Page 60 of Love's Ace

There was a part of him that was so scarred from whatever had happened in his past, from whatever had left him open to the Enmity, that I wondered if there was any way I could ever heal it.

Was there a point in figuring out how to reverse the hold they had on him if he could just be taken again the instant I wasn’t looking?

The thought made something in my chest jerk violently, and I pulled him tighter against me.

“What’s wrong?” He muttered the question softly, but I noticed he didn’t pull away from me like he would have a few days ago. He hesitated for a second before he threw his arm overmy chest. Then, with a soft grunt, he flung his leg across mine too.

“Nothing.” The lie came smoothly from my lips, and Theo tensed like he could feel it sting against his skin. “I’m just trying to think of how to… fix everything,” I quickly amended. It wasn’t exactly the truth, but it was close enough that he seemed to accept it.

With a shrug, he wriggled his face until his lips were pressed against my pulse, until he was buried so deep in the crook of my shoulder that his voice came out muffled. “Everything’s fine right now. Think about that instead.”

Everything’s fine right now.

If anyone else had said it, I would have thought they were being sarcastic, or just accepting the situation. But Theo… there was something about the way he spoke, the softness in his voice.

The way his body was so relaxed against mine.

I had a feeling that everything hadn’t beenfinefor him for a long time.

Almost against my will, my hand rose and I wrapped it around him. When my fingers slid beneath his shirt and pressed gently into the warm skin at the base of his spine, Theo let out a soft sigh.

“Yeah. I guess you’re right. We’ll worry about everything else tomorrow.” I stroked his skin almost helplessly, and he shivered, wriggling closer like he couldn’t help himself either. He was plastered against me, and I realized it feltgood. It feltright.

“Sounds good, Wren. Now go to sleep. We have a long day tomorrow.”

The demand of his voice punctuated by his sharp teeth nipping at my neck should have infuriated me. I should have shoved him off the couch…

Instead, my wings rustled just beneath my skin, wanting to come out and wrap around him. I had to settle them by pullinghim closer and pressing my nose to his hair. He smelled like rain and roses, and the scent pulsed through me, gentle waves of comfort and peace.

Home. I’d never known what home smelled like before.

It was Theo… Theo was the first good memory that was justmine.

Chapter 22

Theo

Iwoke up soreand warm all at once, wrapped in a comfort I was almost afraid of. I wasn’t used to existing in a world where I had more options than just fight or flight.

There was a third option now, one so foreign I couldn’t wrap my head around it.

Stay.

The option was tostay.

Wren’s arms around me offered a sense of security that I half-expected to fall apart. I didn’t believe in soulmates. I didn’t believe in finding someone and your entire life changing, your world shifting, falling in love without thought or reason over the span of a few days.

But I didn’t move when Wren shifted on the small couch and pulled me closer in his sleep. I just closed my eyes and draped my hand over his waist, trailing my fingers up the length of his spine experimentally.

He let out a low gasp a second before his wings broke free from the tattoo on his back, the motion enough to jerk him awake.

I probably looked like a deer caught in headlights as Wren searched the room for some unperceived danger before his gaze finally trailed back and landed on me. I couldn’t stop the soft laugh that spilled out, husky from sleep and contradicting my words.

“Sorry.”

Wren’s brows snapped together, and I felt the tension try to find a way back into my body. I expected anger… for him to shove me away. Something.

Anything.

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