Ember
I woke feeling the farthest thing from panic.
My eyes weren’t even open yet, and I was already calm from being wrapped in the smell of him.
For a moment, I stayed still, listening to the beat of his heart.
Both of his arms were looped around me, like he’d fallen asleep making sure I was comfortable and that I wouldn’t disappear.
His head was tipped back slightly, his dark hair pushed to one side.
With the black mess falling into his eyes, he looked almost childish.
Next to me, at this moment, he didn’t look like the dangerous man I’d made him out to be. He just looked exhausted.
Lifting my neck slightly to look up at him, I let my gaze drift across his skin.
The tattoos that covered him in different places were truly beautiful.
The inked lace curled in the same directions as his muscles.
I hadn’t noticed exactly how much ink there had been before, but then again, I hadn’t exactly let myself look either.
As carefully as I could, I moved my hand from his chest, down to his arm.
My fingers grazed over the skin just below his wrist, and I traced one of the veins that ran up his arm.
I moved slowly, following the path up his forearm, and the faint pulse proved he was actually real.
His arm twitched the higher I went, and the sudden movement reminded me of my own bandaged wrists and how I’d felt toward him in the car ride over here.
Was this the same man?
I swallowed and gently lifted his arm from around me. Shifting my weight, I crawled out of his lap like I was extracting myself from something fragile. The air instantly felt colder without him, and I wasn’t sure how I felt about that.
I crossed the room to the first aid kit, looking down at my bandages.
I could see I’d already bled through one of the gauze pads, and the other seemed to be ripped open, probably from me attacking him earlier.
Although I could potentially wait to change it, I do it anyway.
I decided to let the task distract me from the confusion in my head.
Kneeling over his desk, I had just popped open the case, when Silas suddenly shot upright.
The sound making me jolt and causing me to drop the supplies.
The plastic edges snapped loudly as they hit the ground, but that wasn’t what startled me—it was him.
His breath came out hard as he pulled himself away from the wall.
Both eyes wide, scanning the room like he was searching for something.
His fear was immediately palpable and genuine.
I couldn’t help the way my eyes widened from his reaction.
If I was really someone he was going to hurt, he wouldn’t wake up like that looking for me.
His gaze found me across the room, and everything within him changed. His shoulders instantly dropped as the panic drained from his face. Dragging a hand through his hair, he exhaled slowly, looking down at the items I had dropped. “Sorry,” he muttered toward me, voice rough with sleep.
I responded simply by shrugging my shoulders at him.
Then, I bent down to pick everything up and set it back into the container before peeling off the dirty gauze that was attached to me.
He watched me intently the whole time, like he didn’t want to let me out of his sight.
It was only when I’d finished and closed the kit that he looked away.
I walked back over and stopped in front of him, waiting for his blue eyes to come back to me.
For a second, we sat in silence as his gaze settled on me, neither of us knowing what should come next.
I hesitated before speaking, debating on how I wanted this to go.
To my surprise, he knew my thoughts before I did.
Without me saying anything, he shifted his back up against the wall again, lifting his arm slightly as a silent invitation to sit in his lap. There were no words spoken between us, but it was clear he wanted me to go back to where I was while we slept. He wanted me back where I belonged.
I decided to take a chance, because honestly, I wanted that too.
When I settled, I realized this time felt different—it was intentional.
He silently confirmed my thoughts as his arm settled around me again, but slower now, like he was making sure I was comfortable.
I let out a small sigh as I felt his fingers slide into my hair, brushing through it gently and massaging my scalp.
The motion almost absentminded for him and calming for me.
This was a part of him I never thought existed, a soft side I never realized I craved until now. His hand stilled for just a second before he looked down at me. “Thank you,” he whispered softly, “for allowing this.”
We sat in silence until an idea popped into my mind.
One that could get me some more answers.
Pulling away from him, I created just enough space so I could turn and fully face him.
I quietly sighed again as I crossed my legs, placing my hands in my lap.
“I think it’s probably time to get to know each other a little more,” I said. “Don’t you think?”
He nodded once, like he’d already decided that.
I raised one eyebrow and looked him square in the face. “Truth or dare.”
A small smile curved his mouth, and I was ashamed to admit that it did something strange to my chest. “You sure this is the game you want to play?”
I nodded enthusiastically because it was the exact game I wanted.
“Truth,” he said, voice still rimmed with sleep.
I tilted my head. “Have you been watching me?”
His smile disappeared, but not in a dramatic or angry way—it just faded as he rubbed his eyes. “Yes,” he said, his voice low and flat. “Your turn.”
Okay, at least now I know I was right about that.
I bit the inside of my bottom lip. “Truth.”
He studied me for a moment, but whatever question he wanted to ask died before it formed. “Pass,” he muttered.
