“I don’t want to when you have to drive,” she answered, blinking slowly. Her eyes stung every time her lids slid over them. “Can we pull off somewhere and doze for a while? Both of us?”
Kaz’s lips thinned. He looked particularly fearsome in the green and blue glow of the dashboard controls. “I don’t need to sleep like you do. Close your eyes, Atria.”
“Bullshit.”
He turned his head to glare at her. “Atria—”
“How much sleep did you get last night?”
Just as quickly, he turned his head back around to watch the road. They had crossed into Wyoming some time ago. All around them was nothing but wilderness swathed in darkness. If a car was tailing them, they would be able to see it from a mile away. Maybe more.
Kaz stubbornly refused to respond to her, which was answer enough. “Kaz,” she pressed, shifting in her seat to lay a hand on his arm. “There was a sign a while back for a caravan stop. It should be coming up soon. It’s three AM. Let’s pull off for a couple hours, get some rest, and then keep going.”
“A car is not safe,” he replied. His expression reminded her a bit of a rock — hard and immovable.
Still, shefelthis concern, his warmth, and knew that there was more room to press her advantage than his expression suggested.
I’m his mate,she dared to think for the first time since they left the lab.I have sway.
She held her breath as she lifted her hand to very softly stroke the swell of his proud cheekbone. “Kaz…” she whispered, “I can ward the car for a few hours. Please. We both need the rest. I won’t be able to get any if you don’t.”
His gaze remained stubbornly fixed on the road for several more seconds before he let out a sharp exhale. She was startled when his right hand snapped up, covering her own, and pressed her palm flat against his cheek.
Atria watched as his long lashes fluttered, his eyelids drooping for just a moment. Something warm and electric fizzled in the depths of his aura. It raised the hair on the back of her neck. Those butterflies, so resilient, managed to flutter again.
It was lust, but it was also a rich, syrupy sort of affection that she’d never felt from anyone before. It was a kind so potent and raw, it felt like it thickened the depths of his aura, dragging her deeper until she was not entirely sure where he ended and she began.
“Fine,” he growled.
ChapterTwenty-Five
Atria’s breathquickened when he cut her a look from under the fringe of his lashes. “But I get to be in the— I get toholdyou.”
He said it like it was a challenge, the terms of a negotiation. Did he expect her to refuse? She would have just twenty-four hours prior, butnow…
Her tattoos had no weight, but she felt them all the same when she looked up at Kaz and answered, “Deal.”
He nodded once, decisively, as if it was all his idea.
Atria let out a sigh of relief. Her adrenaline had long since abandoned her, leaving her shaky, exhausted, and holding onto her calm only by the thread that connected her to Kaz. She needed to be able to close her eyes for a while. So did he.
He defied his brother for me. He saved my life over and over again.Her throat constricted as she watched him guide their car into the rest stop.He must be exhausted, too.
She bit her lip, fighting another bloom of guilt as she recalled how much she had fought him. Though she still thought he earned it — he didn’t tell her she was his mate, after all — Atria decided that a firm shift in how she handled her half-orc was in order.
Kaz was bullheaded, irritating, and stingy with his words, but he was clearly doing everything in his power to help her. It was time she helped a little, too.
When he pulled the SUV under one of the small overhangs meant for caravans, Atria shook off some of her exhaustion and popped open the glove compartment.
Her chalk was in her bag, but she didn’t have to dig for long before she found a white acrylic marker beneath some paper napkins.
Unbuckling her seatbelt, she managed to get her heels on the cushion and turn around so that she was crouched facing the back window. One hard shake of the pen, a quick uncapping, and she got to work carefully laying the sigils on the soft material of the roof.
“Ugh, that stinks,” Kaz complained. The sound of his door popping open didn’t distract her, but she did roll her eyes.
“Put the back seats down and find something that will work as some pillows. By the time you’re done making the bed, I’ll be finished.”
There was the slightest pause, then, in a slightly altered voice, he said, “Right.”
