Page 57

My ass was still throbbing from all the spankings he had given me, my thighs and pussy burning, aching from the punishing way he had taken me over and over and over.

I also felt warm, fuzzy contentment curling through my ribs.

Silas had his nose buried in my hair, his free hand splayed across the small of my back, and every few minutes, he would press a soft kiss to the top of my head.

I couldn’t remember the last time someone had touched me like this, like I was something precious, something to be cared for and cherished. Protected.

Fuck if it didn’t make my chest ache.

Silas leaned down and nuzzled the side of my face, and then, I felt his lips brush the curve of my ear.

“Get some rest, Wildcat,” he murmured.

“Mhmmm,” I replied.

Sleep tugged at me, drawing me under, and my eyelids drifted closed, the gentle stroke of his fingers through my hair the last thing I felt before the world slid away.

* * *

The morning air was cool against my face as I stirred beneath the weight of the blankets. My body still ached, muscles stiff and sore, the deep kind of exhaustion that settled in after all the adrenaline had long faded.

Silas was still beside me, his warmth cocooning me, his breathing deep and even. His arm was heavy around my waist, his fingers resting against my stomach, his presence grounding. I let myself sink into it, into him, just for a moment longer, feeling the slow rise and fall of his chest against my back.

Then his hand shifted slightly, his fingers flexing against my skin. “Lia.”

His voice was rough with sleep, but there was something seemingly cautious about it.

I blinked, stretching a little before turning my head toward him. “Yeah?”

His thumb brushed absently over my hip, a casual, almost absentminded touch, but his tone was cautious.

“That strike team,” he murmured. “The ones that attacked our camp.” A pause. “Did they follow you?”

I stiffened, my stomach twisting. I had feared he would ask. I had wondered that myself.

The thought had been lingering in my mind ever since the attack. I had told myself I had gotten out clean, that I had been careful and no one had seen me leave. But then that elite squad had found us, and deep down, I couldn’t help but think I had unknowingly led them right to Silas’s camp. I exhaled slowly, shifting onto my back, staring up at the wooden ceiling, but watching him from the corner of my eye.

“I don’t know,” I admitted. “I left the city alone. No one chased me that I could tell. No one should have known where I was going.”

Silas didn’t move, didn’t blink. He just watched me, his golden eyes unwavering.

“But they did,” he said quietly.

I swallowed. “Yeah.”

He was silent for a moment, his fingers still tracing slow, lazy patterns over my stomach, but I could feel him thinking, and piecing things together.

I turned my head toward him, forcing myself to meet his gaze and hold it.

“I didn’t lead them here, Silas. I swear.” My throat tightened slightly, because as much as I had wondered if I had left some invisible trail behind, I hadn’t done it on purpose. “I was careful. I covered my tracks. I wouldn’t have brought them to you.”

His expression didn’t change for a long moment; he just watched me. Then he nodded.

“I believe you.”

His words settled the uncertainty in my chest; I hadn’t even realized I was tied in knots about this. His fingers skimmed higher, brushing up my ribs before sliding back down my waist.

“But someone did,” he murmured. “And that means we’ve got a problem.”