Page 377 of The Black Trilogy

“I need to sleep. I’m really tired,” I mumbled, heading for my room. My heart pounded harder than when I’d taken on a good-sized chunk of the Syrian army. “Don’t forget to lock the door behind me.”

He didn’t move as I left the room, but a second after I’d thrown myself on the bed, the lock clicked. Thank goodness. A solid obstacle to my temptation.

“Fudge, fudge, fudge,” I muttered to myself as I burrowed under the duvet and slammed my head back on the pillow.

He was back, my Black, and my feelings for him were stronger than ever. But how on earth was I supposed to tell him that? At this rate, I’d probably blurt it out over breakfast because my head was a wild jumble of mixed-up emotions.

Sleep was out of the question. How about taking a cold shower? Or going for a run?

Oh, what was the point?

Nothing short of a nuclear disaster would stop Black from dominating my every thought, and that vision of him sitting in front of me on the bathroom counter was burned into my brain.

The contours of his face, his perfectly straight nose, that dark hair. Everything about that man made my heart do backflips, and now was no exception. If I wasn’t careful, I’d be needing Dr. Beech’s services myself. How embarrassing would it be if I got rushed to the emergency room with palpitations?

I tried closing my eyes, but that only made the problem worse. Smooth muscles danced through my mind, and for a moment, I pictured that body dressed in sparkly trousers on stage in Las Vegas. Less than a month to go. I was so, so close to winning this.

Then the lock tumbled on the door between our rooms, and I’d never stopped thinking so fast in my life.

I pulled myself up the headboard as Black stormed into the room. Had I gone red? Yes, undoubtedly. Breathe, Emmy. Just breathe. It didn’t help that even in silhouette he still looked so freaking hot.

“Is everything okay?” I asked.

Black stopped at the end of the bed, the outline of his left fist clenched. He waved something at me with his right.

“What on earth is this?” he growled.

CHAPTER 29

I SCRAMBLED OUT of bed and stood there, frozen, as Black stalked towards me.

“What on earth is what? I can’t see in this light.”

In the faint glimmer from the half moon, all I could make out was the angry man striding across the room towards me. What had got him so worked up? He was fine fifteen minutes ago.

He snapped on the light above my nightstand, and I blinked in the glare. Focus, Emmy. What was his problem?

Oh, fudge.

Cookie crumb caramel fudge with a side order of what-have-I-done?

The letter. The freaking letter, the one I’d written months ago pouring out my feelings for him onto paper, something I never for one second dreamed he’d read. My heart was scrawled across that page in ink, and now he held it in his hand.

I glanced over at the balcony. What were the chances of me getting past him to jump off it?

Not good, I concluded. “Er, did you read that?”

“Of course I read it. It was addressed to me.”

Oh. Yeah. I stayed silent. I had absolutely no clue what to say.

“Did you mean it?”

“I meant it at the time,” I squeaked, shrinking back against the wall.

Mack had tried to explain quantum tunnelling to me the other day, and theoretically, it was possible for me to pass right through the wall and come out on the other side, but guess what? It didn’t happen.

“The time, Emmy, as you so helpfully included by putting the date at the top, was five months ago. Do you still mean it?” Black enunciated slowly and clearly as if speaking to a small child.

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