Page 28 of Within Shadows
“You’re distracting me, fuck off. I’m staying mad at you,” she hisses. I chuckle but lean back, deciding not to push my luck as she gradually relaxes in my embrace.
By the end of the episode, Maeve is sprawled across me and her mouth hangs open as she softly snores. I adjust my hold, getting more comfortable, and she turns, burying her face against my chest. Her arm is around my side, her leg hitched high on my hip as she presses close, and I hold her tight, not wanting this moment to end. I snag her phone from the table and turn the camera, snapping a picture of her sleeping in my arms and another of me kissing her forehead. When I stop to look at the picture, my heart soars when I see the tiny smile on her sleepy face. She looks so content, safe in my embrace. I send the pictures to my phone before I notice an unopened message. The name Oliver makes my hand tremble with restraint to keep me from smashing it to pieces.
Oliver:You can’t hide behind him forever.
I delete the message and lay her phone down, but it isn’t enough. Without thinking, I send the second picture of me holding her to Oliver from my phone, grinning when he opens it immediately. The tiny bubbles pop up, and I wait, excited to see what the little shit has to say. But they disappear, and no message comes through. For a moment, I think he’s taken the hint, but I won’t get my hopes up as I rub my nose against Maeve’s hair, breathing in deep. This is all I’ve wanted, to touch her as I am and without any masks between us. Real or figurative.
She fits against me so perfectly, like we were truly made for each other. I may have broken her trust, but Maeve can’t deny how she feels with me. I was a bastard for what I did, and I’ll spend my life fixing what I’ve broken, but I wouldn’t change athing. Maeve whimpers, her nails digging into my shirt as she flinches in her sleep. I slowly run my hands through her hair, humming softly as I try to chase away what plagues her dreams.
“Knox.” My name is whimpered from her lips, and the sound is so sweet I nearly lose all sense. She isn’t having a nightmare, not from the way she rolls her hips, breath coming in shallow pants as she moans. My cock springs to life so quickly, I’m afraid I’ll knock both of us off the couch. I remind myself that she needs her sleep, and waking her up to my face buried between her thighs might not do much in the trust department.
“Please, Knox. Don’t go.” Her face morphs from ecstasy to fear as she clings to me.
“I’ll never leave you, little muse,” I say, pressing my lips to her head as I seal my words with a kiss. My phone chimes, an alert for the security cameras I have around the entire house, but I ignore it. Nothing can take this moment from me—well,almostnothing. The window behind me shatters, raining glass over us as I roll us onto the floor and shield Maeve with my body. She startles awake and pushes against my chest in confusion.
“Knox? What the hell?” I don’t say anything as I quickly look her over for any serious injuries.
“Are you okay?” I ask, and she scrunches her brow but gives a tentative nod.
“Good, crawl to my room and lock the door behind you. There is a baseball bat next to the bed and a gun in the top drawer of the nightstand. Go hide, and don’t come out until I tell you.” I raise up, using my arm to brush as much glass out of her path as I can, hardly noticing the stinging cuts as I peer through the broken window.
Maeve is still looking around, putting the pieces together too slowly for my sanity.
“Thalia, now.Go.” I nearly growl the words, but it does the trick, and she quickly crawls away, only glancing back at me asshe gets to the door. I force myself to look away, finally taking a breath when I hear the click of the door closing and the lock sliding in place. I snatch my phone and turn the brightness down, peering at the cameras. How long has that prick been hiding out there? A familiar, red car is parked out front, and rage clouds all logical thought as I launch to my feet.
Oliver is a thorn in my side, and I’ve had enough of his existence. I stop at the front door and rummage in my jacket, pulling the small handgun out as I intently watch my screen. I can see the shadows shift next to the car and snort at how obvious he is. Slipping through the house, I keep low to avoid being seen through the window until I duck through the back door. While pulling my hood up, I click off the safety on my gun and stop at the side of my house to take a deep breath. With the tap of my phone screen, I activate the floodlights across the front of my house and sprint into the trees along the fence line of my property. Just as I expected, Oliver is scrambling to hide in his car, and the engine rumbles to life. Steadying my aim, I peer down the barrel as his car recklessly tears down the road in front of me and squeeze the trigger.
