“Oh,” he checked his watch, a wrinkled brow lifting, “it’s afternoon. Good afternoon.”
I blinked.Afternoon?My stomach twisted. I had slept half the day away? Sure, I’d gone back to bed in the early hours, but still. Afternoon?
I scanned the kitchen and the living room for Thrax but he was nowhere to be found. He wasn’t upstairs, and he wasn’t downstairs. A dull, hollow ache settled in my chest, my palm pressing over my heart as though I could keep it from splintering. Had he gone out again and left like he always did?
I sighed and turned, ready to retreat back upstairs when the man’s voice stopped me. “Ma’am.”
I turned. “Yes?”
He pointed outside. “He said he’s out here.”
Hope flared so hard inside me it nearly made me dizzy. “Really?”
He nodded once. “He’s out here.”
Like a child promised something shiny, I ran to the door, the old man shifting aside to let me pass.
The air outside was cold and damp, afternoon light muted behind a dull grey sky. The earth was still slick with this morning’s rain. To the left, where the car usually stay parked, was Thrax. He stood behind it, towering over the roof as he inspected something.
Right, Weeny Man’s car had been hit.
The moment he looked up and saw me, his eyes softened. His hair was mussed, falling into his face in a way that made my fingers ache to touch. My heart squeezed painfully, and I didn’t know if I wanted to kiss him again or just hold him.
“...I feel alive, and I never feel alive, Sanora! But you make me feel alive.”
The memory of his confession from last night replayed in my head, louder than the hammering had been. Safe to assume he hauntedmy dream with it, and I wasn’t forgetting it anytime soon, whether I truly made him feel alive or not.
“Isn’t it too early for you to feel sad?” His voice was low, almost teasing, as he stepped out from behind the car. He reached out a hand, palm open.
I walked towards him slowly, trying not to beam like a fool. Thrax’s palm was hot when I placed mine in it, as if the fire inside him was spilling out. His big hand folded over mine and, without warning, he tugged me forward. I stumbled, colliding with the solid wall of his chest. My breath hitched as his other arm circled my waist, pinning me securely against him.
The butterflies inside me went feral, thrashing around with nowhere to go. Did he think his confession last night—and that devastating kiss—gave him the right to touch me this freely?
Well, yes, it did. I didn’t mind. Not at all. We had such limited time, and I wanted to be greedy with it. I wanted every second wrapped in his warmth, without a label on whatever we were.
“I thought you left,” I whispered against the heat of his chest.
“I didn’t.” His voice rumbled through me. “I left the bed two hours ago to get the door fixed.”
Thrax eased me back, just enough to see my face, his gaze pinning me in place. Then his hand rose, thumb brushing my bottom lip. My whole body went molten under that simple touch. His stare dipped to my mouth, and I swore he was obsessed with doing that.
“I can’t believe I slept through the morning,” I muttered breathlessly. “Is it past twelve or past two p.m.? What time is it?”
Heat simmered in his eyes, dragging me under. “Time to kiss you.”
My heart skipped. Then his hand slid into my hair, cradling the back of my head as his mouth crashed into mine.
Everything in me ignited, his mouth a feral claiming that left me moaning. My lips parted instinctively, and he devoured the sound I made, deepening the kiss until I forgot how to breathe.
Thrax’s body pressed flush against mine, and I felt every line of him, his cock nudging against my stomach through our clothes. Heat shot between my legs, my thighs clenching at the surge of need he was drawing out of me.
I clung to him, one arm wound tight around his neck, the other tangling in his dark hair. The strands slid through my fingers, impossibly soft, and when I tugged, a low, guttural sound ripped from his chest. He groaned into my mouth,body shuddering.
He tore his lips away just long enough to drag in a breath, voice hoarse. “I could die if you keep doing that.”
I smiled against his mouth, my pulse pounding recklessly. “Something is going to end you eventually.”
“My pleasure.” Then his lips crashed back onto mine, hungrier, like he truly wanted me to be the one to end his endless life.
