Page 212 of Under an Endless Moon

Come to me, she silently begged. She still couldn’t understand what had happened over the last week.

All except for the call Raven had gotten from Haddie.

Otto had been distantsince.

Barely looking at her in the day and completely ignoring her at night.

Those footsteps changed course, backing away, before she heard the soft click of a door latch before it quietly snapped shut across the hall.

Sorrow threatened to tie her to the bed, to keep her shackled. But she couldn’t do that anymore. She didn’t want to be small and ashamed. She didn’t want to hide or conceal.

For once—for the first time in her life—she wanted to be seen.

She rose from the bed and crept across the floor. Her heart fluttered madly in her chest when she set her hand on the knob. Inhaling a steadying breath, she searched inside herself for fortitude.

For courage.

For the bravery and strength that he’d always affirmed that she had.

For everything he’d been instilling in her for all these years.

She opened the door, and her attention swept from one side of the hall to the other to make sure it was clear, then she tiptoed to the door directly across from hers.

She didn’t hesitate or knock.

She pushed it open the same way as Otto had always done hers.

He was lounged on his bed, and he lurched upright. Only wearing jeans and his boots.

Thickness filled her throat and butterflies scattered in her belly as she took in the sight of him.

So viciously beautiful it made her feel weak.

Designs inscribed across his flesh, flexing and contracting over the shock of muscles that bulged beneath.

Magnificent.

It was all she could think.

This man who she trusted more than anyone else.

“Raven.” It gusted out of him on a low roll of surprise.

Her brow pinched as she squeezed the door handle, though she lifted her chin, refusing to back down. “Where have you been?”

He scraped a hand over the top of his head, diverting his gaze to the floor. “Busy.”

Stepping forward, she let the door swing shut behind her. “Too busy for me?”

“Guess so.” He kept his head down when he said it.

A shockwave of pain reverberated the air. She wasn’t sure which of them it originated from because it felt like they both were washed in it. Dragged down to the dark abyss of an endless sea.

“You should go back to bed, Raven,” he said, still not fully looking at her.

“Why?”

“Because you shouldn’t be in here.”

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