Glass explodes as the driver's side window shatters and the car violently swerves but continues down the street, and I curse under my breath.
“Knox!” Maeve hisses, peering around the back of the house as she waves her arm to get my attention. She really has no self-preservation whatsoever and is actively shaving years off of my life. I jog up to her and grab her upper arm, wrenching her back inside before I lock the door behind us.
“I told you to stay hidden until I came to get you.” My tone is sharp until I see the gun in her trembling hand and the baseball bat in the other. I shake my head as I gently take the gun from her and realize the safety is still on. Before arming her, I should have made sure she could use the damn thing, but I didn’texactly have time for that. Maeve grabs the front of my shirt and jerks me from side to side, eyes roaming over every inch.
“What are you doing?” I raise a brow, and she throws her hand out, motioning to the front lawn. “I heard gunshots, Knox. How could I just fucking hide under the bed with you out there getting turned to Swiss cheese?” Her voice rises and cheeks turn pink as she tries to hold my stare. I lean close, gripping the countertop on each side of her to pin her in place with a grin.
“Were you worried about me, muse?” I tilt my head and watch as she tries to look angry, but I can see the way her eyes shimmer. Maeve was genuinely afraid for my safety. I grip her chin and force her head back. “Never put yourself in danger for my sake ever again. Do you understand me?” I ask, eyes flicking between hers. Maeve tries to slap my hand away, but I snatch her wrist and spin her, pressing her hips into the counter as I grind against her ass. I keep my hand firmly pressed to her throat until she has to bow her back.
“No, I don’t understand.” Her voice is confident as she spits the words, but she trembles against me. A cold gust of air rushes across us, and I peer into the living room.
“I need to board that window up. Can you stay out of danger until I’m finished with that, at least?” I ask, kissing the soft skin beneath her jaw and relishing the way her breath catches in her throat. Swinging my hand down, I swat her on the ass hard enough that she lurches forward. The soft little moan that slips from her doesn’t go unnoticed as she huffs, giving me a heated glare from the side of her eye.
Chapter 18
Maeve
My stomach is still twisted in knots as I hold nails out in my palm for Knox. He lifts another board, lining it up beneath the first and driving it home with easy swings. Watching him work and make it look so easy is doing funny things to my body, and I’m doing my best to ignore it, but he doesn’t make it easy. Especially when he lays the hammer down on the couch and steps back, reaching behind his head to pull his shirt off.
The sheen across his back only draws more attention to his shoulders as they flex, and I almost choke on my drool. The nails drop from my hand and Knox turns, raising a brow at me as I glare at him.
“Can I help you?” I huff, forcing my eyes to the ground as I kneel to pick them up.
“Asking that while kneeling in front of me is a little forward, don’t you think?” He runs his hand through my hair and tugs gently. I clench my fists, hissing in a breath when the nails dig into my palm. Knox has his heated gaze burning into me, slowly taking me in. Neither of us moves for a few breaths until something inside of him snaps. He throws the hammer to the floor and slams into me, tackling me to the ground as he crushes his mouth to mine.
This kiss is so much more than we’ve shared before, his tongue forces past my parted lips as he pins both of my hands to the floor above my head. Heat crawls through my veins, stealing what little oxygen I have left as my mouth molds to his. The sweet taste of him has my body arching against his as I wrap one leg around his hips. Our fingers are threaded together, and I squeeze back as he grinds against me, consuming any logical thought I had.
Far too quickly, Knox pulls away and presses his forehead to mine as we catch our breath. “Your kiss is fucking divine, muse.” His voice is low as he speaks, pressing a gentle kiss to myforehead. Knox stands, holding his hand out for me to help me to my feet.
“Why did you stop?” I can’t keep the disappointment from my voice as he takes a nail from my hand and gives me a cocky smirk.
