I open my eyes and glance around. My heart jolts when I see him sitting on the floor, leaning against the edge of my bed, watching me. In the dim light of the room his face looks as though he hasn’t slept in days. The exhaustion in his eyes is stark, the dark crescents beneath them striking against his tanned skin.
I shift closer to the edge of the mattress. “You can come up on the bed. It doesn’t look comfortable down there.”
“It’s comfortable,” he mutters, his voice low, rough with fatigue.
Zloban
The floor of her room has always been more comfortable to me than any bed.
“Alright, it may be comfortable for you, but it’s not for the eyes. So come on the bed.”
“I’m fine here. You can go back to sleep.”
She purses her lips, then climbs down from the bed, settling beside me. “I hope you don’t mind sharing the comfort.”
“You’re so stubborn,” I murmur, my gaze locked on her beautiful face, refusing to blink.
She leans closer, a mischievous smile tugging at her lips. “Learned from the best.”
Only five nights are left. The hollowness in my chest gnaws deeper, an ache that even her presence can’t fill.
“Where were you last night? And the night before?” she asks, shifting even closer.
“Working.”
Killing.
That’s the only thing that keeps me sane. But not for long, not after five nights. Even I don’t know what I’ll do then.
She fidgets, shifting in her position, clearly uncomfortable. I rise to my feet. I can never win against her.
She springs up with a grin, flips onto the bed, slides to the far side, and pats the empty space between us. “Come.”
I sit down on the bed, peel off my socks, place them neatly on my shoes, and finally slide under the covers.
She immediately closes the distance, nestling her head against my shoulder, her fingers playing absently with the buttons of my shirt. I hadn’t had the strength to change after returning home from a day full of blood and dealings. Two sleepless nights, combined with the suffocating countdown to her wedding, have drained me to the bone.
I’m not ready to let her go yet. I thought about killing Roxion, but that would be a foolish thing to do. I know he will keep her happy, no matter how much venom the thought leaches into my veins, it’s the brutal truth. He could give her something I never could, a life where she will never have to suffer because everyone points fingers and whispers that she married her brother.
I open my eyes when I feel the softest touch of lips on my face. She’s half sprawled across me, kissing along my jaw and brushing the corner of my mouth. Her teasing, hermessing around, is doing terrible things to my morning hardness.
I catch her by the neck, pulling her face up. Under the soft sunlight streaming into her room, she looks like the very manifestation of light itself. I cradle her jaw in my palm, my thumb tracing along her cheek, glowing like the freshness of morning dew.
“Dove,” I murmur. My Dove. My love. My life.
She leans her face into my hand with a soft hum, her eyes half-lidded, melting into me.
A knock suddenly rattles the door.
She looks at me with a wicked grin. “Imagine Daddy is knocking.”
Pressing her palms flat against my chest, she rests her cheek over them. “What will you do then?”
Another knock echoes through the room, louder this time. Still, she doesn’t move.
“Get up.”
But mischief glints in her eyes as her smile widens. “You want me to open the door and show whoever’s outside that you were sleeping in my bed?”
