Radiant Shadows (Wicked Lovely 4)

No discussion.

He had no idea where they were going, but in that instant, he set aside all thought. As long as she was alive, she was his responsibility.

My reason.

Mine.

As she wrapped a leg over him, his emotions slipped free from the last restraint. Letting down the walls that kept his very un–High Court emotions repressed had become easy around Ani. He liked it. It felt natural.

It is. With Ani, it’s the way it should be. With Ani is the way I… An untried emotion filled him. It wasn’t appreciation or lust; it wasn’t worry or protectiveness. Those were all threaded into it, but it was something else.

He felt her pulse race faster as they kissed.

A wave of exhaustion washed over him then, and he couldn’t focus his thoughts.

Abruptly, she pulled back. “No.”

She scrambled backward off the bed.

“Ani?” He held out a hand. “Have I offended—”

“No.” Her eyes were shimmering with the vivid green of the Hunt. She was the Hunt, and she could consume him.

He felt a thrill of terror.

She held her hands out as if to warn him off. “I can’t if you… just… no… not with you. You’re not safe if… You don’t know what I am.”

She ran into the bathroom and slammed the door behind her.

Ani sat on the dingy floor and tried not to shiver. She reached up and locked the door. It wouldn’t matter: neither of them would be even slowed by the lock—or the door, for that matter.

I won’t hurt him.

She could hear him on the opposite of the door; she could feel his emotions. Guilt. Shame. Fear. Worry. If she didn’t explain, he’d think he’d done something wrong.

“I can do this; I can tell him,” she whispered. Then she raised her voice and said, “Go to the other side of the room. Please?”

She waited for a couple moments, listening to him walking away. In the still of the room, she could hear his heartbeat racing. Like prey. It didn’t make her self-control any easier.

Slowly, she opened the door and took two steps forward.

He stood on the opposite side of the tiny room. His dangerous emotions were walled up again. “Did I injure you?”

Without meaning to, Ani let out a laugh. “No.”

His face didn’t betray anything. “I would never force—”

“I know that.” She sat on the floor with her back to the edge of the door frame. “It’s not you… I…”

Devlin stayed standing. “You don’t need to explain.”

Neither his voice nor his posture revealed any of the emotions she’d felt so clearly when she sat with the door between them, but she knew what he’d felt. He knew that she was aware of every emotion that had flooded him. Part of her wanted to pretend ignorance, but she wasn’t selfish enough to let him believe he was at fault.

To most people, yes, but not you, Devlin.

She sighed and started the conversation she didn’t want to have. “How did you feel after I kissed you at the Crow’s Nest?”

“It had been a long—”