Into the Fading Twilight (Starlight Grove, #2) (58)

Doing my best to shove down those feelings of failure, I lowered myself to the quilt. “Thank you for doing this,” I whispered to Nova as Sky chattered to Tink and Pepper.

Nova beamed at me. “Are you kidding? Dream ending to a day that could’ve been hard.”

“I’m glad,” I said hoarsely.

She leaned forward and rested a tiara atop my head. “But you need to be dressed to come to this party.”

Her hands lingered there for a moment, fingers in my hair, her face so close to mine. I swore I could feel her mouth on mine, even though it was inches away. Some part of me knew what it would be like to feel her tongue stroking in, twisting with mine. The only thing I didn’t know was what she’d taste like. Lemon from the pie she’d just bit into? Cherries and vanilla like that scent that haunted me? Or something uniquely Nova?

Her breath caught as we froze, so damn close. I wanted to erase the distance. To know it all with a certainty that would never leave me.

Pepper let out a loud bleat that had Nova stumbling back to sitting. She let out a laugh, her cheeks flushing the most stunning shade of pink. “Pep, you scared me.”

Sky giggled, rubbing the goat’s head. “She wants more pie.”

I muttered a curse under my breath, forcing my gaze away from Nova—from the only place my eyes wanted to be. I needed an ice-cold shower. And I had a feeling I’d be needing them daily for the foreseeable future.





CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE


Nova




ISTARED UP AT THE CEILING, THROUGH THE SKYLIGHT KOL had cut into the roof so I could always see the sky. It was as if he’d somehow known I would need it after having been robbed of it for so long. But right now, it wasn’t enough. Not even as the first hints of daylight crept across the space.

Everything in me was twitchy. My skin felt tight. My body was hot. And it was more than anxiety pumping through my system. It was Kol.

“I need to get laid,” I muttered, throwing off my covers.

I needed that connection, that heat. The feeling of being spent that only came from losing yourself in another person. I’d always chosen my partners carefully. It wasn’t always because I was in love. But there was always a deep respect.

I didn’t know how I was supposed to find that now, when my head was a supremely messed-up place and the only person I’d managed physical touch with was my landlord/the special agent of my kidnapping case. But I needed to make it happen. Because I’d dreamed about a man’s forearms last night.

Forearms.

Maybe it was because I’d watched said forearms flex as he ate pie and then chased his daughter around, throwing her in the air. And God, there’d been something about that, too. The fact that he was giving Skylar the kind of childhood I’d only ever dreamed of.

“Stop it.” I hissed out the words in warning as I crossed to the closet and pulled on some workout leggings and a tank. I needed to burn out whatever was eating at me. Because Kol was a no-go for so many reasons. Our lives were too intertwined, and I was sure his higher-ups wouldn’t love our involvement. To say it was complicated would be a huge understatement.

I glanced at the yoga mat in the corner but knew that wouldn’t do. I needed cliff jumping, but I was a good ten miles from my usual spot. My muscles twitched with the need to move, invisible claws shredding my insides.

The world swirled around me as a wave of dizziness hit, but I fought it off and slipped my feet into some sneakers. I grabbed my keys with the adorable angry cat key chain and the mini pepper spray. The moment my feet hit the gravel, I started running. The cold air swirled around me, telling me I should’ve grabbed a sweatshirt, but I couldn’t go back now. The anxiety might win if I did. So I kept on running.

I’d never been a runner in my past life. The idea of embarking on anything other than a walk for fun was beyond me. But the second my muscles started to burn, I knew this was exactly what I needed.

I followed the road as far as it went, passing alpacas and goats and even some yaks. The sun crested over the horizon, bathing the land around me in a peachy-pink glow. Even though my lungs ached, I felt more at peace than I had since Kol had held me.

Pushing my legs harder, my chest heaved. I climbed the hill in my path, forcing myself to maintain my pace. But by the time I got to the top, my legs nearly gave out. I bent over, barely able to take in the house that had come into view.

Large and rambling, constructed from wood so dark I wasn’t sure if it was black or brown. And the siding itself looked rough, as if aged by wind and weather. The image before me blurred, and I bent over, trying to catch my breath.

I sucked in air, but the inhale was painful, as if the breath itself were composed of shards of ice.

The sound of a screen door slapping against the frame had me straightening, my vision still a little blurry. A hulking form I didn’t recognize stalked down the steps of the front porch, and I stumbled back a step.

Panic swirled, my breaths coming faster as another wave of dizziness hit.

The moment the man recognized the move, the fear behind it, he stilled. Frozen as if some magic ice machine had zapped him.

It was just enough for me to put the pieces together. Dark hair. The same hazel eyes as the other Archer brothers. But his were just a little darker than the rest.

Orion.

It had to be.

I struggled for composure. To get my body to believe I wasn’t in any danger. But it wasn’t quite past the whole flight-fight-or-freeze thing. And apparently, it had chosen freeze.