My sleep shatters with a faint thud in my room. Instantly, I sit up, pull the gun from my drawer, and aim toward the source of the sound.
I lower it only when I see her collapsed on the floor near the window, rubbing her ass with a wince. I switch on the light. She scrambles up, looking everywhere except into my eyes.
“Explain,” I say coldly.
This is the second night she’s climbed from her balcony into mine.
“You’re a very light sleeper, Zoan,” she says, stepping closer.
“I’ll have your balcony removed by tomorrow.”
Her eyes widen in panic. She climbs onto my bed and sits back on her heels, her knees folded beneath her and her hands clasped together.
“Please, Zoan!If you remove my balcony, I’ll have to climb with a ladder. What if I fall?”
“This is not a joke, Dove. If you try this again, I’ll seal your window and lock your door every night.”
I narrow my eyes. “And you said you wouldn’t bother me.”
She lies down, grinning. “I’m not bothering you.”
Quickly, she places the pillows between us. “See? I have good intentions.”
She pulls my quilt over herself. “I had a bad dream, Zoan. Someone was about to kill me… so I got scared.”
I switch off the light and lie back, placing the gun on the nightstand. “Sleep.”
She grins, pointing toward my arm. I set my hand on the pillow. She immediately hugs it.
I keep my eyes on her for half an hour before they finally begin to close. Just as I start to drift, she moves, withdrawing my arm from her hold, removing the pillows between us, and inching closer. I don’t open my eyes. I’m not strong enough to push her away when my entire being longs to merge with her, leaving nothing that could ever come between us.
She rests her head on my chest, wraps an arm around my waist, and folds one leg across my thighs.
Her sweet fragrance fills me as I fight the reaction of my body, forcing myself to remain still, even as her softness tests the very limits of my control.
Time passes, and her breathing steadies. Only then do I shift, wrapping my arms around her tightly.
I can’t let her go, and I can’t keep her. But I belong to her, ever since the day she said, I will always love you, Zoan. Even if one day she decides she doesn’t, I will still remain hers.
I press a kiss to the crown of her head before closing my eyes, surrendering to the fleeting peace of one more night whereshe is still mine.
chapter 18
Avira
“Mama, you are the best cook.” I pause for a second, then add, “Along with Aunt Pheny, Ma and Wendy.”
I stuff my mouth with pasta, chewing happily.
“Is it important to know cooking to become a good wife?” I ask after gulping it down.
Mama and Daddy laugh. Zoan, however, answers calmly, “It’s good to know cooking as a life skill.”
Yeah, like a thousand other things, this man knows how to cook. If only he were a normal man with knowledge in just a few areas, I’d feel a lot less insecure. But no, he’s Zloban who knows too much, about everything. Which means I get to feel insecure about allthose smart women he works with. Why would he want someone like me as a wife—someone who only knows how to write books—when he could have a woman with expertise in ten different fields, all useful to him?
The thought gnaws at me. I’m even starting to doubt whether he has feelings for me at all. For the past week, I’ve been getting into his bed at night and hugging him in my sleep, but he hasn’t even lifted a finger to touch me back. After that night, he started keeping his door unlocked so I could enter without climbing balconies like a thief. And I do, right after Mama and Daddy lock their door.
The best thing about having parents completely obsessed with each other is that they don’t have time for the world once the sun sets, and for long hours after it rises.
