The Struggle(82)

“Yeah. Did I wake you?” she asked sleepily, brows pinched.

Dragging my thumb over her cheek, I kissed her forehead. “You were having a nightmare.”

“I was?”

I lifted up and met her gaze. “You don’t remember?”

She stared at me for a moment and then sighed, averting her gaze to my shoulder. “I was . . . I was dreaming about being back there,” she said, and she didn’t need to elaborate on where “there” was. “I’m sorry. I—”

“You do not need to apologize.” Smoothing her hair back from her face, I guided her gaze back to mine. “Don’t apologize for that.”

Josie was quiet as she stared back at me, and I didn’t know what to say. Comforting her with words didn’t come easy, but I wanted my words to bring her ease so she could sleep without being haunted by what she’d experienced.

“What were you dreaming about?” I asked.

The corners of her lips turned down. “Just . . . just being stuck in that place and . . .”

“And what?” I leaned back on my elbow as she rolled onto her side facing me.

“It doesn’t matter. It was just a nightmare.”

“Joe . . .”

Her eyes rolled as she placed her hand against my chest. Her fingers were cool. “Whatever, Apolly-anna.” Her nose wrinkled. “Wait. I can’t even call you that anymore. No fair.”

I chuckled. “What a shame.”

She dragged her finger over my chest. “Did you go somewhere when I fell asleep earlier? I thought I felt you leave the bed.”

Surprise shuttled through me. I had left briefly so I could feed. “I met with Basil for a few moments.” Which wasn’t entirely a lie. I had met with him on my way back. Josie hadn’t asked about the whole feeding thing, and I was hoping she wouldn’t—at least for the time being while I figured out how to explain that I still needed to feed. “I’m surprised you even noticed me gone. You were snoring so loudly—”

“I was not snoring!” She slapped my chest. “That’s insulting.”

“It’s nothing to be ashamed of,” I teased.

She shot me a dirty look. “You’re a jackass.”

“You love me.”

“You’re lucky that I do.”

My damn heart clenched in response. Fuck. I couldn’t help it. I was lucky. Hearing her say that did things to me I couldn’t even begin to describe.

Reaching over, I tugged on the thin straps of the tank top she was wearing. I knew that, under the blankets, she wasn’t wearing any pants, and I struggled not to focus on that little fact. I was behaving myself. Toying with the strap, I thought about what Aiden had told me upon bringing him and Alex back. A community in East Texas had reported a larger than normal number of pures going missing. Hopefully that was our lead and Hyperion would be found nearby. I’d close out the week by turning that fucking bag of dicks into nothing but a smear on the ground. Maybe, if I killed Hyperion, then Josie wouldn’t be so haunted, so terrorized.

“You look like you’re about to break your brain,” Josie said.

I raised a brow, but the smartass response died on the tip of my tongue. “I want to help you.”

Her gaze flicked to mine as she placed her palm on my shoulder. “You are.”

“Really? I’m not so sure about that. You have nightmares every night, sometimes twice a night. You’re still exhausted all the time and you’ve been sick.” I drew in a shallow breath. “I just want to help you. Tell me how I can.”

Josie didn’t respond for a long moment, and I knew she was trying to think of a way to change the subject. Talking about her time being held captive wasn’t something she wanted to do. Couldn’t really blame her for that, but I also knew just how badly unspoken words and unwanted memories could fester.

“Distract me,” she whispered finally, running her hand up my chest and around to the nape of my neck. Her fingers slid through my hair and then over to my cheek. “Kiss me.”

I didn’t hesitate.

There was no way I could deny her.

Ever.

~

Josie

Seth lowered his head, his eyes lit from within by an amber fire. The moment his lips brushed mine, I wasn’t thinking about the way the packed, cold dirt floor felt against my skin.

The kiss started off sweet, a little bit of pressure that left me aching for so much more than just a sweep of his lips on mine. When he started to lift his head, I caught him around the nape of the neck and held him there.

“More,” I whispered in the space between us.

His chest rose sharply. “Are you sure?”