YULIAN
Iopen my eyes to a void of white.
For a second, I think I’m back at the hospital where I saw my mother in her final days.
My heartbeat skyrockets, and I expect the machines to start beeping and freaking the hell out.
Silence.
Long, stretching silence.
Memories of the crashing waves trickle back in, and I grunt. Okay, so that wasn’t one of my brightest ideas per se, and I’m pretty sure I underestimated how strong those damned waves could get. I was swimming to the surface in full-blown survival mode, only to get knocked back down again.
And then what…?
Holy shit. I sit up in bed—is this my bed in hell? I expected something less comfy.
Seriously, though, someone tell me that wasn’t the end, and I didn’t in fact die in the freaking ocean.
No, come on, that’s so lame. I want to go out in battle like a badass warrior.
Wait. Hold on.
I remember large hands gripping my waist and slapping my face and…
Very typical of my brain to black out at the good part. Need to ask Cy for supplement recommendations because this shit’s serious.
I pinch myself and it hurts, so that means I’mtotallyalive—you can’t have me yet, Satan. Go sit in the corner.
Then it hits me—the reason I’m alive is because of Vaughn.
Ithink.
At least, Ihope.
I mean, no one else was there—again, Ihope—so he must’ve been the one who saved me. I don’t remember swimming to the shore.
Running a hand through my damp hair, I take a look at myself and grin so wide, because guess what?
I’m naked beneath the duvet.
Yup. Completely in the nude.
Please tell me Vaughn removed my clothes. I’d pay my entire fortune to see him do that, and Cy’s too—he’d do that for me. What are bros for, am I right?
My focus sharpens on the room around me. It’s cozy, dark wallpaper patterned with leaves wrapping the walls. A lamp in the corner spills soft orange light across the wooden floor. The decor is simple, elegant, and structured—the kind of place I can easily imagine Vaughn living in. Nothing like my badass room with lots of shit everywhere. Though I believe this is an upscale hotel, not really a house.
The sliding door creaks open inch by inch, and I hold my breath as Vaughn’s head slips through the gap. He freezes the moment his gaze collides with mine.
Fuck.
Fuck me all the way to hell.
I had hoped he’d be here, but I never dared to have too much hope. But there he is.
Righthere.
I grin.
