Page 214 of Night's Fall
“I think we’ll be happy here,” he said into my hair.
“I think we’d be happy anywhere,”Isaid into his skin.
Suddenly,Ihad no breath because his arms locked around me so tight,Icouldn’t force any in so it could come back out.Healso buried his face in the side of my neck.
“Aleksei,”Iwheezed.
His hold loosened (but not that much), and he took his face out of my neck to catch my gaze.
“I want to spend the whole day with you here, just us, we’ll order in food,” he stated. “Canyou do that?”
I loved that he wanted that.ButIwould find a way to do anything for him.
Definitely that.
“Yes, baby,”Iwhispered.
An expression moved over his beautiful faceIdid not like.
He didn’t make me wait to explain it. “Ihave to share you with everybody.Ihate it,Laura.”
Oh gods.
I lifted a hand and stroked his jaw. “I’mjust yours.”
“I wish that was the case,” he muttered.
“It is,”Iasserted.
He shook that off and said, “Iwas proud of what you did yesterday.Youwere remarkably honest, but self-possessed.”
Ah.
Understanding was dawning.
“You didn’t like me sharing that part of my life,”Itook a wild stab at guessing what his recent reaction was about.
“Your pain thatIcan’t assuage, giving it to the entire world?” he asked.
My gods, this beautiful male.
“You have thingsIcan’t fix either,”Ireminded him.
“Does it burn in you, threaten to consume every thought, control every action?”
HolyHecate.
“It bothers me, a whole lot,”Itold him, beginning to feel a gnawing sense of worry. “Butit doesn’t do that.Isthat how you feel?”
“At the audience, it took everythingIhad not to shake them until their necks snapped.Evenso,Ihad to find more, so my creature wouldn’t release, clench them in his jaw, fly over the sea and drop them in the middle of it.”
Whoa.
He was talking about my parents.
“It’s primal,” he grunted.
I froze.
