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I turned my head and looked at Ash. His eyes locked on mine, and for the first time, they weren’t as guarded as they always were. He looked raw and vulnerable and completely present. The moment lasted only a heartbeat before he rolled onto his back and let out a long, contented sigh.
It had disappeared again so quickly, it could have been a figment of my imagination.
I knew it hadn’t been.
ChapterTwenty-Two
Ash
Iwas in trouble.
Big trouble.
Whatever the hell was going on between me and Lorraine, it wasn’t just about getting off anymore. It wasn’t even about my powers of seduction, about being drawn to her, about whatever magic wound us tighter together so that she couldn’t leave this world until after All Hallows’ Eve.
If it were that simple, it would have been fine. I could deal with having her around a little longer.
If I was being honest with myself, I didn’t hate having her around. As time had passed, I’d started to grow fond of her.
That was the fucking problem, wasn’t it? I was growing fond of her. Fuck, “fond” wasn’t the right word to use, but the right words scared the living shit out of me so I wasn’t going to say them. I wasn’t even going to think them.
The sun was barely above the horizon when I walked through the forest. The air was fresh and crisp on my tongue, and the night still swirled around the trunks. I took a deep breath and let it out slowly.
Suddenly, Dolus was next to me.
“What the fuck, man,” I growled, jumping before I recognized him.
Dolus laughed, his wide mouth splitting his face in two. “You’re very jumpy today.”
“I was just deep in thought,” I grumbled. “What are you doing here?”
“I’m walking with my friend,” Dolus said simply. “We are friends, right?”
“Right,” I said.
I wasn’t sure if I would call what Dolus and I had a friendship—it was nothing like what I shared with Rowan—but he was a god, and I wasn’t going to piss him off by disagreeing with him. Besides, he could give me something I wanted, and I wasn’t going to fuck that up for myself either.
“What are you doing here?” Dolus returned the question.
I shrugged. “Thinking.”
“It’s a dangerous thing to do.”
I chuckled. “Yeah, I guess it can be.”
“It’s what landed you in this mess to begin with.”
I frowned. “What mess?” My blood ran cold. Was he talking about Lorraine? Because it wasn’t entirely true. Not thinking was what had screwed me over on that one.
“It’s all your thinking that made you consider being something else than the drus you are,” Dolus expanded.
Oh. That.
“Yeah,” I said. “Three hundred years is a lot of time to be alone with your thoughts.”
“You’re nothing like the others,” Dolus said.
I glanced sidelong at him. “I’m not sure if I should take that as a compliment or an insult.”
