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Only obsession really, and one that I needed to snuff the hell out or it’d end up costing my life.

Like she felt the tide of my thoughts, she peeked back from over her shoulder.

Hazel eyes shimmered beneath the light, though they were dimmed a fraction.

Diffused with concern.

“Are you hungry?” It was a cautious whisper.

“A bit.” I could barely grunt out a response through the anarchy that wreaked havoc on my conscience.

One brow arched, and her pink lips twitched.

God, she was pretty. A punch to the fucking gut every time I looked her way.

“A bit? I would think a man of your stature would be famished.”

It was wild that amusement could flit to the surface, breaking through the mess.

But I supposed it was survival instinct. You had to find moments of ease and joy in the middle of the gloom or you were never going to make it through.

“My stature?” I said it like I had no clue what she was talking about.

She rolled her eyes. “Oh, come on, Trevan, like you don’t know you’re nothing but a brute. I bet you could eat an elephant and then have dessert.”

“Civilized people don’t eat elephant, Elena.” The ribbing slid free as I slowly moved toward the kitchen.

“Civilized now, are we?” Sweet, playful snark.

She capped it off with a shrug of her delicate shoulder.

A chuckle rumbled free, and some rational part of my mind told me to park my ass on a stool and keep the island between us.

The other part needed her close. Covered whole.

I needed to feel her warmth so I’d have assurance that she was safe. Protected. Held in the shroud of my aggression.

I had to lie to myself that the urge to burrow my nose into the back of her neck was necessary to keep her guarded.

“Are you accusing me of something, Elena Mercer?”

“I dunno,” she played along as she stirred that pot. Peeking over at me like she was keeping a secret.

“You probably think I eat with my bare hands,” I tossed out.

A giggle rolled up her throat. “I did see you eating Lulu’s ribs the other night at the clubhouse. Positively heathen. I’ve never witnessed anything so unrefined.”

Of course, her eyes dipped to my mouth when she said it, and a chuckle skated the air that she used my nickname like it was cute.

One I’d earned back in LA when I first devolved into indecency.

The air thinned, and I kept inching closer.

“Heathen?”

She gave one big nod as her lips pressed into a straight line, like she was trying to keep the laughter locked behind it.

“I’ll show you heathen.” I reached out and poked her side.