connections, and some money, I could make it happen.
It was almost noon when the lock in the door clicked, and I immediately leaned against the arm of the chair in an attempt to look casual, though I suspected I just looked like an idiot.
One look at Nyx’s face had me straightening and forgetting about how I appeared. Her face was blank, and it was worse than if she’d come in scowling or even crying. Those normally bright green eyes were dull and empty, almost as if she was in shock.
“Nyx?” I took her hand and held it between mine. Her fingers were cold.
“I’m okay.”
If her voice had been stronger, I might’ve believed it. “What do you need me to do?”
She didn’t answer, her eyes unfocused at a spot on my shoulder.
“Nyx, what do you need me to do?” I repeated my question, and she blinked, shook her head, then seemed to see me.
“Sorry.” She gave me a twisted sort of smile. “Seeing Ambrose was easier than I’d thought it’d be, but it wasn’t easy.”
“Do you want to talk about it?”
She shook her head. “Not yet. Maybe not at all.”
“Whatever you need,” I promised. I raised her hand and kissed it. “What do you want to do now? We can stay in if you like or maybe do some sightseeing. Do the touristy stuff that non-natives would do.”
“I think I’d like that.” She blinked a few times and seemed to come out of the fog that had been shrouding her. “Sightseeing.”
A rush of relief went through me. I knew her as well as I thought I did. Now for her surprise.
“I planned something for us tomorrow,” I said. “A flight to New York City where we can spend a few days together, away from all of this mess.”
She threw her arms around my neck. “Thank you.”
I hadn’t expected the embrace, but I wrapped my arms around her and held her tight. I pressed my face against her hair and breathed in the subtle scent of her white tea shampoo and body wash. Without any effort on my part beyond breathing, my body responded, my cock thickening. It wasn’t surprising. I’d gotten a hard-on in the shower just from it still smelling like her after her shower.
I wasn’t going to act on it, though.
If she initiated sex, I wouldn’t say no, but I didn’t want that to be the only way we knew how to deal with problems together. I wanted something real, something lasting with her, and I refused to let ill-timed arousal screw that up.
Fortunately, another part of my body seemed to agree with my common sense because my stomach growled so loud, we both laughed. She took a step back, her cheeks flushed.
“Lunch?” I asked.
She nodded. “There’s a pizza place a couple blocks over.”
“Sounds good to me.” I patted my growling belly. “We can make plans while we eat.”
“I told you that you’d need a jacket.” Nyx laughed as I glared at her.
“It’s not even Halloween,” I complained, rubbing my arms. “How the hell do kids go trick-or-treating without freezing their asses off?”
Her laughter just got louder, and right then, I knew that I was so far gone on her that I’d have walked around for hours without a jacket, complaining about the cold, if it meant I could hear her laugh like that.
“Haven’t you ever been outside Georgia?” she asked.
“I have,” I said indignantly. After a pause, I added the rest of the truth, “Just not when it’s cold.”
She shook her head, a grin stretched from ear-to-ear. “If you think this is cold, you ain’t seen nothing yet. We’ve had snow for Halloween.”
“No shit.”
“No shit.” She reached out and took my hand, pulling it around her body and into her pocket with her hand.
Her body warmth did more to heat me up than any jacket I could’ve worn.
“Thank you for today,” she said as she leaned against me. “I mean it, Bradyn. You being here is important, but you taking care of me…” She turned her face into my arm, but I didn’t need to see her expression to know how hard it was for her to admit any of this. “I can’t tell you how long it’s been since anyone’s taken care of me.”
I had to restrain myself from doing something stupid, like telling her that I’d always take care of her if she let me. That we could take the dynamic that we’d touched on a couple times and move it from sex into real life.