“Was it the same one you had last night?”
“No.”
Smoke stood, walked around the bed, and lay down beside me. “Come here,” he said, gently pulling me into his arms. He stroked my cheek with his finger. “It might help you feel better if you talk about it.”
“It was about you,” I whispered.
“It upset you.”
“We were in a terrible row.”
His grasp on me tightened, but he didn’t say anything.
“Smoke? Did we argue a lot?”
He let out a deep breath. “Sometimes.”
“I hated it. I never want to feel that way again.”
“Neither do I.”
“Promise me it won’t be like that between us.”
Smoke shifted and put his finger on my chin. “Look at me, Siren.”
I stared into his dark brown eyes.
“You and I…we have a lot of passion between us. Can you feel it?”
“I can.”
“As intense as it can be when it’s good, it’s equally so when it’s bad.”
“What did we fight about?”
He smiled. “Everything.”
“Give me an example.”
He was quiet for several moments. “We both like to be the boss.”
I laughed. “I can see that. What else?”
“We’re both very stubborn.”
I shook my head. “I’m not stubborn.”
He laughed, and so did I.
“If we do have a row, I want us to make up right away.” I rested my cheek against his heart. “I hate the idea of being at odds with you.”
Smoke kissed the top of my head. “I feel the same.”
9
Smoke
It was only Dr. Mansfield’s warning about Siren’s emotional state that kept me from confessing everything to her. My throat and chest hurt as I swallowed my deceit deeper with every word I spoke.