I smiled. “I am tired. But some fairy honey would help.” Oh, that would be amazing. Fairy honey was a wicked fae drink that would wipe away the crushing fatigue and keep me going. Sure, there was a kick back at some point, but I was willing to pay that price to find Charlotte and Gran quicker.
“I’ve got none, but if I run across any while I’m here, I’ll grab it.” He stood but didn’t put me down, just held me in his arms. Those big biceps of his had no problem lifting me. If I’d been standing, I totally would have swooned. “You sleep a few hours, and then you can go out again. Hopefully, Kinkly will be back by then.”
I took note that he didn’t say anything about coming with me. I yawned before I could form a question about that.
He laid me on his bed, and as I slid down his arms, my fingers found his. I held onto his hand. “Stay with me. Just . . .until I fall asleep.”
There was no hesitation in him. He didn’t ask me why I wanted company, nor did he imply that I was lesser for it. He just accepted that I needed something he could give me.
And that was how I ended up in bed with Crash.
Again.
20
The bed was plenty big enough for us to not touch, but Crash pulled me into his arms and I settled against him with a sigh. I wanted to tell him what I’d learned from Marge the voodoo priestess and Homer, her seemingly submissive partner.
“Homer said—”
“Go to sleep,” Crash repeated, his body solid and warm and so very safe. “We’ll talk when you wake up.”
Mind you, being snuggled up to him when he was wrapped in nothing but a sheet was preferable, but this was good too. I’d take it.
He must have felt my smile against his chest.
“Sleep, and stop thinking about me naked.” He growled the sound making my skin flush and my hormones perk up in a way that was probably not conducive to sleep.
Don’t worry, it’s not one of those scenes. You’re good to keep reading.
I sighed and snuggled up close to him, drawing in a deep breath that was all Crash. A hint of smoke, a curl of coal fires, and the slightest whisper of something musky and manly. My eyes closed, and while I’d thought sleep would avoid me, I had a full belly, the room was dark, and the safety and warmth of Crash. The only other man who I knew for sure was on my side was Robert.
As if thinking of him drew him to my dreams, I blinked and found myself standing back at the edge of the St. Louis Cemetery Number 1, Robert at my side. The lifelike version of him.
“Hey,” I said. “Dreaming here, do you mind? I don’t really like this place, and it doesn’t much like me. Too many ghosts, remember?”
He turned an icy blue eye my way. “I didn’t bring you here. I’m tied to you, Bree, and you came here. The question is why?”
I turned away from him to look at the cemetery and let the words flow from me. “Because something in there scared me, and I don’t like feeling weak or afraid.”
Robert crossed his arms. “Fair enough.”
“Did you feel it, though?” I asked him. “The menace?”
“I did. Less effective on someone who isn’t really alive.” He grinned and lifted a hand to touch the tip of my chin. “You got rid of the siren. I’m surprised you held out against him, to be honest. He had some serious sex mojo going on.”
I threw my hands up in the air. “Not talking about men right now, Robert.”
He grinned and laughed at me. “Life doesn’t come in nice tidy boxes, Bree. That’s why your relationship status is set to ‘complicated.’ Events don’t happen one at a time. They cascade and snowball and try to crush us. Why in the world you think that your story would be orderly is beyond me.”
I frowned at him. “Robert? Any ideas? And how the hell do you know about relationship statuses anyway?”
He looked away, out across the dreamscape of the cemetery. “This place has seen a lot of death and a lot of sacrifices. And I hang out in the bottom of your bag as a finger bone. Sometimes your phone gets turned on. I’ve seen your attempt at duck lips. Stop doing it, it’s terrible.” He winked at me. Cheeky