I clapped my hands over my ears, desperately trying to drown out his voice, his laugh, the music, the lights, the colors, that awful smell.
A shadow fell over me.
“There you are. Hide-and-seek is over.”
I screamed as he reached for me.
“It’s time to play.”
“Ahh!” I shouted, ripping out of the dream.
Shooting up in the bed, the sweat-soaked sheets clung to my neck and shoulders. I fought to kick them off but not in time. Pitching over the side, I vomited right on the carpet.
“Ugghh.” I crawled off the bed—stomach flipping and heaving.
I knew with my return to the manor, the nightmares would sneak back into my sleep. Honestly, I was surprised they had taken this long.
I lay there on the carpet for a spell, willing my stomach to settle. Only when I trusted myself did I push up on my hands and knees and crawl out of Sue’s room. I didn’t force myself onto my feet until I reached the staircase.
The kitchen light beckoned me the rest of the way. Either I forgot to turn it off, or the guys did after they finished up their secret meeting in the hall and came down to clean up after dinner.
My already aching jaw clenched. As much as I told myself it shouldn’t bother me while I polished off the merlot in the bath, it fucking bothered me. I knew how hard it was to forgive Sue. Twenty-eight fucking years and I never accomplishedit.
But what I also knew was how much it sucked to be blamed for Sue. To have to carry the weight of her actions, her callousness, her lies, and her manipulations. I did it the day she paralyzed Colin. And now I was doing it again.
Sighing, I trudged over the threshold, heading straight for the cabinet over the sink.I’m sure I put Lily’s nausea medicine in this cabinet. Hopefully, it works just as fast on adults—
“Guess it’s my turn now.”
“Zeus in heaven!” I belted, spinning around. “What the flipping fucking fuck are you doing!”
Micah grinned at me from his seat on the kitchen island. “Same as you. Couldn’t sleep.” He shook the container of my bulgogi at me. “That’s what I get for going to bed hungry.”
“That’s what you get for being a jerk.” I snatched the medicine off the shelf. “Next time, don’t cut off your nose to spite your stomach.”
Micah cocked his head. He was wearing nothing but a pair of boxers, and my eyes didn’t know where to look. His long, raven locks swept the top of the warring tigers tattoo that claimed the whole of his hard, bulging pecs. The man was a father and husband in his thirties, and still he looked like just seconds before he was getting up to some illegal shit with his buddies under the bleachers.
“Hmm. I’m not sure that analogy works,” he said. “Cutting off your nose doesn’t affect your stomach in any way. What you should’ve said is—” He cut himself off, laughing heartily at the two birds I flipped in his face.
“Seems that’s a no, then,” he said, chuckling. “You didn’t come here to corner me and seduce me with your new sweet-Sue act.”
“My dude, I’m down here because I vomited all over the carpet,” I grouched out—my body as wrung out and tired as I sounded. “This is all the seduction I’ve got for you.” Just like that, I tugged my camisole down and flashed my itty-bitty left titty for his viewing pleasure. “Oontz, oontz, oontz,” I sounded off—bouncing up and down in place.
Micah choked on his fork. He fell off the island, hacking the fork and a chunk of beef on the floor. Wheezing, he clutched his inky chest—laughing so hard that if he wasn’t already on the floor, he would’ve fallen.
“Hope you got everything you needed from that.” Popping my top back up, I made to leave with my medicine.
A hand on the ankle stopped me.
“What if I didn’t?”
I blinked down at him... and the smirk flashing up at me. “Uhh... what?”
“It’s been a long time, baby. Seven months, two weeks, and five days.” He smiled. “But who’s counting?”
“Who, indeed.”
“You want to work out a truce between us so badly, let’s do it the fun way. I’ll trade you.” A warm, stroking finger glided up my ankle—popping goose bumps on my flesh. “Each orgasm I give you also comes with a day of no fighting, no sniping, and no passive-aggressive digs. I’ll be something I’ve never been before.” He winked. “A good boy.”
