Page 30 of Hart's Redemption

“Elijah. It’s just a room.”

I shook my head. “It’s a room that smells like you. The one and only time I tried, I woke up convinced you were there. That somehow you’d changed back and come home.” My chest tightened with each word, and the stinging in my eyes returned with a vengeance. That night had been awful, and it had been the closest I’d come to having a decent dream about Josh. “When I realized you weren’t there, it was like losing you all over again.”

“Baby…” He brushed his thumb beneath my eye, taking with it a renegade tear.

“I couldn’t do it.”

“Why didn’t you change the sheets? Air out the room?”

“And risk losing the only part of you I had?”

Josh's mouth came ‌down on mine in a sudden, punishing kiss, which I gladly returned. All too soon his lips were gone, though, and he was hauling me to my feet with a strange look in his eyes. “Come on, baby, let’s get some rest.” He laced our fingers, keeping us connected.

He took a step towards the master, and I pulled on his hand. He fell against me, and I wrapped him in a tight hug. “Don’t you ever scare me like that again.” I held him for a few moments before releasing him to resume leading the way.

I hesitated at the threshold of the primary bedroom. I let my gaze travel around the room I’d avoided like the plague. The only physical evidence Josh had been here was the sweats and t-shirt I’d loaned him ages ago sitting neatly folded on the dresser. Then there was his scent, softly sweet, lingering in the space. A scent now being overwhelmed by the living person.

My gaze zeroed in on Josh’s concerned expression. I squeezed his hand, reminding myself he was really there, not a figment of my imagination spawned from countless nights of longing. Finally, I stepped forward and caught him in a kiss.

“What was that for?”

“I love you.”

Josh gave up my hand to wrap his arms around my neck, pulling me close. I slid my hands around his waist, desperate to feel as much of him as possible. He moaned against my mouth, and I pushed him gently back towards the bed.

Chapter 10

Josh

Iwalkedintothediningroom to find Elijah sitting at the table surrounded by book files, data tabs, and various notes. He glanced up at my entry, and his lips curved into a smile.

“Good morning, love.”

A week and a half of hearing such beautiful words out of that man’s mouth, and my heart still skipped. I cleared my throat to reground my focus. “What are you working on? Still theGreat Expectationspiece?”

His smile faltered. “I actually submitted that months ago. This is forA Tale of Two Cities.”

Just like that, my happy feeling evaporated. I’d wasted so much time being stuck as the wolf, and now all I could do was hope there’d be enough time left to get everything done.

“Is everything all right?” Elijah’s face clouded with concern.

I shook myself out of the sudden funk and focused on the data tab in my hands. Was I doing the right thing? “I have some documents that could use your signature.”

Both of his eyebrows shot up. “What sort of documents?”

I shrugged and held out the device while silently praying he wouldn’t dig too deeply. “Standard stuff. Including medical documents so you won’t face the same difficulties you did before.”

Elijah accepted the data tab and glanced at it. Wariness laced through his scent and etched itself into the thin line between his brows and the slight tick of his jaw. “Are you planning on nearly dying again?”

“One should always plan for dying, since for most of us it’s inevitable.”

His mouth twisted as he scanned the first page, which may have intentionally been a heap of legal jargon guaranteed to put off any sort of in-depth reading. “This looks like a lot of documents, Josh.”

“Just covering all the bases. Crossing all the T’s, dotting all the I’s.”

“Uh-huh.” He swiped to the next page, and I struggled to maintain an appearance of nonchalance. If he actually read everything, there was no way he’d sign the papers without arguing. “Do I need to read all of this?”

“Need is a strong word.”