Page 56 of Kingdom of Chaos (Creatures of Chaos #2)
“The Komodo dragon bite, maybe I’d buy. But the bullet wound . . .” I cross my arms. He’s lying, or at the very least, dodging, and I want to know why.
Talon meets my gaze for a long beat, then finally speaks.
“I didn’t want to worry you.” He leans back against the counter, bracing his hands on either side and making his biceps bulge in a way that is more distracting than I’m willing to admit.
I give my head a light shake and hope he doesn’t notice.
“Something’s been off since I got separated from Shadow Striker,” he confesses. “My healing, it’s slowed down. Not stopped, just . . . dulled.”
His voice is steady, but I don’t miss the tension in his jaw.
“You think it’s the dagger,” I say.
He nods. “It’s a theory. I don’t know for sure. But it’s the only thing that makes sense.”
“And you didn’t think to mention this sooner?” I ask, trying not to sound hurt.
Talon gives me a small smile. “I didn’t want to add more to your plate. You’ve got enough weighing on you.”
He pushes off the counter and takes a step toward me, gaze softening. “But I’m okay. Really. It’s really no more than a nuisance.”
That’s downplaying it and we both know it.
“You shouldn’t be dealing with this alone,” I murmur.
He shrugs one shoulder. “I’m not. Not anymore.”
A moment passes. The weight between us shifts. Less tension, more understanding.
His eyes flick toward the connecting door. “You can’t sleep?”
I shake my head.
He grins faintly. “Want me to try helping with that?”
“And how do you plan to do that?” I ask.
“By staying close. Sometimes it helps to not be alone with your thoughts.”
“Staying close?” I ask with a raised eyebrow.
“Very close,” he says with a wicked glint in his eye that threatens to distract me all over again.
I order my mind not to go to places it shouldn’t. “You think getting into bed with me is going to help me fall asleep?”
He’s delusional if he thinks that will work. Lying next to him in bed might take my mind off of some of tomorrow’s trials, but that’s only because being that close to him would make it impossible to think about anything else.
“No,” he admits. “But I think being near someone who cares about you might help. Might quiet your mind.”
He offers a soft smile, one laced with just enough vulnerability to make my chest ache. He gently tucks a piece of hair behind my ear, his fingers brushing the shell and sending a shiver down my spine.
“And honestly?” he adds with a quiet smile, “I’ll take the excuse to hold you.”
A tender warmth unfurls in my chest, melting me around the edges.
All the noise in my head, everything looming ahead, fades just a little. He’s not offering promises he can’t keep, or pretty lies to soothe me. Just this moment. Just him.
I swallow hard, my voice barely above a whisper.
“Okay.” Swallowing to wet my suddenly dry throat, I point to his chest. “But you have to let me help you with that first.”
“Deal.”
I make Talon put on a shirt. I have willpower, but it seems to be stretched to its limit when it comes to him. And I was serious before. Now isn’t the time for us to dive into something headfirst. There are too many unknowns still swirling around us.
I’ve finally admitted to myself that I have real feelings for Talon, but that may not be enough, and I don’t want to do anything I’ll regret later.
We return to my room and I get back into bed, sudden nerves making me hyperaware of every creak and rustle as I wait for Talon to join me.
Talon doesn’t say anything at first. He just stands there for a few seconds, his figure hardly visible in the low light, before he crosses the room in a few quiet steps.
He pulls back the covers on the far side of the bed and slides in beside me without hesitation, like he’s done it a thousand times. Like this is where he’s meant to be.
I shift to face him, my body still tense with everything I’m holding on to. But when his arm slips around my waist and draws me in—slow, unassuming, warm—I let myself go. Just a little.
He settles on his back and encourages me to rest my head on his shoulder. His body is solid and comforting against mine, the steady rhythm of his breathing centering me in a way I didn’t know I needed.
“Is this okay?” he murmurs near my temple.
I nod into his chest, not trusting my voice. More than okay .
For a long time, neither of us speaks. But just like I feared, my thoughts start to drift from Ensley and Becks, to the dark cloud hanging over tomorrow, and finally to Talon and how I’m still conflicted about so many things I wish I wasn’t.
And yet, beneath all that noise is one undeniable truth: I don’t want to let this feeling go.
“Talon,” I whisper, breaking the silence, “should we talk? About us, I mean.”
“Shhh.” His breath stirs the fine hairs at my temple, sending a soft shiver down my spine. “We will. When this is all over, there’ll be time for that. But right now, this doesn’t have to mean anything more than what it is. For now, it’s okay to just be.”
His words settle the storm inside me, give me permission to sink fully into his embrace without analyzing what it means or where it might lead. Just here. Just this.
He shifts slightly, then lifts his arm and begins rubbing slow, steady circles on my back, each one pulling me deeper into quiet, into calm.
We just lie there, wrapped in silence and each other. And maybe I don’t fall asleep right away. But for the first time in hours, the storm in my mind settles. And eventually, sleep finds me.