She squeezes tight, like the feeling in my chest. “You’re here,” she whispers, confirming it to herself.
“I’m not going anywhere.” And I think I mean it.
She makes a noise of contentment.
Seconds pass, and she lets go of my hand.
Then she is asleep once more, and I allow myself to slip into bed beside her and hold her close. Maybe, despite all of my schemes, this is the last time.
When I wake,she is gone, and when I head downstairs, desperate to find her, she is sitting at the dining room table with Maude. Or perhaps “with” is not the correct word, as they are as far apart from one another as possible. Karia is staring down at her plate of eggs and Maude lights up when she sees me in the doorway, as if I am her relief, despite the ways I hurt her before.
She is in a black dress, her hair braided back, red lipstick on her mouth. “Good morning,” she says with a smile, coffee mug in hand, black nails tapping against the ceramic.
Karia’s eyes narrow and she lifts her chin, shooting her beautiful gaze to me. She loathes this woman who was there forme when I was desperate and seeking in an Internet forum and I needed contact with the outside world to tell me I was not as alone as I felt.
I loathe Cosmo for much the same, just slightly altered.
And so I understand it. But she doesn’t understand how wholly hers I am.
“Karia,” I say first.
This pleases her. She sits up straighter, her blonde hair wavy down her back. She’s dressed in all black. Pants, long sleeve shirt; they cling to her figure well. I do not know where she got them from, but it’s… hot.An image of fucking her with her legs behind her head fills my mind and I have the painful urge to consume her all over again.
Mine.I am starting to believe it now.
I close the space between us and sit down beside her, wrapping my arm around her shoulders and pulling her close. Before I look to Maude, I press a kiss to the top of Karia’s head.
I will never forget what we did. I will never let her go now.
I incline my head to Maude then, and watch her shift on her seat. Perhaps she is uncomfortable, and as grateful as I am to her for the past, and what she has no doubt agreed to do now, I do not care.
The Princess of Writhe is my life.
A shadow appears in the doorway before they can start fighting and my dick can get hard all over again, seeing Karia jealous.
I look up, and Fleet stands there with a lazy smile. His hair is sticking up at all angles and he seems far too excited about the prospect of nearly dying.
“Why did you all agree to this?” Karia asks, and I am glad she did. It does not make sense to me either.
Fleet flashes a wider grin but it’s Maude who answers.
“We know enough about the shadows to want to bring them to the light.”
It is the first words she’s spoken that Karia has not recoiled at.
Chapter 36
Karia
Ihear the Jeep before I see it. I have ridden with Isadora enough times to memorize the sound.
My heart lurches as I glance out the front windows and see headlights aimed towards me. The day has passed suspiciously quiet, but there is something in the way Sullen has carried himself today that has soothed my fears.
He is different than he was only days before.
I smile where no one can see, bringing my fingers to my lips.
He is different since he fucked me.
