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His back was to me. He was slicing more fruit and adding the pieces to two separate plates.
“What?” My voice came out a squeak, and my cheeks heated.
Had he heard me? A shiver went down my spine and not from embarrassment but excitement. No, if Samkiel had heard me, he would have burned the stairs with how fast he climbed them to get to me. That, I knew for a fact. He slid the plates across the counter and turned toward me.
“With your powers suppressed, your hearing must be no better than a mortal’s,” he said. “I practically screamed your name.”
My belly clenched, remembering that I had envisioned him doing exactly that last night, but under very different circumstances.
“I was… tired.”
“I made breakfast.”
I forced a small smile, need gripping me even after last night. What was wrong with me?
“Thanks.” I sat at the island and picked up the fork he had placed near me.
“Sorry I returned so late last night.”
I damn near dropped my fork. “You were here? Last night?”
He hadn’t come upstairs.
He tipped his head, looking at me quizzically. “Yes, but it was close to dawn, and I didn’t want to disturb you. I checked in on you, but you were fast asleep. I think I even saw you drool.”
I scoffed. “There was no drool.”
An air of uncertainty hung around him. Didn’t want to disturb me? So he’d slept downstairs instead. The only time he’d acted that way was when we were fighting at Drake’s, and he’d been avoiding me. Was he avoiding me now? Maybe all I’d said the day before had been too much. I had been so cruel these last few months. Why would he want to pick up where we’d left off?
My heart thundered with fear. Samkiel glanced at my chest before meeting my eyes, and I knew he could hear the rapid beat. “Are you alright?”
“Yes. Fine.” I set my fork down and placed my hands under the table, my appetite for both food and sex fading away. The yawning void left behind threatened to swallow me again. Was I too late? Had he decided I was too much work? Too dangerous? Too broken?
Samkiel watched me, his focus absolute as if I were the only thing that mattered. I must be insane. Now I was imagining things.
“What?” I asked, hearing the defensiveness in my tone.
“You haven’t touched your food,” he said, pointing at my plate with his fork. “Are you not hungry?”
I glanced down at the fruit, eggs, and bread. Bile rose, my stomach giving a definitive no.
“No, I feel kind of queasy, actually.”
“Have you felt like that before?”
I shook my head.
“Well, if you wish to stay in today, that is fine. I had something planned for you, though.”
Hope flared. Maybe he wasn’t avoiding me again. I sat up straighter. “What is it? Where are we going?”
“We,” he enunciated, “are not. I have… Umm… I’m going to be busy.”
My hope died.
Samkiel seemed to sense it and went on, even as the space between us grew. “I wanted you to have some fun since I won’t be around today. I also figured The Hand would enjoy a day off.”
My shoulders slumped. “Busy, huh?”
