A week ago she whispered in my ear that she was born to be mine, and I believe it.

The beeping of her cell phone alarm wakes us both. It’s a harsh reminder that she has to go home. She stirs and I hug her tighter to me under the light blanket. Her naked body is so warm and soft, snuggled perfectly against me. Diogee and Kitten have wandered in and are sleeping on the foot of the bed with us.

This is my family now, and I don’t like the other half of me leaving every night.

“I have to go, hon,” she whispers, kissing my chest.

I groan and loosen my arm from her so she can climb out of bed to find her clothes. The all too familiar knot grows in my chest as I watch her.

“I hate this, Kenzi.” I swing my legs over the edge of the bed and pull on my sweatpants.

“I don’t like it, either.”

“I want you sleeping with me all night and waking up with me. You leaving my bed feels like a booty call.”

She pulls on her shirt and makes a face at me. “It’s not a booty call, Tor.”

“I can’t do this forever.”

“What are you saying?” Her voice wavers with the first onset of fear. “You want to break up?”

“Absolutely not. I’m saying I want you to live with me so you don’t have to leave in the middle of the night.”

She stares at me, one leg in her jeans and the other out. “Live with you?”

“Would you want to? If we can get through the wrath of Asher?”

She steps into the other leg of her jeans. “I’d move in tomorrow if I could. Why do you think I’m here so much now?”

“To play with the pets?” I tease.

“Well, they are cute,” she replies playfully. “But you’re much cuter.”

“I’m gonna ignore that. I’m serious, Kenz. As soon as it’s possible, I want you to move in with me. Will you think about it?”

She steps into her shoes. “I don’t have to think about it. I already know that’s what I want.”

“I want you to think about it anyway, it’s a big decision. And we still have a lot to get through. I just wanted you to know that’s what I want.”

I walk her to her car and watch her drive down the dark street, then go back to bed to wait for her to send me a text letting me know that she’s home. This is definitely a part of our relationship that’s driving me crazy because I don’t like her having to leave every night. I want us to be able to fall asleep together and stay together in the same bed until morning. Like normal adults do.

When it comes to her and what I want, my patience is getting thin. Now that we’re together, I want the freedom to be able to move the relationship forward as we want it to, and it’s getting harder and harder to have to wait and hide everything from everyone.

30

Kenzi

Kenzi ~ age eighteen

Tor ~ age thirty-two

“Wait here.” He steps out of the truck and shuts the door before I can say anything. He saunters across the dirt parking lot to an old warehouse and bangs on a dented silver door with peeling paint. I’m not quite sure what we’re doing here, but I have a bad feeling.

Soon a man opens the door and they begin to talk. Tor is doing a lot of pointing to the other side of the warehouse, and he looks pissed.

Furious, actually.

The man is also getting visibly agitated, shaking his head and yelling. I can’t hear what they’re saying from where I’m parked, but it definitely doesn’t look friendly.

I sit in shocked silence when Tor grabs the man by the throat and literally drags him away from the door to around the side of the building, out of sight.

Shit.

My hand clutches the door handle ’til my knuckles hurt. I want to run out there and see what’s going on, but he told me to stay here in his most serious voice. It’s the voice he’s always used when he expects me to listen, no questions asked.

A few minutes go by and I breathe a sigh of relief when Tor appears from around the corner of the warehouse and is walking towards the truck holding something in his hands that looks like a burlap bag with a chain hanging off it. My blood chills as he gets nearer and I realize he’s holding a small dog that isn’t supposed to be small. It’s severely malnourished.

I jump out of the truck as he nears and run over to him.

“What happened?” I ask.

“Get the door for me.”

I run to open the back door of his truck and quickly spread a blanket over the seat, and as he gently lays the dog on it I notice the chain is deeply embedded into the dog’s neck, the flesh raw and ugly, oozing blood and yellow infection.