She jerked her hand back.
“What?” I glanced down, my heart fucking skipping as I realized she had been reaching for the ring. My gaze flicked back to her as I lifted my hand.
Her throat vibrated in a low warning.
“It’s okay,” I assured, keeping my voice pitched low and soothing as her gaze snapped back to mine. Hope swelled as I forced myself to lean back, giving her space. “You were reaching for this, weren’t you?” One side of my lips curled up. “Always wanting to touch things.” I laughed. It was short, but fuck if itwasn’t the realest laugh in days. “Do you want it back? It’s mine, the one you’ve been carrying, but I was wearing it…while you slept. You can have it,” I offered, reaching for the ring again.
Poppy’s lips peeled back, and the growl ended in a hiss.
My brows shot up. “Thatdoessound…catty,” I murmured, thinking of what Reaver had said. I drew in a shallow breath. Then took another one, this one deeper. “Okay. I’ll take that as a no.” My thoughts raced until an idea occurred. It wasn’t perfect, but it was the best I could come up with. If it turned out that she answered yes, then…gods, I couldn’t even think of that. I forced a smile. “I…I know you’re confused,” I said, tasting her faintly tangy, almost bitter anguish. It took everything in me not to act on that. “I want to help you with that, but I need to know something. I need to ask a question. Can you answer just one question for me?”
She eyed me as I held myself completely still and waited. Patiently. Endlessly. I would wait forever, but I didn’t need to. She gave me a quick, short nod.
“Does…does your head hurt?” I asked.
Her brows pinched, and after a moment, she shook her head.
“That’s good. Real good,” I said, my voice hoarse as relief swept through me. If I hadn’t been sitting, I probably would’ve ended up on my ass. I knew her answer didn’t guarantee he wasn’t in there, but it was another good sign. Still, I tried to keep the hope from clouding my judgment. “I know what you need. At least, I’m about ninety-eight percent confident I do. You need to feed.”
The breath she took was stilted as her hunger hit me in the chest.
“Yeah. That’s what you need.” I lifted my hand once more, saying, “It’s all right. You’re safe.”
My words elicited a strange mix of comfort and fury from Poppy. It was as if there were two parts of her. One that knew my words were a pledge—an unbreakable oath—and an angry part.
“I’m not going to hurt you,” I added, only then realizing that I had misread her emotion. It wasn’t anger. It was more like I’d…offendedher.
Poppy’s chin dipped as she let the eather rise to the surface. Silver-and-gold-laced essence lit up the veins beneath her eyes at the same instant the swirling streaks appeared in the flesh above her chest.
“You won’t,” she breathed, intense, blistering power surging in her voice, coating each word with the scorching heat of the sun.
The essence rippled wildly within my chest, but I could’ve shouted with joy like an ass because I didn’t hear his voice in her words. My mind was made up on how to proceed.
“I know,” I said. “You need to feed, Poppy.”
She cocked her head.
“I have what you need,” I continued, stretching my hand toward her—my left hand. “All you have to do is take my hand.”
She looked down, and I knew she was staring at the golden swirl on my palm. Her confusion rose, and then I felt it brush against my thoughts. I tasted it. Sensed it. Jasmine. Her mark.Why?
“Because I would do anything for you,” I said. Based on the way her gaze jerked to mine, I knew she hadn’t meant to project her thought through thenotam.
That was something else that hadn’t happened when it wasn’t just her.
This time, I didn’t have to force the smile. My lips curved. “Take my hand,” I whispered. “Take my hand, Poppy.”
Last time, she hadn’t. But this time…
This time, she did.
The moment our fingers brushed, the air charged with power—essence—stirring the embers inside me and inflaming her hunger.
Her skin was warm.
Holding Poppy’s stare, I tugged her toward me, and sheallowedit. She was stiff as I pulled her to me until she was kneeling between my legs, but she didn’t fight me. My other hand trembled as I curved it around the back of her head.
She didn’t flinch. Her wide eyes remained fixed on mine, and she didn’t snarl or hiss, but I could hear her quick breaths.
