Delaney forces a smile. “I’ll be fine, promise. No need to open a vein.” As if in demonstration, she pulls away from her sister and heads out into the hall.
“We have to come up with a solution, Tarnley,” Rainey says softly. “This is not a permanent situation. We can’t consistently keep her under, especially now that we don’t even know when to give it to her.”
I retrieve Bronywyn’s body from the floor and set her gently on the bed. When her blonde hair falls into her eyes, I lean down and brush it aside. As much as it kills me to admit it, she’s right. Delaney could have been killed tonight, all because I’m too fucking stubborn to realize when I’ve been defeated.
“If Ridley does not come back soon, we will do what needs to be done,” I reply, the words venom on my tongue. “But we’re giving him more time.”
“Of course,” Rainey replies. When I meet her gaze, I see all the pity, the pain reflected right back at me.
No anger, which is so unlike the hunter before me that it reminds me just how out of our fucking control this situation is.
* * *
Hair like strandsof satin sunshine slips through my fingertips.
“This is nice,” Bronywyn whispers, her breath hot against my chest.
“It is.”
“Do you think we’ll always be this happy?”
“I do.”
She chuckles. “Lose the ability to speak in anything but two words?”
“I have.”
Bronywyn laughs and gently slaps my chest as she sits up. Firelight dances off the planes of her face, shining against the shimmery fabric of her white chemise. “What do you think the future holds for us?”
I put an arm behind me, using it to prop up my head. “Hopefully, lots of sex.”
Her cheeks flush. “Of course that, but I mean what else? Do you want to stay here in Billings? Travel?”
“What do you want to do?”
She’s silent a moment, but I can all but see the thousands of thoughts running through her mind. “I don’t want to stay in Billings. Not forever.”
“No?”
“I want to go back to Ireland, maybe see Switzerland at some point.”
“Switzerland?”
“It’s on my bucket list.”
“Then let’s do it.” I sit up and run a hand down the length of her arm.
“Really?”
“Of course.”
“You’d leave Billings?”
“You’re my home, Bronywyn, not this city.”
With a wide smile, she leans forward and presses her lips to mine. My hands slip into her hair and cup the back of her head as I pull her closer to me, drowning in everything that is her.
When she pulls away, it’s with a heavy sigh.