My stomach dropped. I tore my gaze away from him and my chest shook. I raised my head slightly so my lungs could still receive oxygen. Dying would probably hurt less than a broken heart.

"I can’t do this with you." I cried while staring down at my hair and fiddling with the messy strands "I can’t do this to you."

His voice went back to the usual strong and deep sound when his grip on me tightened. He pulled me further into his chest as he spoke his words like they were inevitable "You are not going anywhere."

"I can’t—"

"You are lying." He growled, "I can see right through you."

I cursed him for being right as I let go of my hair. It was a dead giveaway that I wanted him to never let me go.

"Why?" He pleaded, his deep voice demeaning "Why are you doing this?"

I avoided looking at him "I told you earlier."

"No."

"No?" I repeated.

There was no further response on his end. He gently moved me, so I was lying on top of him and so that his arms were surrounding and protecting me.

My face rested on his chest and my words were muffled by his shirt "I do not know how to do this."

"How to do what?"

"I do not know how to say goodbye to you." I admitted.

He snarled "You are not."

Ignores his statement, I asked nicely "Can you leave before I wake up, so I don’t have to say goodbye?"

"No." He growled again "I will fight for you. I am good at fighting."

I bit back a laugh at his neanderthal behaviour before I uttered "Stubborn ass."

His touch was so gentle, but his voice was harsh as he stated, "The only person being stubborn is you."

I huffed "Are you really not going to leave?"

"Never."

"Now I know what Edgar Allan Poe was feeling when he wrote The Raven." I voiced as I felt my eyes shut "I can understand what he was trying to say about the persistent unmoving presence."

The last thing I heard was his rough voice "It is your favourite poem so you should know how it ends."

I did know how it ended.

The raven stayed.

Chapter Fifty-One

Chapter Fifty-One

I opened my eyes with a soft yawn. I blinked a few times before trying to sit up. I realised that it was not possible as a head resting on my chest stopped me from moving.

Stone must have moved further down during the night because a portion of his large form was hanging off the bottom of the bed. This allowed him to snuggle his head into the centre of my chest.

He was leaning on his side with his ear pressed up against me like he had fallen asleep listening to my heartbeat.