Chapter 19 Bunny
Warm fingers brush my hair off my face. A gentle touch of lips to my forehead. “I have to go, baby.”
I don’t want him to leave.
His chuckle is a throaty rumble that sends electric pulses through my body as it remembers all the things he whispered the night before: all the promises he made and all the plans he laid bare before me.
His map for our future.
So why is he leaving me?
“No, don’t leave. Come back to bed,” I whine. Between my legs is warm and wet and waiting for him to sink back into the space where he fits so perfectly.
“Something came up. Trust me, if I could stay, I would.” Another kiss. This time on my lips. “Call me when you wake up.”
“Please don’t go…” My words trail off as exhaustion fights my consciousness and wins, dragging me back under the watery waves of slumber.
“Goodbye, Little Rabbit. I love you.”
“Goodbye? Why are you saying goodbye?”
“You know why.”
“No I don’t.”
Silence.
“Hunter?”
Darkness creeps into the edges of the room, swirling ominously as whispers begin to echo off the tightening walls.
“I know what you did.”
“I know what you are.”
“Time’s up, Little Rabbit.”
“Time’s up.”
“Time’s—”
“No!” My eyes snap open to see two sets of shiny black eyes staring at me. Maru barks as Yasha lays his head over my racing heart with a whine.
It was just a dream.
Fuck, it felt so real.
The dogs both nudge my hands, and with a smile and a yawn, I scratch behind their ears. “Good morning to you, too, boys. What gives?”
Usually, the sun has barely begun to filter into my room when I wake up, but the thick, buttery shafts are nowhere to be found. Frowning, I stretch and look outside before glancing at the alarm clock on my nightstand.
Shit. It’s raining and it’s nearly noon.
Well… Hunter did keep me up for most of the night and early morning.
A giddy smile takes over as I roll onto my side, hiding my flushed face in the pillow beside me. It smells like him. The scent of his CK One clings to every part of the bed—and to me—like he ingrained himself in one night.
“Hunter?” I call out. Maybe he’s downstairs making food. Then again, if he were, I doubt the dogs would be here with me. His side of the bed is cold, but since it’s mid-afternoon, that doesn’t surprise me. I can’t believe I slept so long, even after last night’s activities.
I listen for a reply, but only the faint sound of rain filters through my cracked window. My heart sinks with the realization that he must have left.
Mindlessly, I go through the routine of getting dressed, feed the dogs, then search for my phone. It’s where I left it on the ottoman the night before, a note next to it with Hunter’s chicken scratch scrawled across the paper.
Fed the dogs this morning. Couldn’t stay. Something came up. I’m sorry.
Dread claws at my throat, chasing away the high I’ve been riding since Hunter told me he’d stay yesterday.
I’m sorry.
It doesn’t escape me that it’s the same thing I wrote to him the morning I left. And Hunter is too calculating—too clever—to miss the irony.
I call him anyway. He doesn’t answer, and a fresh wave of apprehension ripples through me.
Did I dream about him leaving this morning? Or did that really happen?
The remnants of my dream cling to the edges of my memory, as they tend to do when it’s one of those really good ones—or one of the nightmares that keeps your heart pounding long after you’ve woken.
Aside from the nightmarish voices whispering the things from the letters, Hunter’s declaration rings clear through the reminiscence.
I love you.
He’s said he loves me before. At one point, he said it so often it almost started sounding disingenuous. I don’t throw that word around lightly, even if I do feel the same. It’s been a while, though, and I wish he’d said it to my face when I was fully awake—if he even said it for real at all.
Melancholy drapes over me like a cape, blanketing my soul with wistful longing. Between us coming home together, hanging out, and everything else that happened over the past nearly twenty-four hours, it was starting to feel real, like a normal relationship.
A glimpse of how it could be all the time.
I’m sorry.
“Why the hell would you write that, you dick?” I ask the air with tears in my eyes, which only irritates me further. Tipping my head back, I yell, “And why the fuck am I so emotional?”
Hunter has drawn more tears from me in the past few months than the last three years combined. I’m not an overly emotive person. I do my best to keep that shit tamped down so no one ever knows what really goes on in my brain.
It’s why I’m good at my job. It’s how I survived Nathaniel. And it’s how I kept the truth from Hunter for so long.
So what the fuck is happening, and why am I a blubbering mess?
Vaguely, I recall reading somewhere that shit like this happens to women once we hit our thirties.
Just another thing to add to the list of why it sucks to be a woman.
I’ve never been super regular, but I grab my phone to check my period tracker app to see if I’m about to start. That would explain the crying.
Wrenley’s name flashes across my screen with an incoming call before I get the chance, causing my heart to seize for a moment. Why would he be calling me? Unless something bad has happened to Hunter or Dove.
“Hey, is everything okay?” I answer, returning to the kitchen to find something to eat.
“Of course, why wouldn’t it be? What? I can’t call to see how you are?” His silky-smooth baritone rolls through the speaker like decadent, melted chocolate—warm and inviting without a hint of bitterness, even though I haven’t been the nicest to him lately.
It’s not that I don’t like him—I do. It’s just that now, with him knowing about Dove’s real identity, it puts me at risk. To my knowledge, he still doesn’t know I’m the Shadow Siren, and all feelings about the things he’s said about my alter ego aside, I’d like to keep it that way.
All it would take is one big blowout fight between the two, and Dove and I could find ourselves in a world of trouble. I’d rather he be a threat to only her. It will be easier for me to eliminate him if he doesn’t see me coming.
“I’m fine.” I draw the word out suspiciously as I pull out a yogurt. “Did Hunter ask you to check up on me?”
“No?” Genuine confusion shades his voice. “I haven’t talked to Hunt in a few days. Should I be checking up on you?”
