“You’re okay. Everything’s going to be okay, Ari,” he says on a quiet comforting whisper.
The door swings open. The warmth of his touch drops. In a matter of half a second, the façade that is Krave Salvation is right back in place.
“Thank you very much, Viral. Send my love to your wife,” he says sincerely as he ushers me by on quick steps.
“I will. I will,” the guard tells him with kindness now shining in his deep brown eyes.
What—
“What did you do for them? Did you fix some erectile dysfunction? Tell him where the mysterious G-spot is? What did you do, Krave?”
He smirks as we pass waning torches along the brick wall. The tunnel continues down farther and farther.
And here I thought we were already in the dungeon...
“Is that all you think I’m good for, love? Fast fucks and hard cocks? That’s all you think I know?”
When he passes me a sinful smile, I have to roll my eyes.
“His wife left him earlier this year. Said he was emotionally unavailable.”
Yeah. I can see that being a thing for a guy named Viral.
“I caught him down here crying. Real tears. Big wailing man tears like I have never seen in all my centuries.” Krave’s smooth voice is perfect for fairytales and storytime. It makes warmth and sadness settle in my chest for the man who made me sick just moments ago. “I told him not to let her go. If he loved her, and he clearly did, don’t let her go without showing her all he could be for her. Men get distracted easily. Jobs and money and stress all weigh them down, but they think they have to shield that stress away. Pretend to be strong and unyielding and just keep on going. Work harder to ignore it. When all women really want is their presence.”
Oh. My. Fucking. Gods.
I’m in love with Krave Salvation.
Obviously,Catherine chirps from the back of my mind.
I stumble in the dim lighting. I almost fall face first onto the piss-and-vomit brickwork. It takes everything in me to stagger awkwardly behind him as if I didn’t just eat the ground because of how hard my heart’s pounding from what he just said to me.
Don’t let her go without showing her all he could be for her.
That’s all Krave has been doing since the moment we met.
As I’m half jogging, half face-falling, he turns to me. He veers back with confusion crossing his smooth features.
“Are you alright? Is the smell getting to you? You look like you might be sick, love.”
That’s what love looks like for someone like me. Someone who has never let that warm and happy feeling hit their soul for even a heartbeat of a moment. Yeah, love looks like a godsdamn illness for people like me.
“I—I’m fine,” I say as I swallow down the tension filling my throat. The longer I hold his gaze, the harder my heart pounds for me to cling to him, clutch him, kiss him, and whatever else Hallmark instructs women to do when they realize their heart isn’t their own but shared with another.
“If you need me right now, just say the word. I’ll promise to be quick if you promise to be quiet,” he says with a wink.
Ah. Perfect. Just the blatant romantic words I need to clear my head before I do something really stupid.
“I’m good. Let’s just find the others.” I motion forward, but he studies me for a moment longer, like he knows exactly what I’m not saying.
Doubtful, but still. It’s enough to make me nervous.
He lifts his palm, and once more hovers it at my lower back, leading me without ever touching me. My lashes close with a calm settling in to know we’re fine. We’re just as we always are.
Which isn’t fine at all, if you think about it.
I shake my head and try to focus on the task at hand.
