Page 92 of Alluring Darkness

It never comes.

Instead, her eyes fill with such warmth that my heart almost shatters.

“You do?” she asks, her voice barely more than a whisper. As if she’s worried that I’ll take it all back if she says it too loudly.

For a few seconds, I do actually consider taking it all back. For no other reason than the fact that saying something like that out loud gives her power over me. But I force the instinct away because, with a jolt of shock, I realize that I actually want her to know this.

“Yes,” I reply, holding her gaze. “I think it’s because…” Trailing off, I draw in a breath while I try to sort through the strange emotions inside me. “Because you’re like me.” A smile tugs at my lips. “You’re absolutely insane. You don’t play by any of the normal rules, and you do things few people would even consider. And I guess my soul somehow recognizes that and relaxes when you’re with me, because it knows that if something happens, there are no limits to what you would do to stop the threat. So when you’re here, I can sleep. Because I don’t have to keep the world at bay alone anymore.”

The emotions that well up in her eyes make my heart constrict. I swallow against a sudden thickness in my throat.

Raina tightens her arm around me, holding me closer as she whispers, “Did you know that you’re the first person to make me feel as if there is absolutely nothing wrong with me? You’re the first person who has seen all the fucked-up sides of me and still not looked at me as if I’m defective in some way. The first person to make me feel as if being insane is an asset, not a liability. To make me feel as if I don’t need to be fixed.”

“Youdon’tneed to be fixed.” The words tear from my lungs with enough force to make Raina blink at me. I raise my free hand and draw it over her hair, smoothing it down and hooking a few loose strands behind her ear. “You’re perfect exactly the way you are.”

Her lips part slightly and her eyes shimmer with emotion.

My heart constricts again and then beats twice as hard as I hug her body tighter against mine.

I amneverletting this girl go.

35

RAINA

There is a warm, strong body wrapped around me when I wake up. Drawing in a deep breath, I blink to clear the sleep from my eyes. Eli’s dangerously handsome face meets me.

My stomach flutters.

God, he really is gorgeous.

I study the planes and angles of his face. His usually so severe expression is smoothened by sleep, his jaw relaxed and his mouth soft. He looks utterly at peace.

Reaching up a hand, I trace my fingers along his cheekbone. He stirs slightly and tightens his arms around me, pulling me closer, but he doesn’t wake up.

Warmth spreads through my chest. I still can’t believe that this is somehow because of me. That he can sleep this peacefully because ofme.

What he told me last night almost broke my heart. Being kidnapped and tortured and humiliated like that when he was only thirteen…

I blow out a long breath as I let my gaze drift over the scar across his eyebrow.

No wonder he developed into someone who craves violence and control over others. I thought my unusual childhood messed with my head, but his must really have done a number on him. But thankfully, it appears as though we’re at least fucked up in the same way so that we complement each other.

When I’m with you, I feel safe.

My heart constricts as Eli’s words from last night echo inside my skull again.

No one has ever felt safe around me before. Even my family considers me unpredictable on the best of days and a straight up safety hazard on the worst of them. But Eli feels safe with me. Because he knows that if someone attacks him while I’m here, there is nothing I wouldn’t do, no laws I wouldn’t break, no lines I wouldn’t cross, to protect him.

Another pang hits me straight in the heart.

God, this ruthless violent man was supposed to be my enemy. And yet, he is the one who has made me feel normal for the first time in my life. The only one who makes me feel like I’m not broken. Or crazy. Or damaged goods. But instead, makes me feel the exact opposite. As if my insanity makes me better than ordinary people. It’s an intoxicating feeling, and after spending years thinking that I was defective, I don’t mind getting drunk on that power. Not one bit.

“See something you like?”

I blink in surprise to find that Eli has cracked his eyes open and is watching me with a smirk playing over his lips.

“Actually,” I begin, and flash him a sly smile back. “I was thinking about how much prettier Rico’s face is.”