Disappointment floods my chest like bad heartburn. I rub my sternum, trying to ease the ache. “No. What’s up?”
There’s a heavy pause before Wrenley blows out a long breath. “I was wondering if you’d go ring shopping with me today, for Dove.”
“Thanks for clearing up who we’d be shopping for,” I deadpan.
I knew this was coming. I’m happy for my friend, I truly, honestly am.
I guess I just hate the fact that he’s privy to our little club now… even though he doesn’t know about me. It’s like a joke he gets to be in on, but he’s not even fully in on it. For some reason, it bothers the shit out of me.
Irritation ripples through me as he laughs. “Bad day, Bunny? Come on, this should cheer you up. I want your help. No one knows Dove like you do.”
I do feel a sense of satisfaction that he’s even bothering to ask.
They’ve been lost in their own little world lately, while I’m over here struggling to make sense of mine.
Wrenley and Dove are settling into this blissful life together while Hunter and I keep blowing ours up every time we make any progress.
It’s frustrating, but I know I have no one to be disappointed in except myself.
Glaring at my unopened yogurt, I decide to return it to the fridge. If I have to leave the house today, the least he can do is feed me.
“Yeah. Okay. Come pick me up. But you owe me lunch.” And I suppose the least I can do is stop acting like such a bitch to him. “And froyo.”
“Deal. Headed your way now. And Bunny?”
“Hmm?”
“Thank you.”
The line goes dead, and my home screen lights up. A picture of Maru, Yasha, and Fang stares back as though trying to remind me of something.
Wasn’t I going to check something before Wrenley called?
I sift through my brain fog and come up empty.
“Well, boys, I guess Mommy is spending the afternoon with your soon-to-be uncle. Oh, joy.”
Their responding yips and tail wags indicate they clearly don’t catch the sarcasm in my tone.
“What do you think?” Wrenley nervously shows me what he’s already picked out.
Apparently, he’s been working with a jeweler in the diamond district for over two weeks now, and I have to admit, the time and thought he’s putting into this is adorable. Dove deserves it, and his choice is honestly perfect for her.
But, because I’m me, I have to give him shit.
“I don’t know, Wrenley. What do you think?” I scoop another spoonful of froyo into my mouth, compliments of the tall, dark blond who’s about to be the newest member of my little found family.
I don’t even look at the ring as he stares at me, anxiety dripping from his pores and flushing his skin, even though the mid-September weather is unusually chilly today.
The edges of his rich brown eyes crinkle as his gaze swings back to the sparkling pink diamond.
It’s a very light shade of pink with what the jeweler calls a purplish tint, though I only see my best friend’s favorite color reflected in the facets of the oval.
The setting is white gold, the band twisting near the top and peppered with small round pavé diamonds that hug the larger stone in the center.
It’s big, but not so gaudy that it will take over her dainty finger.
All in all, I think it’s perfect.
“I think it’s classically Dove,” Wrenley says reverently.
“Shines bright, but not overpowering. The oval is said to represent life and rebirth, and I feel like that symbolizes us perfectly. She helped me lay my past to rest, and we’re starting a fresh life together.
The shape is never-ending, just like my promise to her.
” He smiles, no doubt thinking about their relationship and everything they’ve already been through in the short time they’ve been together.
Dove told me everything that happened in California with Wrenley’s mother, so hearing him speak makes my heart clench. I can’t imagine the horrors they endured while growing up.
As it is, I remember my first murder and what I felt like after I killed my husband. I remember the numbing pain and the terror at what my future would hold. It was easy to get lost in Hunter that night, and the hardest thing I’d ever done to leave him the next morning.
I’m being too hard on the man before me. All he wants is to be happy, and he makes my best friend happy.
Why am I the only one so unhappy?
“I think it’s perfect, Wrenley.” I slide a hand over the glass to tilt the small cushion in my direction. “And I think you’d be stupid not to write all that nonsense into your vows.”
He laughs, nodding to the attendant, who beams and informs us she’ll be right back with the rest of the paperwork. “I haven’t even asked her yet. Let me tackle one thing at a time.”
Once he’s secured the ring in his pocket, we wait outside under the awning as the rain sprinkles down around us like a misty haze. It’s late afternoon, and I still haven’t heard a word from Hunter.
I try to call him again, but he still doesn’t answer.
“Do you want me to try?” Wrenley asks after catching me frowning at my phone.
My mouth twitches to the side, and I shrug, wishing I’d worn something other than my leather jacket over the maxi dress I picked out for today. The air is sticky and heavy. Balling my hair in a fist to gather it off my neck, I nod. “Yeah, will you try?”
Hunter doesn’t pick up for Wrenley either.
“Sometimes he just gets caught up in work and doesn’t check his phone,” Wrenley informs, as if I don’t already know that. “Let me check his location.”
I blink in surprise.
“You have his location?” That I didn’t know. I don’t even have his location. Though for good reason—if he shared it with me, he’d want me to share mine with him, and obviously, that isn’t a good idea.
Like a tropical Florida shower, the rain passes with a swath of thick gray clouds. The sky brightens a smidge, and passersby shake out their umbrellas as we wait for Wrenley’s phone to load.
“He’s at home. Probably just poring over his new case. You know how he gets.”
I do. I also know that when he hyper-focuses, he tends to forget to eat. A plan forms as I part ways with Dove’s soon-to-be fiancé and head home to take care of the dogs before proceeding to his place. I’ll bring Hunter an early dinner and then, hopefully, we can have a repeat of last night.
We have a lot to discuss, and it’s time we sit down and figure out exactly what we’re going to do moving forward.
But first, food. And orgasms. Lots and lots of orgasms.
Then we’ll figure out the hard stuff.