Page 141 of Atone

“You got your fortune read at a tattoo parlor?”

“It’s an interesting place.”

“Clearly.” I laugh. “So what did she say about your future?”

“That I’d found my soulmate.” Violet gazes up at Kole with a smile on her face.

I roll my eyes, looking at Alex, who seems as amused as I am about the obvious. “Do you believe in fortunes?”

He tucks my hair behind my ear. “So long as they tell me you’re in it.”

“You’re easy to please.”

He grins, leaning to whisper in my ear. “Only if I’m being pleased by you.”

“I hate you for saying that when you aren’t going to let me do anything about it.”

“So impatient.” He lifts me in his arms and starts walking to the bedroom.

“Hey, where are you two going?” Teal asks.

“To be alone,” Alex says, kicking my bedroom door behind us, muffling the laughs coming from the other side. “That’s better.”

“You’re extraordinarily antisocial. And possessive. And territorial.”

“Good thing you make up for it then.” He kisses my nose. “My social butterfly.”

Alex sets me down on the bed gently, and I stretch. It feels good to be on my own mattress. In my own room. I’ve missed this. And having him here with me is even better.

Alex reaches for the band on my sweats. “Lift.”

I do, and he pulls them down over my hips, stripping my underwear with them.

“What are you doing?” My heart races as he spreads my knees and kneels between them. “You said you wouldn’t fuck me until I’m healed.”

“I’m not going to fuck you.” He drags his hands down the inside of my legs, and I’m already on fire. “I’m going to give my girlfriend a kiss to help make her feel better.”

“If this was your plan all along, I could have caught up with Violet and Teal later.”

“Next time, maybe you’ll listen. Now, lie back and relax.”

Alex lowers his mouth and unwinds me to my very core. He kisses me over and over. Until there’s no more pain. There’s nothing but him.

In my lungs.

In my heart.

In my bones.

Alex is all I need to feel whole—to feel special. To feel at home.