“I’ll eat when I’m hungry.”
“You’re eating for two now.”
“Wow, thank you for that groundbreaking medical insight. I had no idea,” I say sarcastically. “Next, you’ll be telling me to getplenty of rest and avoid stress. Becausethat’sbeen going so well.”
“Funny enough, I was actually gonna say?—”
I close the bathroom door on whatever he was “actually gonna say.” I pee for what feels like several hours, then wash my hands, brush my teeth, arrange my hair into some semblance of a bun, and step back into the kitchen. The sink has stopped, but I can still feel his presence simmering in the room, wintergreen mixing with coffee.
“You missed a piece.”
His voice comes from way closer than I expected. I didn’t hear him move, but suddenly, he’sthere, all up in my grill in a way that my conscious mind revolts against, but several traitorous, tremulous below-the-belt parts of my body greet with an excitedmmm.
His fingers graze my temple, brushing a stray lock of hair away from my face. The touch is feather-light, barely there, barely anything at all, but it sends a shiver cascading down my spine nonetheless. He tucks the strand behind my ear.
Sighs.Lingers.
Neither of us moves.
I should say something. Redraw those boundaries. Where’d all that snark go, hm? I was just saying how proud I was that my essential, innermost sense of fight hadn’t been overwhelmed by the crazy circumstances we’ve found ourselves in.
But my lips don’t open and my breath doesn’t breathe.
Breathing means you’re safe, Eliana.
So if I’m not breathing...
… does that mean I’m in danger when he touches me like that?
“Bastian…”
His fingertip traces the line of my jaw. “Yeah?”
“I think—” But I don’t know what I think, and neither does he. So the path down which the end of that sentence might have led us disappears.
I step back. He does, too, with an uncharacteristically heavythudof a step.
“I’m going to take a walk around the neighborhood,” I announce. “I’m getting claustrophobic in here.”
“No,” he says flatly, “you’re not.”
“Actually, I am.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
“Wrong.”
“You’re being a child,” I snap. “We specifically chose this house because it’s in the middle of fucking nowhere. This is suburbia, Bastian, not Mob Land. I don’t think the little old lady across the street is secretly a Bratva informant. So, yes, I am going for a walk, and I dare you to stop me.”
He moves so fast I don’t even register it until my back hits the wall.
One second, I’m standing in the middle of the kitchen, chin raised, arms crossed over my chest in the universaldo not effwith meposture. The next thing I know, I’m pinned against the wall, his body flush against mine from head to toe.
“You think this is a game?” he hisses. “You think Aleksei gives a shit about ‘suburbia’? Do you actually believe we’resafehere?”
“I…”