I narrowed my eyes as I threw a playful punch into his shoulder. “That’s not how this is supposed to work.”
As my fist made contact with him, a faint smirk hid whatever emotion he was battling. “I don't want you to tell me things because you have to.”
“Fine.” I leaned closer. “Dare, then.”
His brows lifted slightly as if he was trying to gauge how I felt about playing. “I dare you,” he said carefully, “to give me a compliment.”
My smile was involuntary, but my tone was almost sarcastic. “Seems easy enough—”
He scoffed loudly, as if there was no truth to my statement.
I narrowed my eyes at him, a piece of me slightly offended. “What’s that sound for?”
His eyebrows rose as he feigned innocence. “Nothing. Go for it.”
I looked at him suspiciously before giving a dramatic thumbs up, “You’re kidnapping skills? Real ten out of ten.”
His eyebrows lowered as his smirk turned into a full smile. “Okay. Now I want a dare too.”
Running my hand through my hair, I decided to test how much information he would give me. “I dare you to show me a piece of you that no one has ever seen.”
The question took him by surprise, and his smile faltered. “A piece, huh?”
“Mhmm,” I hummed, enjoying the fact he actually had to think about this answer.
For a second, I thought he was going to shrug as he lifted his arm, but I watched him use his hand to point down at his collar.
Among the small amount of bare skin there was a puzzle piece.
A tattoo that didn’t match the other ones he had.
The style was simple, one that looked almost like it was drawn by a child.
“Greyson used to draw a lot—it was how he coped with certain things. Sometimes, it was small doodles that didn’t make sense, but other times it would be patterned things like puzzle pieces, where he could zone out and fill them in for hours at a time.
This specific one was from a napkin we had during our first family dinner.
It stuck with me, and I ended up getting it tattooed.
Sometimes, it was nice knowing we’re just a small piece in the grand scheme of things...
and other times, it was better knowing that no matter what, we had somewhere we belonged. ”
I stared at the shape, at the meaning behind it, and at another layer of Silas Solstice.
“I didn’t think much about the fact I had gotten it done, until both my brothers came home with the same one. Dumbass one and two had a high school friend do it over a kitchen table as a surprise for me.”
Another wave of emotion rolled through him, and this time, I was able to catch it before he buried it. His blue eyes filled with nostalgia, and his face softened, as if that memory was one of his favorites.
This Silas was everything the other version was not, a view that I didn’t think a lot of people were privy too. Lifting my finger, I traced where the piece laid. “So what you’re telling me is that you guys all have a lifelong reminder of the questionable decisions you make.”
“It wasn't all bad. The tattoos ended up infected, and Kyrin found out he had a knack for medical things.” A soft chuckle from him made my body shake and without thinking too much about it, I suddenly wanted him to know things about me too.
“Can I do truth again?”
He nodded as his fingers traced the back of my arms, his question coming out soft, almost like he was scared of the answer. “Why are you here with me, when you could have run?”
My whole body clenched, but it wasn’t because of the question. It’s because of the truth behind it. “Sometimes there's a voice that turns on in my head,”—I bit my lip as I watched his fingers graze my skin,—“and against every fiber of my being, it told me to stay.”
A small nod was his only response, and for a brief moment, I wished I could see into his thoughts. I formed my next thought as he processed my previous answer.
“I dare you to touch me.”
His body stilled as he answered with one word. “No.” His tone neither angry, or defensive—just flat, and exactly what I’d expected.
I nodded once in his direction. “Okay.” I didn’t push him, but that didn’t mean I was giving up. “I dare you to close your eyes, then.”
He looked at me like he knew I was up to something, his blue eyes full of suspicion. After exhaling loudly, he closed them.
“Keep them shut,” I added, sitting up and pulling away from him.
It was apparent he didn’t like me leaving his arms. As I moved, he outstretched them toward me until he couldn’t feel me anymore, and then he said my name, a word full of warning. “Ember—“
I grinned, even though I knew he couldn’t see me. Moving quietly across the room, I dragged a chair just to throw him off.
One eyebrow twitched and I giggled. The sound felt foreign but light. I circled the room once and then darted to the other side to grab his mask. With every sound I made, his head turned in that direction.
“Ember,” he warned again, but this time, his voice was starting to sound playful. I liked the sound of it.
“Sir. Eyes closed.”
Shaking his head slightly, he sighed in defeat.
I fastened the mask on my face and bolted out of the room.
Slipping out of the office, I sprinted down the hallway with my bare feet slapping against the floor.
I didn’t stop laughing until I reached the main level.
I knew how ridiculous this was, how ridiculous I probably looked in this crowd.
For the first time since I met him, I wasn’t running because I was scared—I was running because I wanted him to chase me.