“Sleep.”
“But sex sounds more fun.”
His hand digs into my hair and peels my face off his chest. “I’m not having sex with you, so sleep.”
Ellison releases my face, so I place it back where it’s happiest. I tuck myself against him, wondering if I pressed myself against his cock whether he’d say fuck it and join me after all.
But at the end of the day, what would that distraction change? The second sex was over I’d be right back in this position, and who knows if he’d regret it since he seems adamant to avoid it.
Honestly, this spot is so comfortable that I can’t even consider trying more. I can feel his chest moving as he breathes. I’m wrapped up in so many emotions that remind me why he’s so important to me. For the first time in my life, I’m free to have feelings and to hold on to them. I don’t have to bury them in a box I’m never allowed to open. They might ruin me like my elder assured me they would, but I would rather be ruined than live without these people in my life.
I can’t seem to fight the lack of sleep that’s haunted me for years. Pressed up against Ellison, I feel safe, calm, and at ease for the first time since I left that hell.
“You done?” Eve asks.
“With?”
“Hating yourself.”
“Not when I’m this good at it.”
“I never blamed you. You know I never did. You know it was all in your head.”
“My head is a questionable place at best and a wasteland at worst.”
“I always liked your head. I liked you the moment I met you. I knew you were different. I knew you were a good one.”
“I wasn’t good enough.”
“You can’t change in an instant. You’d lived that life for over twenty-six years. How could you have changed so fast?”
“I’m sorry.”
“Just do good. Use those eyes to save people in a way I never could.”
When I wake up, I find that it’s morning, and I treasure the warmth of the body lying next to me.
CHAPTER TWENTY
ELLISON
“No.”
Landon gasps. “What the fuck do you mean ‘no’?”
I stare at him, wondering how it came to this. He told us to meet him at his house, so when I showed up, I expected our group would be doing something noteworthy. “You said you were planning a fun day, not that you were dragging us off to hang out with your parents’ shit show!”
“I’m excited,” August says, already decked out in his “supervillain” outfit.
Landon looks at me incredulously. “You said you wanted something to distract Deus. I said I was going to make someone else plan it. My parents have no life. They love planning this shit. Now let’s go.”
I open my mouth to say no again until I see Asmodeus looking far too excited while he pulls a Halloween mask on. It’s some strange sexy cat mask that makes me cock my head.
“I got one for you so you don’t have to be jealous,” Landon says as he shows me a fox mask.
“’Cause you’re one sexy fox,” Asmodeus declares.
“I’m going home,” I decide. Really, it’s for the best.
