Page 54 of Ruthless Moon

She cups my face and turns my gaze up to her, inviting me to continue. Asking me to be honest.

“Gen, I don’t know how to do this. I don’t know how to exist in the same space with you and notwanteverything.”

Her lips tremble. She doesn’t speak, but her sorrow and need flow into me simultaneously.

She releases my face and I release the hold I have on her body. I flee the shower, yanking on clothes as I exit the bathroom. The fabric clings to my wet skin, but I shake as much out of my hair as I can and head for the door.

Who the hell is showing up and why didn’t my brothers text me a warning?

I grab my phone off the couch and glance at the notifications. Four missed texts from Bast.Dammit.

Bast: Car coming.

Bast: Meredith and Rachel.

Bast: Almost @ the door.

Bast: Finish up wtv the hell ur doing and b ready.

Fuck.

I wanted to spend today alone with Gen. I don’t have long left with her.

I turn toward the bathroom door and bellow out a warning. “Meredith and Rachel are here.”

There’s a muffled frustratedfuckshouted from the bathroom and then the water cuts off.

A knock raps on the other side of the cabin door and I can’t stop the growl in my chest. I yank open the door and paste the best smile I can muster on my face.

Both Meredith and Rachel are on the doorstep wearing hesitant smiles. Bast and Jackson are standing right behind them avoiding eye contact.

Fuck. Fucking. Fuck.

I shoot my brothers an angry glare over the women’s shoulders and they back away, melting into the trees without a sound.

“Well, that was uncomfortable. You and Gen doing okay?” Meredith chirps like nothing is wrong at all. Like she can’t see my sopping-wet hair or the fact that I’m inside the cabin I was told to guard from the outside.

She knows.

Everything.

Just like my mother would if she showed up and saw me here.

I step back and open the door wider so they can enter. “Fine. No sign of Darcy.”

Meredith canvasses the room, taking in the uncleared dishes, and then scoping the rest of the cabin. “Where’s Gen?”

“Bathroom.” I head for the table and pick up my still-warm mug of coffee, needing something to occupy my hands.

“Playing it awfully close to the edge, aren’t we, Liam?” Meredith’s words are like a knife at my throat. Her gaze drifts to my wrists, looking for bond marks.

I didn’t say the spell. And we didn’t have sex. Nothing shows unless I say the spell. And nothing happens for real unless we have sex.

Rachel stands off to the side, struggling to look anywhere but at me.

I glare right back at Meredith. “You don’t understand.”

A flood of empathy washes the accusatory expression off her face. “Oh, honey. I understand so much more than you think.”