Page 26 of Reverence

Not only due to the proximity between us but also due to her words. Echoed in the dead of the night.

So sweetly.

Minutes passed by and Amala’s breathing evened out, a telltale sign that she’d fallen asleep.

I swallowed hard, trying hard to free myself from her grip but still to no avail.

It’s like her strength intensified while she was intoxicated and then doubled when she slept.

She stirred in her sleep, turning onto her right-hand side, curling into a ball—her knees brushing against the side of my legs.

The vodka pulsed through my bloodstream, making me both tipsy and slightly tired and before I knew it—my eyes slowly closed and I drifted away into a peaceful sleep too.

Forgetting about the events of today, the infuriating specimen lying beside me, and the situation in my nether regions.

Eight

Amala

The sunlight streaming through the curtains made me groan as I reluctantly pried one eye open.

The sight before me nearly sent me scrambling off the bed.

I released Ares’s shirt from my fist so quickly that I nearly fell over the edge, scrambling backwards until my feet found the floor.

“What the fuck?”

I whispered the words to myself, struggling to steady my uneven breathing.

Ares slept peacefully beside me, his chest rising and falling in slow, steady movements. He looked completely undisturbed by the fact that we were sharing a bed.

I glanced down at myself and frowned.

I was still wearing yesterday’s dress.

The last thing I remembered was drinking cocktails with the girls.

Or had they been shots?

I wasn’t entirely sure.

Perhaps we’d had both.

That would certainly explain the pounding in my head—and, apparently, why Ares and I had ended up sharing a bed.

He looked harmless in his sleep. Peaceful.

Almost angelic.

Then again, everyone looked innocent when they were motionless and unconscious.

My head throbbed violently, the sunlight only making my hangover worse.

There was nothing on our itinerary today, so I decided to spend Sunday by myself. I needed the solitude. More than ever.

I moved as quietly as possible, careful not to wake him. The last thing I needed was an awkward conversation or another round of our pathetic bickering.

The shower was equally quiet.