But I’m not fast enough.
He shakes his head and grabs my cheeks, holding me back.
His chest heaves as he presses his forehead to mine. “I won’t take advantage of you, Daph. You’re grieving right now. You’re not in your right mind.”
Which is just fucking infuriating. Because maybe he’s a little bit right, but I still know what I want. “I want you, Logan.” It comes out pleading and breathy, but it's also one of the most honest things I’ve ever uttered in my entire life.
I’ve all but crawled in his lap and one hand moves from my face to curl around my waist as he drops his head to the crook of my neck.
“Don’t do this to me, Daph. Not right now. I can’t be another person close to you who lets you down when you need them the most.”
For a second, we just sit like that, me half on top of him and him clutching me like I’m a lifeline.
But then—and I swear I can feel his entire body shaking—he takes me by my waist and sets me off him.
The tears start up again the second I lose contact. “I’ve ruined it,” I whisper. “You’re going to leave now and I’ll never see you again.”
He pauses from where he’s standing beside the bed and runs a hand through his hair. “Your Dad wants me back in the lab right away…”
I nod and turn my face away from him. I must seem so pathetic. So sad and piteous, trying to kiss him and expecting him to feel anything back. Sad, pathetic—
But then I feel a weight on the bed behind me as the mattress dips.
“Daph, when was the last time you slept?” His voice is so gentle, it only makes it worse.
“Not since—” I hiccup when I try to breathe. “Not since the morning when I woke up and found her—”
“Fuck,” he swears under his breath, “Daph, that was days ago.”
There’s more movement behind me. “Come here.”
He pulls back the blankets and then he pulls me into him, my back to his front, and his heavy, masculine arm curls around my waist. “I’ve got you,” he murmurs into my hair. “Just sleep, baby. Just sleep.”
I’m already dreaming, is the last thought I have before I drift off.
Nineteen
Present Day
Logan
The moon is a cold coin, glowing silver in a starless sky. I raise a glass of whiskey and drain it in one go. Midnight. I can’t sleep. My body is sated but my mind prowls the past like it did while I lay as an invalid after Daphne’s father tried to destroy me.
Was there something different I could have done to pry Daphne from her family? Is there any way we can have a future? My memories are a labyrinth, and I am lost. I’d wander forever, if it weren’t for Daphne.
Daphne.
I sense her presence in the hall. Somehow—maybe her scent, or maybe I’m an animal, a predator, a hunter always aware of my surroundings. Or maybe we’re attuned to one another. As much as I try to fight our connection, it’s there.
A small knock and the door creaks open a sliver.
“Enter,” I call.
She slips inside, a nymph in the moonlight. Her bare feet are silent as she approaches. She shivers slightly and I gesture for her to stand in front of the fire. Her piercings wink at me. Her eyes are hooded and tired.
I can’t bring myself to order her around any more tonight. It was hard enough to leave her earlier tonight. I can’t push her away a second time. I open my arms, letting my robe flop open. She crawls onto my bare chest, curling against me like the kitten I’m always calling her.
“I missed you,” she murmurs against my neck. It feels so right, like always, having her here. Body against my body. Nuzzled against me, relaxed and trusting.
“I’m right here,” I breathe out.
“No. You’re far away.” Her small fingers trace my mask, and for a second, I let her. Then I capture her hand, kiss her fingers and engulf them with mine.
She sighs long and loud. So much air for such a little body. I nuzzle her wet hair and study her profile as she stares at the fire. I want to believe her, to believe this, doesn’t she understand?
But a man can only be broken so many times before there’s nothing left to put back together.
“I thought it would be like this,” she says, almost too low for me to hear.
“What?”
“Coming back. I thought we’d be together. And you’d be hurt and punish me, but mostly, it’d be like this.” She nods to the fireplace.
“You and me cuddling in front of a fire?”
The firelight catches the side of her frown as she turns to me. “You and me, together.”
I tuck a half-dry strand of hair behind her ear. “We are together.”
“No we’re not. You’re holding yourself back, Logan.”
My voice hardens, my body tensing. “Well, do you blame me?”
“No,” she says, and looks sad. “I don’t.”
I rub soothing circles onto her back. “We still have this. Just for tonight.” I can pretend for one night.
“Mmm,” she hums, but it’s not quite an agreement. She wants more than one night.
I wish I could give it to her.
“I called my dad today.”
I bite back a grimace. Once upon a time, Dr. Laurel was my mentor. A surrogate father. I would have done anything to please him until I realized how hollow he was inside. Daphne’s still caught in his web of lies.
“And?” I keep my voice bland.
She sighs. “He’s still recovering. I talked to him today and he sounded so weak. I wanted to confront him about everything, challenge him about selling Thornhill but—”
“But?”
“In the end, does it matter? He’s an old man. I’ve lived my whole life the way he wanted, but it was my choice. Especially the past few years, taking on Belladonna. I could’ve told him no.”
My brows arch up. Daphne’s never talked like this before. “Did you tell him that? Today?”
“No.” She half rolls her eyes. “I kept our talk super short. He was slow and out of breath and I...well, I had a butt plug stretching my ass.”
I can’t help my chuckle. “You’re such a good girl.”
She giggles with me. “I so am.”
Being with her feel so good, so natural. And since we’re already pretending…
“Come. I have something to show you.”
She lifts her head. “What?”
“A gift.”
She sighs. “I only want you.”
My cock jumps. Definitely only my cock. Not that other stupid organ in my chest. Not at all. I lift her off my lap, stand and offer my hand.
“An olive branch, then.”
Daphne
“Won’t I need clothes?” I ask as Logan wraps me in a fur carefully. “Shoes?”
“No. I’ll carry you.”
He lifts me as if I’m light as a rose petal. The night air is bracing on my bare face, but the coat covers me past my feet. Frosted grass crunches under Logan’s shoes as he carries me down the hill. The castle looms behind us, darkly beautiful bathed in moonlight. Beside us, the labyrinth is a black, leafy wall.