Page 172 of Under an Endless Moon

The water was just shy of too hot as I settled us into the water. I rested my back against the tub, and Raven sighed as she edged off just to the side, turning toward me and tucking in the safety of my arm. She rested her cheek on my chest, and those fingers started playing along my pecs, tracing the lines of the horrors and hope that I had tattooed on my skin.

She was still breathing hard, her heart still thrumming, though I could feel her begin to relax in my hold.

I pressed my lips to the top of her head. “Was I too rough on you?”

Her cheek smooshed into my chest as she shook her head, her breaths almost cool with the heat of the water. Her scent was all around, though it was distorted, painted with me.

Kind of wanted to keep it that way forever.

“Tell me it wasn’t obvious how much I liked it?”

A chuckle skated my throat, low in the quiet that encapsulated us in a hedge of protection. “Guess the way you were shouting my name made it pretty clear.”

Then I sobered, nudging her chin up so I could study her face. “But I’d never forgive myself if I hurt you.”

“You would never hurt me, Otto.”

“Have though, haven’t I? Ignoring this? Pretending like I didn’t feel it begging between us?”

“You did what you thought was right,” she whispered.

A contrite smile pulled at my lips. “Or maybe I’m just being selfish now. Taking you for myself.”

“If giving into the need you have for someone is selfish, then call me a glutton.”

I ran a palm down the back of her head as amusement rolled at the base of my throat. “Haven’t had your fill yet, darlin’?”

“I think that is going to happen at precisely…” Raven played it up looking at a nonexistent watch on her wrist. “Never.”

“That seems pretty exact.”

“I’m willing to bet on it.” Her voice was quiet and light.

I fiddled with a lock of her hair, breathing in the peace. Silence wrapped around us, a comfort that we both sank into.

I didn’t know how much time had passed before the question finally broached my mouth. “What do you want from this life, Raven?”

I’d asked her before, but that was under the context of us being friends.

Asister.

Should have known anything baked under that guise was nothing but a falsity.

“Other than you?”

My laugh was low. “Yeah, other than me.”

“Well, other than my number one which now belongs to me…” That part was playful before her voice slipped into contemplation. “I want to continue to grow Moonflower. I feel like it’s important, what I do. I believe a bouquet isn’t just some simple decoration, but an expression of love. A sympathy or a well wish. An apology or a promise.”

I hummed, and the silence thickened, and I could almost feel the tension glide through her being. “And someday soon, I think I’d like to have a family.”

She whispered that.

I blew out the strain. “That’s what I’d hoped for you. Might have killed me to think about it, but I’d hoped that you would find some lucky motherfucker to love you. Someone to treasure you. Treat you like a queen. Thought the two of you would move into some cute little house with a slew of flowers growing in pots on the porch. Imagined you’d have two or three kids playing out in the yard, too.”

I hesitated before I forced myself to speak. “Thought you might get away from the life. Away from the danger that comes from being affiliated with Sovereign Sanctum.”

Kept wondering if that’s what this was. This threat that loomed. If some monster had figured out who we were and was using the sister of one of our members as intimidation. A warning for what was coming.

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