Page 42

Was It All A Dream?

I wake slowly, eyes still closed but able to see the sunlight behind my lids, and everything about last night comes back to me. Giving a luxurious stretch, I pause midway through as it sinks in that I’m not in his arms anymore. With a frown, I open my eyes. He’s not here.

I try not to give in to the slap of immediate disappointment and feel the sheets beside me, but they’ve long gone cold.

Levering up on one elbow, I look around only to still at the sight of Reven at the side of the bed, sitting in a straight-backed chair—one that usually is at the desk on the far wall. He’s watching me with an expression that sends a chill like a spider crawling over my skin.

“Reven?” I ask, my voice coming out both sleep-husky and tentative. “What—”

“I’m sorry,” he says.

Two words that I shouldn’t be hearing after what we shared. But it’s his tone that’s like a gong, sending a reverberation through me. Too many emotions to sift. “Why?”

He lets out an audible breath and glances away.

I can see the struggle in him, the unyielding way he’s holding himself and his hands fisted in his lap. I’d get up, go to him, but something in my gut tells me not to. Instead, I cover myself more with the sheet and sit up the rest of the way. Which draws his gaze back to me, and I don’t miss the way his lips press tight.

“Why are you sorry?” I ask.

He closes his eyes for a second before focusing on my face, seeming to search it. “I shouldn’t have done that.”

Part of me was expecting something along those lines, but that doesn’t make it easy to hear in the harsh light of day. This is the last thing I can handle right now. His regret. That’s worse than his not remembering us.

I pull my emotions inward, making them smaller, more manageable. Not very well. The shadows in the corners of the room shiver and Reven’s gaze cuts to them and back to me.

“You were vulnerable,” he begins. “And I knew it. I took advantage of you. It shouldn’t have happened, and it should never—”

Keeping the sheets wrapped around me, I jerkily climb out of bed, then do the waddle of shame to my door. “If you don’t mind, I have a lot going on today and I need to get ready.”

He’s still sitting by the bed, brow furrowed. “That’s all you have to—”

I swing the door open to find a servant waiting in the halls.

“Are you ready, dom—” She stutters to a halt when Reven stands abruptly.

“Yes,” I say without an ounce of emotion. “He was just going.”

It feels like forever before he moves. I don’t look at him as he leaves the room.