which was an embarrassingly short length of time, he started to eat. I saw his eggs were still steaming, which meant I’d plowed through my pancakes like a tornado.
Feeling no shame, I reached for my tea and took a hearty sip.
With my stomach full, I was pretty much as close to purring as I could be, especially now that it was my time to watch Adam.
There was something about him that invited my attention, and I didn’t question it much because I knew he felt the exact same way. He often watched me, even if I wasn’t making sounds of enjoyment like I just had with my breakfast.
We were always watching one another when we were close, our gazes always finding a way to connect.
I’d long since considered us magnets. Everything about us united and bound, even if we were destined to be torn apart when life threw shit our way. But I didn’t want to think about that. Not now. I wanted to focus on the vacation ahead of us which, sadly, was pretty much all I could allow us.
Adam hadn’t seen my mom in jail. Maybe if he had, he’d understand. He’d have seen why she spoke the truth, would understand my concerns.
He wasn’t Roma. He was Gadže. And that had never been hit home more than it was when I’d explained the curse. Even I, who’d been raised in the culture for part of my life, had found it hard to comprehend, but seeing my mom was believing.
She loved my father.
Loved him even though he’d hurt her.
And it wasn’t the kind of love that an abused woman felt for her abuser. It wasn’t that kind of twisted affection that kept two people together when they should be separated by the world.
No, it was the kind of love that came with regret.
She blamed herself.
Not, again, like an abused woman would say, ‘Oh, I shouldn’t have angered him. I spoke to the guy in checkout too long. That’s why he hit me.’ Genevieve’s blame came from the curse.
She knew she should have stayed away from Nicodemus, and her punishment was a life without him, a daughter she couldn’t raise, a mother who died without her at her side, and too many years in a prison cell.
My throat clenched at the thought.
If I didn’t stay away from Adam, what would happen to him? To me?
Suddenly, I realized I had Adam’s full attention, and when I focused on him, he was shaking his head.
“We’re not them, Thea.”
Four simple words, but their meaning was complex.
“No, we’re not,” I agreed. “That doesn’t mean we won’t end up like them.”
“You think you’ll kill me?”
My brow puckered. “I’m sure if you asked my mom that, she would never have said yes. It’s not something you think you’ll do, is it?”
“We’re different,” he argued stubbornly. “I’m not Roma. I thought I was the first non-Roma jílo in your family?”
I plucked at my bottom lip. “That’s true.” At least, as far as I knew. I hadn’t dedicated a decade to discovering my family tree, had I?
Still, he looked triumphant, his eyes flashing with pleasure, and I flushed, loving that particular look on him because it reminded me of when he came, exploding inside me, gifting me with every part of him. “There, you see. We are different.”
But were we different enough?
The rest of the flight was quiet as we chilled out and watched TV. Well, Adam zoned out, me? I was worrying, even as I knew I couldn’t avoid this vacation.
I’d stayed away from him for so long. Each day apart had been painful.
I deserved this.
Didn’t I?
Just a short time together before the world drew us apart once more.
My focus was off for the rest of the time onboard, and I managed to grab some sleep. Adam gently woke me when it was time to land, and I sighed when he pressed a kiss to my lips as he did so.
“I want to wake up with you every day like this.”
God, I did too.
Denying this, avoiding us, was so fucking painful.
I sucked in a shuddery breath as I slipped an arm around his shoulders and brought him back to me.
The kiss was slow and sweet, long and languid. I didn’t care that my mouth probably tasted gross, and neither did he. Both of us had been traveling for hours, and we weren’t the freshest apples in the bowl, but it didn’t matter because I was his, and he was mine.