Chapter Twenty-Seven
MY EYES FLASHED OPEN.
My heart pounded with sudden fear and for a second, I had no idea where the hell I was but...the steady drone of engines, the gentle hum of flight. Still in the air. Still trapped. Still beneath Rook, where she’d passed out on me, who knew how long ago.
The crick in my neck hurt from being used as a pillow and my fingers had fallen asleep from where I’d slung my arm around her waist to keep her close. Her soft breath on my chest felt like a refreshing breeze, and the fire in my blood stayed survivable thanks to touching her.
Glancing down where she lay on me, my temper warmed to wake her. At some point while I’d slept, she’d burrowed into my warmth and fallen so deeply asleep she snored like a hibernating hamster.
Only she could make such an annoying noise and make me find it adorable.
I tapped her shoulder. “Rook.”
No response, her breasts rising rhythmically against me.
The knowledge that she was naked beneath her dress—because I’d somehow burned her underwear to dust—made me harden all over again. Lust surged, erasing the iciness she’d granted, ensuring she was both a menace as well as a cure.
What was it about her that affected me?
She wasn’t just a leash at this point; she was a muzzle and straitjacket combined.
If I had any common sense, I’d end her before she could end me but...
She was just so fragile, so delicate, so mine.
My fingers strayed from her shoulder to her collarbone, falling into old habits of touching her while she was too unconscious to care. Her skin felt cool, never warming despite my unnatural heat.
Biting my bottom lip, I grazed her neck with my fingertips, tracing the faint bite mark I’d left on her from before.
She just moaned contentedly.
My fingers strayed to her breast.
I watched her warily as I fondled her.
She didn’t seem interested in waking as she burrowed a little closer and flung her arm over my stomach. Her pendant thudded against the vitalsync core.
I flinched as the charm echoed directly through my heart.
Every muscle in my body tensed. Nausea crawled in my gut. I went dizzy—
Gritting my teeth, I hooked a finger under the chain and lifted the pendant away.
Cradling it in my palm, I shivered as a faint vibration buzzed through me. The slightest static in my blood—a resonance coming directly from the raindrop.
I dropped it.
The crystal twinkled in the cabin lights as it tumbled back to Rook, throwing faint rainbows over her skin. The vibration seemed to increase.
I felt it gnawing into my brain, affecting my pulse, making everything tight and tangled and wrong.
Her eyes suddenly shot open.
Gasping in shock, she pushed away from me and almost fell off the bed.
Grabbing her wrist, I jerked her close. “Easy.”
Her eyebrows knitted together as she glanced at where I held her.
“I...” Licking her lips, her gaze flew around the luxurious cabin—skating over a large TV, a semi-melted bucket of ice holding a bottle of unopened champagne, and the circular windows that blocked the blinding sun thanks to tightly drawn shades.
Her fingers strayed automatically to her necklace as if she’d sensed me playing with it.
I couldn’t take my eyes off the way her skin flushed pink as it rested against her sternum. I swore condensation appeared before vanishing like an illusion.
My hackles rose, reminding me of all the questions and doubts I still had about her.
I could forgive her for not telling me things back in Cinderkeep because I hadn’t exactly asked but...if I asked now and she lied to me. If she ever intentionally withheld things from me.
Well...I’d killed more women than men at this point.
I can kill another.
I scowled as my soul vehemently denied that possibility, all while I bared my teeth and asked, “Are you awake enough to be coherent?”
She yawned and scrubbed her face. “Why? Are you planning on giving me another orgasm, because if you are, I don’t know if I’ll be able to stop myself from returning the favour this time.”
I forgot how to swallow. “What favour was that exactly?”
I knew exactly what favour...
Her eyes hooded as her stare dropped between my legs. “It’s not fair...” She blushed. “That was a first for me with you...giving me pleasure with your mouth and...” Her cheeks almost caught fire as she looked away and mumbled, “Now I’m curious about what it would feel like to do the same to you.”
My heart fucking smoked.
Just the thought of her sucking me off almost made me cremate the bed, let alone how I’d actually survive her tongue—
“I need to ask you a few questions.” I crossed my arms and sat stiffly against the headboard, doing my best to control myself.
“What questions?” Her shoulders came up. “Why do you suddenly sound angry with me? Did I do something wrong in my sleep?” She wiped at her chin. “Did I drool on you? Is that why you’re mad?”
“I’m not mad.”
“Well, you’re certainly not happy.”
“You’re right. I’m not.”
“Then...”
“I’m tired.” My voice came out low and lethal and far colder than I’d intended. “I’m fucking exhausted, actually.”
“Then take a nap—”
“It’s not that kind of tired.” My heart warmed to unbearable levels again.
“I’m tired of having to be on my guard around you all the time.
I’m exhausted because I can’t figure out why you soothe me so much.
I’m becoming reliant on you. It’s getting to the point where I can’t stand the thought of being away from you because the fire is burning me alive and you’re the only one that can stop it but.
..how am I supposed to trade one prison for another? ”
She drew back. “You’re saying I’m a prison?”
“I’m saying I’m finally free, yet I somehow feel just as trapped as I did when I was being bled every three days.
” I laughed icily, glancing at the bandages around my wrists that’d replaced the port cuffs.
“If you didn’t affect me the way you do, I wouldn’t care if you did end up betraying me.
I’d just use you the way I’ve been doing and not give a damn.
But...” I rolled my eyes, cursing my luck that I was falling so hard for this girl and utterly unable to stop myself.
“It seems the more time I spend with you, the more it hurts to think of you betraying me, so...tell me. Once and for all. Tell me who the hell you are, Elara Rook Snowflake Snowdon and what the hell do you want from me?”