“Oh…”
The warmth was enticing, and he thought how fucked up it was that even though he had been involved in multiple skirmishes with armed weapons tonight, as well as a car accident, an amputation, and topped that off just now with a dead body sighting… he was scared of getting back under the rush.
One thing he had learned was that it was easier to stay uncomfortable.
What hurt was when you let your guard down, and then had to reenter hell.
The burn on reentry was never, ever worth whatever eased you.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Over here! Quick!”
Just as Kane was losing his mind, as he’d decided that Nadya had been picked up by a second set of guards, or had run off for safety because she was horrified by what he’d done out in front of the cabin, just as he was about to run out into the gathering dawn to try to find her—
The urgent male voice wheeled him around sure as if he were a puppet.
Callum, the wolven, was peeking out of a panel in the floor. “Come on! I got to get out of here. I have no more time than you do.”
Kane scrambled across the rough floorboards like he was being chased, and as he hit the stairs that had been revealed, the wolven traded places, jumping free of some kind of subterranean hideout.
“I’ll be back at dusk,” the male said as he slammed shut the panel.
Bump, bump bumpbumpbump.
Kane didn’t pay much attention to the wolven running off overhead. He only cared about skidding down the steps. As he bottomed out on his butt, he looked up and saw the only thing that mattered atthe moment: Across a shockingly well-kitted-out interior, on a sofa that was strewn with fluffy pillows, Nadya was sitting up at attention, her hands gripping her hood and robes, her body trembling.
Kane stayed where he was for a couple of reasons. One, it was possible he’d broken his ass, literally. Two, he didn’t want to rush at her, which was all he felt like doing. And three…
“Hi,” he said.
“Hi,” she whispered as she gripped the sofa arm like she was going to stand up.
“No, let me come to you.”
He got to his feet and walked toward her. The underground quarters were narrow, but long, and accommodated a small galley kitchen for food preparation, a water closet with a door, and furniture that, if measured against his standard of living prior to the prison camp, was casual, but compared to where they’d both been was palatial and beautifully clean as well as color-coordinated in blues and grays. There was even a proper bed, located behind the couch Nadya was sitting on.
“Callum said this is his personal retreat,” she explained. Then she blurted, “Are you hurt? I heard you scream out there—I thought you were dead.”
She covered her mouth over the hood with one hand. And then the other.
As he reached her, Kane lowered himself to his knees. In the lights that were mounted on the ceiling, Nadya’s draped form trembled and he wanted to take her into his arms, but he wasn’t sure where the boundaries were.
“I’m fine. I’m here. We’re safe.”
“Are we?”
“Yes, I promise.”At least for right now, he tacked on to himself.
As they fell silent, he didn’t know what to do next, but then she stopped his heart.
With a shiver that transmitted through the robing, she lifted shaking hands to her hood… and slowly moved it up and over her head.Her stare remained lowered as she revealed herself to him, but then she looked at him, and for the first time, he saw her eyes properly. Her irises were a swirl of blue and green and brown, the combination of colors so unusual, he had never seen it before. And in the center, in the black pinpoints of her pupils, he saw an eternity—
“You don’t need to cover yourself,” he said roughly. “Not around me. You’re beautiful.”
Her eyes returned to her lap. “How can you say that.”
“Back in the clinic, I was uncovered before your eyes. Did it affect your opinion of me?”