123

DARLENE

Alexander had not said a word to me since the detective’s visit to the McKenzie Manor. I still couldn't believe it, as I paced the tense air of the manor’s prince chambers.

I risked a glance at him, the way he sat quietly on the beige cotton of the comforter with the bulk of his elbows resting firmly on his knees.

”Can you stop pacing Dar?” Alexander’s quiet voice seemed to ring through the length of my spine as I felt the knob of my knees lock and still, my heartbeat thudding oddly in my chest.

He looked different, sitting on our bed the way he was, his dark shock of hair falling over his face and over the absinthe green of his hooded eyes.

When was the last time we’d made love? It seemed so far away, the memory of his large hands running through my hair, his lips following the line of my chest and navel, finding my clit wet and waiting.

I shivered, walking to stand over him so that he had to lift his head to stare up at me.

“Is it freezing in here or what?” I said airily, wr