When he finally pulls away, you feel like you can breathe again, a little better than before.
It’shim.
Hot Book Boyfriend.
Ziros.
He swears, pulling you into an embrace that could shatter bones.
“You’re alive,” he mutters as he finally pulls away, staring at you in the dark. He glows softly, a faint, fuzzy halo glimmering from his skin. He mutters another oath as he asks, “How the hell did you get in here?”
Wait.
“You didn’t put me here?”
He laughs, a soft, dry sound.
“No. I need you alive, remember? This is no place for a human. Any longer and you’d be dead.”
Oh.
Panic rises in your stomach, making your heart race.
“Where exactly is ‘here’?”
“It seems you’ve fallen into the prison meant for me,” he says grimly. “Howyou managed it, I can’t say for sure.” He gently taps your forehead with one finger, and his touch sends sparks of relief sizzling through your body. “Yet here you are, little human.”
“Why is everything so…heavy?”
“I’ll explain later,” he says, sliding one hand beneath your legs, the other behind your back. “First, we need to get you out of here.”
His touch is strong and warm, his body heat burning away the cold.
You sink into his arms, melting into his embrace.
* * *
You wake up in your bed, the sound of cabinets opening and closing echoing from across the tiny apartment.
Was that all a strange dream?
“So you’re awake,” Ziros says when he appears around the kitchen wall. “Good. You need to eat.”
You’re so exhausted, all you want to do is go back to sleep. The heavy pull drags your head back toward the pillow, and it takes all your energy to fight it.
But he’s probably right.
“Was that…was that a dream?” You ask as you sit up, not sure if he’ll know what you’re talking about.
You’re half-expecting him to tell you he’s got no clue what you mean.
But he just shakes his head grimly. “Not a dream.”
Oh.
“How long was I in there?” You ask, slumping heavily into a chair at your little dining table.
At least it’s still dark outside. That means you couldn’t have been in there more than a few hours.
