My Mate. I tried to feel guilty for coming down here, but I didn’t. Collin had chosen wrong. He had killed that man. “You were right, you know.”
“What was I right about?”
“Everything. About me. About the Illum and Elite.” I worked to swallow, my next sentence choking me. “He isn’t different.”
Hal stopped, turning toward me. There was no vindication in his eyes at my confession. No pride. “I’m sorry I was right.” He stared at me, and my skin felt too tight.
“I should have listened to you.”
“Truth is never easy. Plus, I wear blue, and you wear gray, right?”
I grabbed his arm. “Hal, I’m sorry. That was a terrible thing to say. I was angry. I shouldn’t have said those things. I didn’t mean them. I also thought I was protecting you.”
“I’ve been called and told much worse. Protecting me how?”
The air between us became thick as questions pressed against my skin. “Hal . . .”
He stepped closer. “What is it?”
“Are you the Reaper?” I whispered.
Hal just stared at me until my skin was too warm. Did I want to know? Had I not run from Collin for taking a life? The Reaper was also killing people.
Hal shook his head. “That wasn’t the question I was hoping for.” He raked a hand through his hair. “The Reaper didn’t rise to where he is by giving away his identity. There is power in people not knowing who you are, even those close to you. Just as there is a vulnerability to everyone knowing who you are.”
“That wasn’t a no,” I told him, stepping closer.
“It wasn’t a yes,” Hal stated, matching my step. “I thought I wouldn’t see you again.”
“I thought so too. What did you want me to ask?”
“You know the question, Moonlight.”
One day you’ll have the nerve to ask, and I don’t think I’ll say no.
I retreated a step. My breaths were too shallow, his presence engulfing me, sweeping away everything. Hal took another step closer, and my breathing hitched as he brushed a curl behind my ear. I looked into his starburst eyes, and time slowed down for just a moment.
“I need to get you back,” Hal told me, but he didn’t move. “Unless you have something to ask.”
“Yeah, you’ve said that,” I said breathlessly, my eyes taking in every line and curve of his face. The way his amber eyes drank me in, defect and all, his dark blond hair that fell into his face, the tension in his jaw.
“Because I do,” Hal breathed, his mouth inches from mine.
“I have another question,” I murmured.
“Then ask it, Moonlight.”
“Kiss me?” I whispered, damning myself.
His hand brushed my cheek with such gentleness, his thumb tracing my bottom lip before cupping my chin. My eyes fluttered closed from the warmth, each breath bated. His lips met mine, and the world, my world, shifted.
Hal pulled back, a slight tremble in his hand before sliding it to cradle the back of my head. I opened my eyes to see him staring at me. He shook his head just a fraction before he surged forward, his lips crashing into mine.
His hand snaked into my hair, pulling me closer until every inch of me was pressed against him. His other hand grabbed my hip, holding me against him as his tongue traced my lower lip, and I opened for him.
Hal took advantage, and his tongue swept into my mouth, tangling with mine. A groan escaped him as he pushed into me, my back colliding with the stone wall, all of his rugged strength meeting every supple curve of mine.
A firestorm of desire hollowed me out and yet filled me to the brim all in the same breath. The yearning, the aching, the countless emotions of the past week—all of it caught in the hot tempest that threatened to consume me.
