Total pages in book: 194
Estimated words: 187754 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 939(@200wpm)___ 751(@250wpm)___ 626(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 187754 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 939(@200wpm)___ 751(@250wpm)___ 626(@300wpm)
“I won’t hurt Zeke,” he promises patiently and then pauses. “I won’t hurt you either, Seth. I got you. I got you both.”
I know.
I don’t tell him that, though. Every time I try, the words get stuck in my throat.
He left Zeke all alone.
I can’t trust him. What if he leaves again? Zeke doesn’t need him. He has Bane and me.
I don’t need him either.
I don’t.
I don’t, I don’t, I don’t.
Exhaling harshly, I shove past Khalil and leave him standing there in that disappointing silence as I enter the tent.
Aurelia’s already sleeping off the drugs with Thorin curled around her front, so I strip off my shirt and lay down next to her to lend her my body heat. The jostling must stir her awake because her eyes open when I take her from Thorin and turn her to face me.
“Seth?” she asks groggily.
I bury Zeke’s nose in her hair and ignore him pushing and clawing to take control. He’s ready to wake up, but I’m not ready yet. H I know he’s curious about her, but it will be in vain.
I won’t let him remember.
I know I promised Aurelia that I’d tell him about her, but I can’t. She’s mine. All mine.
“I’m here, Sunshine.”
“What’s wrong?” Her question is barely more than a sleepy rumble, but I still understand her.
Just like she apparently understands me.
“Nothing.”
Her eyes blink open and slowly clear at whatever she sees in mine. “You sad, Seth?”
I hold her a little tighter and sigh when her peaches and daffodils scent hit me. “It’s better now.”
Khalil still hasn’t come inside the tent, and I know it’s because he’s keeping watch. We’re exposed out here, and me losing my shit a few minutes ago only reminded him of the threat of Isaac finding us.
If he’s even still looking.
I’m starting to wonder at the real reason why we’ve never tried to know for sure. It wouldn’t be hard, but the others swear it’s too risky.
It’s quiet in the tent, so I assume Aurelia’s gone back to sleep until she does the last thing I ever thought possible.
She starts to sing.
I don’t recognize the song, but then again, I don’t recognize most songs. I don’t really listen to the words anyway—something about love, memories, photographs, waiting, and coming home. It doesn’t matter. She could be singing about toast, and I’d be completely gone for it. It’s her voice that holds me.
It rises as the song’s tempo picks up, and the tent flaps part as Khalil ducks inside. I don’t look away from Aurelia, but I can only imagine the look on his face mirrors mine.
She’s incredible.
A handful of verses later, the song is over.
“Oh, sure. Sing for him,” Thorin grouchily says as he turns over in his sleeping bag and gives us his back.
Aurelia blushes and elbows him, but he’s already sleeping again.
“Is that one of yours?” I ask.
She smiles lazily without opening her eyes. “‘Photograph.’ Ed Sheeran.”
“You should sing us one of yours one day,” Khalil low-key begs.
“Don’t count on it. They’re terrible.”
“I’ll love anything that’s yours, Sunshine.”
She shakes her head and sighs. “They’re not mine. They never were. They belong to the countless songwriters my uncle trusted more than me to make a hit.”
“Words are words. It was you that made them beautiful,” Khalil says. “It was you. All you. All along. Every time. It was how you used those words to make people feel.”
“Feel what?”
“Anything. Everything.”
“Yeah, no offense to ole Ed, but I doubt I’d like that song half as much if he were the one singing to me.”
“Remind me to make you eat those words one day. He’s pretty good.”
“Nah. You’re better,” I say confidently. She still eyes us skeptically, so I start singing what I remember of my new favorite song—the Aurelia George version.
Aurelia squeals after only a few choppy notes and slaps her hands over my mouth. “Stop! You’re butchering it.”
I grin while kissing her cold palms, and I’m still smiling when she slowly drops them like she’s afraid I’ll start singing again. I waggle my brows. “See?”
“Okay, I get your point. Just don’t ever do that again. Stick to dancing, Seth.”
“Oh, yeah? You like the way I move, do you?” I suggestively press my hips against hers, and damn it, my dick twitches to life when she presses back against me like she’s game for a quickie.
“Cut it out. Both of you,” Khalil scolds. “She’s not out of the woods yet. She needs to rest.”
“Actually, I could use a little more body heat.”
The tent is intensely quiet for a few seconds, and when Khalil’s dumb ass doesn’t catch on to what Aurelia is asking, my irritated gaze travels to him. He seems to be caught in a trance, staring at Aurelia, but he must feel me watching him because his gaze shifts to me, and I buck my eyes.