My jaw dropped enough for him to take notice with a faint smirk, his knuckle tapping underneath my chin to nudge it back up so I didn’t look like a fish out of water.
After his admission sank in, I thought back to all the times I had seen a crow yesterday. Immediately, I bolted upright, turning to stare at him wide-eyed.
“Were you…?”
Corbin chuckled. It was rich and unapologetic before his hand fell to cover where mine pressed into the mattress.
“Call it due diligence on Falston’s newest resident.”
I sat there letting it all soak in for a moment before I made a sound between a laugh and a scoff of disbelief.
“Didn’t realize crows made a habit of stalking,” I said in a tone dangerously close to chiding.
Jackass actually flashed a smile wrapped in charm and pride.
“Crows have a habit of a lot of things.” His thumb brushed over my knuckles.
Now that his secret had also come to light, there was a noticeable ease in his shoulders. The burden visibly gone.
In one smooth movement, his arm wrapped around my middle, and he pulled me down on top of him as he rolled onto his back. My legs naturally straddled his waist while our bodies pressed against each other.
His hand swept back the curtain of my hair hanging down around us.
“The thing about crows, Harlow, is we mate for life. Once I leave my mark inside you, that’s it for me. You could run off to be with a traveling sideshow man, but I’d never find another mate. It’ll only ever be you.”
The sheer magnitude of the consequences of our actions settled like lead in my chest. Run off to find someone else? It left a bitter taste in my throat, a reaction that surprised me.
My hands settled on his shoulders as I met his eyes, noticing all the flecks of deeper gold in the amber pools.
“Let’s just hope you chose wisely, then, if you’re stuck with me,” I teased.
He laughed and brought his mouth to mine, capturing my lips in a lingering kiss filled with genuine affection. Pulling back, he smiled.
“If I didn’t? Tonight was still worth it.”
Fuck if this man didn’t know how to wield words like a carefully crafted weapon designed to melt my heart into my soul.
I laid my head down, pressing my face against theside of his neck, getting comfortable just feeling his bare skin against mine. His fingers lazily stroked my hair as we just let ourselves be in this moment together.
Time drifted away until a thought occurred to me.
“What about Bale?”
His hand drifted over my shoulder, squeezing it. “What about him?”
I wasn’t sure how to voice the complex situation that surrounded Corbin’s best friend, rendering me hesitant in case I stumbled over my words.
“He’s…” I began.
“A walking contradiction?” He finished my thought.
I laughed quietly and nodded. “Something like that. At the very least.”
Corbin’s other hand, not currently trailing along my side, waved in the air dismissively. “He’s a fucking pain in the ass.”
“I can’t get a handle on whether he hates me or is just a perpetual flirt with a severe case of a self-inflated ego.”
That got a startling laugh out of Corbin so loud that it shook the bed, his hold on me tightening.
