No. Can’t let her—can’t let her—
“Hush, Reynner, I’m here.”
The faint fragrance of peaches teased his nose, chasing away the sulfur and coppery stink. He clung to the wispy tendrils like a lifeline and followed it.There. He found her. In his soul. A light that burned for him alone. So bright, it led him out of the darkness and into her warmth.
“She can’t hurt you.” Light fingers smoothed back his hair. “It’s over—she’s dead. You killed her.”
Yes, I killed her…killed her…
“Come back to me, please…” her gentle voice pleaded. Reynner forced his eyelids open and stared into beautiful dark green eyes damp with tears. “She can’t hurt you anymore.”
Eve sat on the living room floor, stroking his hair. Hers appeared like a dark, tangled halo around her shoulders. The soft sounds of her voice soothed him.
She’d come to him, pulled him out of his nightmares, even when he’d been an utter bastard.
Eve.Her name stuck in his throat. He knew he’d warned her never to touch him when nightmares took him under. He couldn’t bear it if he hurt her. A pang of regret settled in his chest that all she did was stroke his hair.
He reached out to touch her face, needing the contact, and stroked her petal-soft skin with his fingers. She leaned into his touch, her eyes squeezing shut. Then she eased away from him, rose to her feet and walked back to her room. Her door closed with a soft click, shutting him out.
Reynner pushed off the couch, agitation knotting his belly. He headed in the direction of her bedroom. But the closed door brought him to an abrupt halt.
His hand rested on the wood, the other rubbing his chest at the pain there. He wasn’t even sure what the hell it was any longer. The nightmares that followed him like a shadow, or the star that would soon throb again, reminding him what a crapfest his life was. Or the sheer torture cutting through him to have finally found his mate and that everything was falling apart.
His fist crashed into the wall. Rubble rained down to the floor. Pain exploded as skin split and bones shattered. He stared at his ruined hand. It didn’t compare to the agony strangling him.
If he didn't find a way out of this mess, then Eve would do as she threatened, move on and find a life without him…
***
Her numbed emotions were the only thing that got Eve through the day as she dressed the following evening for her art debut. Pulling up the zipper on the side, she turned to the mirror and studied herself, grateful she’d let Kataya pick out her dress several weeks ago.
When she’d protested having to dress so formally, Kataya had insisted.Just because you’re an artist, doesn’t mean you have to dress like a hobo.
The dark blue strapless number with a dull sheen hugged her from her chest to her hips, ending with a swirly flare above her knees. Okay, so the color did look good against her tanned skin. But the hue reminded her too much of Reynner’s eyes.
Instantly, she shut off the thought as unhappiness threatened to invade again, but she pushed it all back and concentrated on the evening ahead. Focusing on the show was the key to survival.
“One day at a time,” she murmured. “One day at a time, Eve.”
Slipping on ice-pick heels that matched her dress, she picked up her black elbow-length gloves and walked out of her bedroom, tugging the bodice up so the inch-long scar on her left breast wouldn’t show. She ignored the gaping hole in the passage wall.
Last night, she’d heard the thud of something hitting the wall and it had shocked her to see the damages this morning. But she didn’t ask. She’d seen the light scabs on Reynner’s knuckles.
Eve slowed to a standstill near the kitchen counter as Reynner turned from the living room window. No matter how broken she felt, he still took her breath away.
He wore the deep burgundy coat she’d first seen him in. The color offset his golden skin and pale hair. Her reaction to him then, too, had been instantaneous, not realizing just how deeply their paths interconnected.
There was no sign of the destroyed man she’d comforted last night, whose pain had awakened her and drew her to him. But if one looked closely, beneath all that male beauty, one would see the killer held on a tight leash.
Avoiding his gaze, she picked up her cell from the counter and slipped it into her purse.
“Ready?” he asked.
She nodded.
But she felt his eyes skim over her like a physical caress. Blood heated and buzzed in her veins, her stomach dipped. The butterflies in there took flight, making her woozy. She sucked in a deep breath, struggling to steady her nerves.
He was instantly at her side, his warm hand curving around her arm, brow furrowed in concern. “What’s wrong?”
