He leaned in to kiss my lips. “You own me and that wasn’t supposed to happen.”

I didn’t want to own him. I just never wanted to let him go.

“Just hold me,” I told him, not wanting to think anymore. His words were only reminding me why this should have never happened. I couldn’t imagine living this life and never experiencing what we just did. It was impossible to regret it.

Loving Rathe was selfish... but I wouldn’t change it.

TWENTY-TWO: THE ABOMINATION

Twenty-Two

The Abomination

The sound of a door closing woke me up. Blinking, it took me a moment to remember where I was. The early morning light came through the blinds and everything from the night before came back in a flurry of excitment, fear, and disbelief.

I sat up and spun around to see Rathe sprawled out beside me on the bed. His beautiful back exposed and his hair a perfect mess. He was here. Everything last night had been real.

The door that had woken me closed again. Duely was never up this early. I wanted to curl up against Rathe and stay in bed with him forever, but the closing of the door was not normal. I had to make sure we were safe. That I kept Rathe safe.

I eased out of bed looking around for my clothes and not seeing anything but my panties. I didn’t want to wake Rathe by going through my suitcases. More noises from the kitchen began to worry me. This was not normal. I didn’t have time to look for my clothes.

“Mihi exhiberet convivium” I whispered.

Glancing down and seeing clothes from last night covering my body again, I headed for the door. Opening it so that it didn’t make a sound, I stepped into the hallway and walked the few steps to the living room and kitchen area. Duely was sitting at the bar with a cup of coffee. He held it up when he saw me. “Cheers,” he said. “About time you got you some.”

“Shhh, keep your voice down,” I whispered. “And how do you know about that?” When I had finally fallen asleep in Rathe’s arms last night, the bar was still going strong.

Duely smirked. “I brought you some food last night. I think Rathe shouting curse words and you screaming his name was my first clue. Sounded like a hot and sexy time.”

Duely took a drink of his coffee, looking amused.

“Oh,” I said, knowing Duely was the last person in front of whom I should feel embarassed given all his sexcapades. I still felt awkward knowing he’d heard us.