His flannel was still draped over the arm of it, the scent of him lingering in the room. I could smell him even now. Feel the ghost of his hand still cupping mine, thumb smoothing circles into my skin.
And Lord have mercy…I wanted him.
Even after all that.
Even after the panic and the guilt and the voice in my head that still sometimes whisperedJezebelwhen I wore red lipstick or thought about sex with the wrong kind of man in the wrong kind of place. Even after the poison and the dreams and the snake in the bed, I still felt it—the pull of him. Not just his body, though that was part of it.
The strength of his hands.
The way his jaw flexed when he was trying not tofeel something.
The way he looked at me like I wasn’t a burden or a project but a woman.
I still felt it in my chest. In my bones.
In mythighsfor fuck’s sake.
And yet—I’d told him to stop.
Because I had to. Because I meant it.
Because my body didn’t know the difference between sacred and shameful yet, and neither did my heart.
He’d only been gone a few minutes when I heard a knock on the door, then a familiar face poked through: Delilah, looking exhausted and a little worse for wear, lacking any of the full face of makeup she usually wore. She pushed the door open with her shoulder, balancing two coffees and a tote bag that looked like it hadn’t been emptied in a decade. Her eyeliner was smudged like she’d cried and wiped it with the back of her hand, and her red hair was pulled up in one of those aggressive buns that saiddon’t fuck with melouder than words ever could.
“Hey, sunshine,” she said, her voice gravel-thick from a sleepless night. “You look like hell.”
I let out a weak laugh. “Ditto.”
She crossed the room and handed me one of the coffees without asking if I was allowed to have it. “Don’t tell the nurse. It’s probably against some protocol or whatever, but I figured if the venom didn’t kill you, a little caffeine can’t hurt.”
I took it gratefully.
Delilah didn’t sit. She hovered. Checked the monitor like she knew what it meant. Then glanced toward the door, frowning.
“You gonna tell me what happened between you two?” she asked.
I swallowed hard. “Yeah…eventually.”
Delilah gave me a long, assessing look, then let it go—fornow. She set her tote bag down with a thud and finally dropped into the chair Silas had left behind, one leg crossed over the other, boots scuffed and one earring missing.
“Ran into the doctor out in the hall,” she said. “They want to keep you one more night. Monitor the swelling, make sure your lungs stay clear.”
“Okay,” I said, nodding.
“I’ll come back tomorrow to take you home.”
I blinked. “So…we’re officially roommates now?”
She nodded. “Spare room is all yours, as long as you want it. I changed the sheets, ran a protection charm over the door just in case, aired the place out. It’s quiet. You’ll have space.”
Tears sprang to my eyes out of nowhere. Not panic this time—just relief.
“Thank you,” I whispered.
Delilah gave me a look that was half fierce, half fond.
“Of course. You’re mine now. I’m keeping you.”
