Page 134 of Shadowman

“You’re so American.” He chuckles.

“I’ve lived here my whole life.” I shrug. “We left Seoul when I was a baby, and I’ve only been there a couple of times thatI remember.” He nods while we eat, and I observe him. “You sound sort ofAmericanyourself.”

“Do I?” he gleams, pleased by that comment.

I remember him telling me the other night that he’s been in the States since he was a kid too. Not as young as me, but he lived in New York for a while before winding up in Atlanta.

“I like your accent… It reminds me of my grandfather,” I tell him for some reason. “He was from England.”

“Really?” His head cocks.

“I think… Cambridge? But he lived in London for most of his life. Well, he split his time between there and New York.”

“Have you been?” he asks curiously. “To London?”

I nod. “Twice. He took my sister and me when we were kids, and then I went back after I graduated high school. I liked it… Mostly because it made me feel… close to him.”

My gaze falls to my lap.

“I take it he’s no longer with us?” His voice is solemn. It sets a strange feeling in my chest while I nod. “I’m sorry…”

Shrugging it off, I sigh, “It was a while ago.”

“Sure, the pain may dwindle, but the ache is always there.”

I peer at him. “I take it you’ve… lost someone important to you?”

He swallows visibly, breaking our eye contact to pick at a loose thread on my blanket. “Haven’t we all?”

There are so many things I want to say, questions I want to ask him—about why he’s here, and what he’s been through. Maybe as a caveat to sharing a truth or two in return…

But a loud bang interrupts it all, the door slamming open at the end of the row. The stomping footsteps of a guard approaching have me sealing my lips shut.

And now we’ll have to spend the next however many minutes in absolute silence when all I want is toscreamsecrets at the top of my lungs.

Trevel is watching me the whole time we’re cuffed and brought out of our cell. I can feel himstaringat me, the weight of it bearing down on my skin. I don’t look at him again until we’re seated across from one another at the cafeteria table. And seeing all of the obvious questions on his face gives me the tiniest bit of solace.

Maybe he’s frustrated too. Maybe he wants… more. Just like I do.

The meal goes on for hours—about thirty minutes in real time. But the quiet amplifies each ticking second, building the angst higher and higher. On our way to the showers, vexation is coiling around me with every step.

Trevel and I go to my usual shower area, but it’s not the same without Luthor and Ren, yet another fact that’s riddling me with tension.

This spot is home to so many memories, good and bad. They’re interwoven here; the pleasure and the pain are the same damn thing…

The fighting, the fucking. The tears, the orgasms. The manipulation, the affection. Thelies… and thetruth.

It all came together in sweet, excruciating bliss.

Staring at the wall while I lather, I can almost feel them… Thememories.

In my mind, I see it in flashes.

His legs around my waist, our mouths together, my cock moving in him. Licking the salty water from his throat and his chest while his hands ran all over me. Treasuring it… Thepleasureof us.

And every time I would catch the blue in his eyes, my heart would leap forward into him, reaching out for him to bemine.

My pretty, spoiled rich boy…