Take my greatest shame and judge me.
Waking up next to Eleanor is everything. I want this to be my life—lazy mornings spent getting lost in each other before we tackle the darkness in the world. But first, we need to slay the object of her nightmares and free her soul.
She grumbles incoherently in her sleep, her brow furrowed as she burrows deeper into my side. It’s like she’s annoyed at her dreams for not being logical or following her demands.
Today, I am going to show her my greatest shame and hope like hell she can still see the good in me, see the man I hope to be. I nudge her shoulder gently. It’s eight o’clock, and I’ve already walked Charlie and picked up some pastries from a stern-looking Cheryl who was unimpressed at the mess we left in her bakery. But she still smiled as she recounted the many people who messaged her to say I was wandering the streets, covered in flour, with a woman slung over my shoulder.
“Wakey wakey, Ellie. I have coffee and breakfast.”
She rolls onto her back and stretches her arms, pressing them against the headboard and arching her back. She looks like a lioness as her eyes blink open. I half expect her to panic and run away, reacting the same way she did before when she woke up in my bed. I was ready for round two as soon as I carried her into my room, but she literally passed out in my arms and was out cold before I’d tucked her in. It’s clear she has been running on the bare minimum of sleep for some time, and I’m not a bastard who wakes someone up to get off. We have time, and she will need her energy for all I want to do to her.
“What time is it?” she mumbles, her voice scratchy.
“Eight.”
She shoots up and glances around, taking in the strong sunshine already fighting the curtains. “Why didn’t you wake me?”
“I am waking you.”
She runs a hand over her head and frowns. “Did you braid my hair?”
My lips twitch at her utter disbelief. “You got it wet in the shower, and I didn’t want you waking up with it all tangled and knotty.”
“You brushed and braided my hair, and I stayed asleep?”
“I was very gentle.” She also moaned every time I pulled a little, which made me need another shower before falling asleep.
She glances around my bedroom and catalogs the new additions. “Did you move all my things into your bedroom?”
“Our bedroom.”
She huffs and rolls her eyes. “Answer the question.”
“No, I didn’t move all your things, but everything you left in the guest room is now in here.”
“Why?” she whispers. It makes my heart squeeze that she has to ask.
“Because, Eleanor, where I sleep, you sleep.”
“Move them back.”
“I could, but then I’d have to move all of my things into the guest room.”
She’s cute when she frowns. “I’m not following.”
I place my hands on either side of her hips and drop a kiss on her lips. “Where you sleep, I sleep.”
Pulling away, I reach over and hand her a plate while nodding at the cup next to her. “Coffee with caramel creamer and two pastries. Eat up. We have places to be.”
She yawns and glances around the room again. “Where?”
“You’ll see.”
Her gaze drops to my arms and chest, her lips turning down at the edges. “You said you’d tell me where you got those marks.”
“I’m going to show you instead. Eat, then you’ll get all your answers.”
She eyeballs me as she takes a bite and groans. That’s my cue to leave. Otherwise, we will be late, and I want this morning to go as smoothly as possible.
