IE
e of blood bloomed on my tongue. I wouldn't mThat silent, stubborn withdrawal. A low growl
e rasped aga
something
with a reluctance that felt like a ba
rozen my heart solid, and I stayed c
ow, tortured, almost pained. Then he s
n't bi
me. It took me a moment to ev
d it cut through the haze of p
it wa
ht ball with my back to him. Like a wounded animal seeking shel
ching, heavy. Whatever satisfaction he might have felt was quickly swallowed by a suffocat
s dipped slightly. I flinche
it-his hand suspended in the spac
up and tucked it gently over
ything that had just happened. My body went rigid. And the tears I'd b
ed sobs. The silence between us was so thick I could taste it. I wondered, dimly,
d misery dragged me into
en did
my sleeping body into his arms. His touch was impossibly
was slipping through the
o an empt
pha instincts screaming, h
he sa
staff had laid out. I stood by the closet entranc
w. But my movements were precise, me
lightly. I silently walked toward
voice a hoarse whi
es of displeasure cutting deep across his face. Whatever small tenderness he'd shown last n
m. His fingers brushed mine
back like I'
ed as if to say something, but the words died before they
t o
I turned without a word a
ight. He ran a hand through his
ng around him like a shroud. He stared out at the manicu
ng me, would fill the strange, a
emptiness h
legs threatening to give out. The terror of the night and the strain of
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