Page 65 of If You Claim Me

Why does everything she says make me wish I was a different person? “You can take the bed with you when you go back to your own life.”

“It won’t fit in my apartment.” She relaxes again, sleep trying to reclaim her.

She’ll stay here all night, if I let her.

I tuck one arm under her knees and slide the other behind her back, carefully lifting her into my arms.

“What are you doing?” She nuzzles into my neck, nose pressing against my collarbone.

“Putting you to bed.”

“I was fine on the couch.” Her hand settles on my chest.

“A couch is not a bed.” She feels good in my arms. Like she belongs there. Like she should be mine.

I carry her through the library, using the secret entrance to her bedroom, and tuck her in, setting her glasses on the nightstand.

She blinks up at me in the hazy darkness. “Isn’t it so much nicer when you’re not hating yourself?”

“Who said I stopped hating myself?”

Mildred presses her hand to my cheek. “You came to find me.”

I let my eyes slide closed, absorbing the warmth of her touch. How would it feel to curl my body around hers and hold her all night? I could keep her safe from the nightmares. I could feel something other than longing.

“Now’s when you kiss me on the forehead and say good night, Connor.”

“Did you read that in a book?”

“Maybe.” She tips her chin up.

I bend and press my lips to her forehead, her temple, and her cheek. The itch under my skin ceases. The yearning quells, just for a moment. “’Night, Mildred.”

CHAPTER 18

DRED

Dred

Rix, how in the world did you manage to go to school full time, work part time for an accounting firm, make meals for half the Terror, and still plan a wedding without having a nervous breakdown?

Rix

I had Essie.

Essie

And dick. She also had lots of dick.

Dred

Ah, that’s clearly what’s missing from my equation.

Hemi

I guess this means you haven’t jumped on that yet.

Dred