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I couldn’t allow myself to fall for a human.
Not when I’d never see her again.
19
SCARS
RAE
The sound of the shower woke me. I groaned and rubbed my face. Though last night started rough, I woke up feeling well-rested. Having Ash in the same bed comforted me in ways I couldn’t explain.
At some point we must have drifted apart, because when the humidity woke me up, we were on opposite sides of the bed. Even without touching, his nearness finally let me sleep. Wearing pants was a small price to pay for having someone around when I needed them.
I rolled over and buried my face in the pillow Ash used, inhaling the cinnamon and bay rum scent he’d left behind.
I needed to get up and get ready. My bereavement days were over, and I needed work to keep my mind busy.
The water shut off, and I sighed.
I’d never been in my room when the guys showered. They always waited until I went to work. With Ash sleeping with me last night, I suspected he’d decided to take his turn now.
I nodded off until I heard the bathroom door open.
Ash stood in the doorway, watching me with an uncertain look on his face, like he wasn’t sure how to face me in the light of day.
“Good morning,” I whispered, sitting up.
He smiled, shoulders relaxing. “Morning.”
His fitted T-shirt allowed me to appreciate the tattoos covering both arms. A full sleeve depicting a forest scene adorned his left arm. It reminded me of the forests on Earth. I didn’t recognize the imagery on his right arm. A gradient background filled with symbols tangled in decaying vines and chains covered it. If I looked hard enough, I could see ghostly faces hidden in the vines.
“Sleep well?”
My gaze shifted to his face. “Better than I have since Grandma passed.”
In truth, I hadn’t slept this well in months. The demonic sightings had wrecked my sleep, worsening around the anniversary of my parents’ death. I thought they’d ease afterward, but instead they grew worse—until the princes appeared.
He smiled again and put his finger beneath my chin, tilting my face up. “I’m always downstairs if you need an ear.”
Until you go back to Elyrdin and leave me alone again.
Wanting to stop the swelling emotions in my chest, I made a joke. “Or an oversized teddy bear with a man bun?” I laughed when he removed his hair tie, letting his long locks and braids fall over his shoulders.
“Didn’t want to wash my hair today,” he said, putting the hairband on his wrist. He leaned over me, and I sucked in a sharp breath as memories of last night’s kiss filled my mind. Pausing, he shifted his attention to me, hovering mere inches from my face. “You okay?”
“Yeah.” I cleared my throat. “I’m fine. I need to get ready for work.”
He stood upright, holding up a small hair tie he’d retrieved from the bed. “I need to get more. This one keeps coming off in my sleep.”
Oh. He wasn’t trying to kiss me again.
I willed my heart to calm down. A short and gentle kiss wasn’t something to get so worked up over. I hadn’t intended to kiss him last night, but then the strangest sensation hit me after our conversation about Cyn.
His agitation and distress last night resonated within me, like a living entity writhing inside me, manipulating my emotions. There was no other way to explain the alien emotions that latched onto me. Maybe it was an infernal thing, and our proximity triggered a strange connection.
Either way, I’d known I needed to help him, so when he reached for me, I didn’t stop him. I wanted to ease his distress because he’d been there for mine. But last night turned into something so much more than I expected.
Maybe he forgot—or maybe it meant something different for him.
