desperately wants to complete the act of breeding you. Pleasuring myself with your scent in my lungs was probably a mistake.”

I snorted, already drifting back towards sleep with his heartbeat under my ear and his heavy arm draped over my waist. “New favorite activity?”

Ruven huffed and stroked his tail up along my leg. “Go to sleep, Av,” he said, not answering, which was answer enough.

I didn’t bother with a retort. Ruven seemed like the kind of man who would demand to have the last word, but I was too sleepy, and lying cuddled up with him was comfortable enough that I didn’t want to get into a pissing match. I closed my eyes and sighed out my breath, letting myself melt into his warmth.

The morning light found us in almost exactly the same position, save that Ruven’s tail had migrated up my pants to coil around my calf and thigh, and his warm hand was under my shirt, resting on the bare skin of my stomach. He was purring, too, in the silent way of a nearly-sleeping cat, the vibration felt but not heard. The purr redoubled when I traced my fingers down along his muscular arm, pairing with a soft sound of pleasure.

He shifted, thumb sweeping against my belly, and his purr stilled. “Avalon,” he said in a sleepy voice, like he was surprised. “You’re still here.”

“S’my bed,” I said, slurring a little. “Where else’d I be?”

“Making your escape.” Ruven nuzzled my hair. “Thus, anywhere but here.”

“Where the fuck would I even go?” I asked, unwilling to get out of my comfy bed or off of my comfy soulmate. “Zero dollars, zero skills…”

“All you need to do is empty out the vault while I’m passed out in your bed, grab a horse, and pick a direction,” he said. The twin tips of his tail flicked along my thigh. “You’d lose myscintillating company, of course, but also my pathetic neediness and associated moodiness, so I imagine it wouldn’t be much of a loss, all told.”

Dread crept along my skin in cold clamminess. “Well, that’s right out,” I said with forced bravada. “I don’t know that I could get back on a horse.”

Ruven’s hand stilled on my side. “Weren’t you sold as a hostler?” he ventured, sounding hesitant.

I pushed myself up and flashed him a smile that I knew didn’t reach my eyes. “Sure. Big-time rider. Won some regional championships and everything.”

His eyes narrowed. “But?”

I tried to smile again, narrowly covering over the terror. “You never asked how I almost died.”

“It was a riding accident, wasn’t it?” he said slowly, as realization hit. Ruven pushed himself up, the muscles of his arms and shoulders bunching as they took his weight. “How bad was it? No, that’s stupid, obviously it was bad.”

I rubbed the back of my neck and looked away. “I was riding a big hot-blooded gelding. I wasn’t doing anything fancy. Trail-riding in the local woods.” I closed my eyes, taking a careful breath. “He almost stepped on a rattlesnake neither of us saw. Spooked. I got thrown and hit the rocks at exactly the wrong angle.” I let out a heavy breath. “Broke my neck, just low enough that I didn’t instantly die, and high enough that, well…”

“You lost everything else,” Ruven said, his voice quiet.

I nodded. “It’s been, you know, all of eight days, so.”

He made a thoughtful noise. “You’ll need to be able to ride if you want any freedom of travel.”

That wasn’t news to me. I’d seen the landscape coming in. There weren’t a lot of roads, and they were mostly packed dirt. Travel was probably mostly on horseback, over rough ground.

“I know,” I said softly.

Ruven drummed his fingers on my hips. “Then here’s a bargain for you: the day you manage to ride me, I’ll let you ride me.” At my frown, he gave me a lazy grin. “Your soulmate is a stunning and incredibly talented shapeshifter. I’m quite capable of taking non-fae forms, horses included, which is a secret I probably shouldn’t have told you and definitely shouldn’t demonstrate, but absolutely will if you agree,” he said, not looking at all abashed. “Ride me in the form of my choice, then ride me in the form of yours. You’re not a virgin, though, are you?” Ruven asked, making a pained expression. “That would be a terrible shame.”

“Really certain that I want the ride, aren’t you?” I asked, almost in awe of his ego. “I refuse to believe that you’re so good at sex that it would be wasted on a virgin.”

He flicked the tips of his tongue out at me with his lashes lowered, leaning his saber-teeth and ears forward. “Believe what you like. If youarea virgin, though—”

“I’m not,” I said.

“Oh, good,” Ruven said, sounding relieved. “I wasn’t sure when humans started doing that. You’re so young when you die, so I was hoping it was early, but given that you’re not shriveling up with age, I didn’t know if it would be early enough.”

I flattened my mouth at him. “I’m twenty-eight, asshole. I lost my virginity at fifteen.”

He made an expression of over-exaggerated disgust. “Fifteen? Gods, that must have been disappointing.”

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