His eyes had lingered on my every move since I woke up, our bodies wound together. My eyes flicked towards Matt from their corners. He smiled vaguely.
"How long has it been?" he asked.
I turned my face away from the window to face him. He was worried about me. The way his brows pulled together, forming the slightest of creases. The way his lips tilted down even as he smiled. My heart ached for him. He knew I longed for the beast who hid from me.
Sucking down a deep breath, I forced a smile of my own. "I'm not even sure at this point. Months, probably. I hadn't thought of visiting them before the shit show rained down."
"Who did?" he joked.
His life had been hijacked long before mine. I paused for that moment to soak in the tender glow of Matt's eyes, the softness of his features. He loved me. It had been a long time since I had read a man's face and believed that. I didn't believe I had ever looked at a man that way. Some had come close, but never this far with me. Men were never complex enough for me. They wanted what they wanted, but that was it.
Not Matt. Not Basileus.
Two very complicated beings tied into one body. One form that was magnetically drawn to me. A body that I inevitably gravitated towards.
I reached over to stroke his arm, thinking about how fair the hair was and how thin it felt between my fingertips.
"How do you think they'll like me?" Matt asked. "What are we telling them?"
"You're my survivor boyfriend," I said immediately.
I’d been thinking about this a lot lately. We needed a cover story. No one would take knowing Matt's identity well. I wasn't sure what my family had been through in the last months, but it couldn't be good.
"Your survivor boyfriend who just happens to have a private jet?" He arched a doubtful brow.
"Good point." I chewed on my lip for a moment. "Rich uncle? Rich uncle with connections? Maybe he's a wolf."
He snorted. "Maybe. I don't know your parents. I don't know what they'll believe."
We were quiet for a moment, the jet engine's roar drowning through my thoughts. Matt grabbed the hand that had been idly stroking him. His fingers slid between mine with an electrifying, filling sensation. I looked up at him. He smiled again.
"Tell me about them."
Sighing, I rested my head on his shoulder. My mind sorted through memories, ideas, thoughts. I had over two decades of memories with the people who had raised me. Who were they? My own self felt so displaced from all that had happened. How could I possibly know who they were now?
"My dad is an entomologist. He likes beetles."
Matt's nose flattened as he suppressed a chuckle, staring down at me. My mouth contoured on its own, forming a smile and then a laugh. I shook my head.
"He's a nerd, obviously. Cool but a nerd. All the things he taught me growing up . . . I guess that's why I went into environmental studies," I said. "But my mom. She's the secretary for the high school. Low-stakes job. She plays it safe. Where I get my stubbornness from."
"The stubbornness, I see," he said, "but not the playing it safe. You like it wild, Miss Barnhart."
I stuck my tongue out and he caught it between his fingers. Giggling, I jerked my head back. He kissed my forehead before settling back into his leather seat.
"I didn't think I liked wild. Until I met you." I hid beneath my lashes but he simply squeezed my hand.
"Well, I'm the last stop in this shitty train station. I guess you're getting off with me."
I laughed again. "I don't mind. You're kinda cute, I guess."
"You guess." He rolled his eyes. Then his face drew in seriously. "I have a question."
I shrugged. "Anything."
"How many before us?"
"How many what?"
"Men. How many men?"
My lips pursed while I considered a past that had for so long seemed like a blip in another universe. "Four? I think. I try not to keep count. Seems rude."
"Rude?"
"Well, you know. People are people, not objects. It feels wrong to just count them, like parts of a list."
He nodded thoughtfully. "Were any of them any good?"
"Eh. One was. The others—subpar, at best."
"Do I need to prove myself then?" he queried with a theatrically arched brow and lopsided smirk.
He was devastatingly beautiful. The way his eyes sparkled. I could sense Basileus' presence, lingering beneath the surface. Oh, how I craved to be around them, with them, between them.
"Would I be here if I didn't want to be?" I challenged.
"Of course. You think I'd let you go?" Matt squeezed my palm and bent down to me. "Anna, my badass Queen of Wolves, I could never let you escape me. How am I supposed to find a replacement anyway? I don't think there would be many application submissions."
I punched his arm with a playful scowl.
"Ow! What?"
"Application submissions? This is not some position at the local grocer, you know. Takes a finely-tuned woman to handle all this shit."
He nodded. "You're absolutely right." Without warning, my safety belt was unclasped and I was hauled into his lap. I squealed but wrapped my arms around his neck. "My finely-tuned woman."
We laughed and just stared at one another for a moment. He kissed the tip of my nose.
"Anna," he said, "what would you have done if you never met Basileus?"
It didn't take me long to answer, even if my life without him seemed an eternity ago.
"I would be a scavenger," I said. "I would be looking for a home, for a safe place to hunker down. I was always waiting for things to settle down, even before Basileus' campaign for global dominance. I think I've realized that things never settle down. And I'm okay with it." My heart squeezed while I contemplated my next words. "As long as I have you."
His cheeks flushed adorably. "As long as you have me?"
"Yeah. Duh."
"Explain? I'm the one who caused you all of this loss and pain."
Tears bit at my eyes, unexpected in their haste. I wet my lips and turned away. My vulnerability had always felt like weakness. Matt grabbed my chin and brought my face back to his. He brushed his lips along mine.
"Anna—"
"I need you," I whispered. "You know I need you. Every escape attempt. Everything. All of it—everything I have done since meeting Basileus. It's all been to get back to him, somehow. He wrecked my life, but I don't want one without him in it."
The pads of his thumbs smoothed away the tears. I kissed his palm. My heart broke for the very man, the very creature, who fractured my life in the first place. How could I love him? How could I live for him? But it was true.
We didn't know how long Basileus intended to hide away, and Matt couldn't offer any answers. The unknown was slowly killing me. I needed the beast. It was more than anything physical. His presence brought a light and a power into my life I had never known. But yet, while his absence dredged up the darkest sediments of my heart, Matt's presence was like a salve for my raw wounds. He healed as efficiently as Basileus destroyed.
The jet intercom clicked on. "We will be landing in approximately thirty minutes. Please, fasten your seatbelts and prepare for landing."
Matt's eyes glinted, his lips peeling up. I offered a half-smile, soaking in his face.
"Are you ready to meet my parents?" I asked.
"Not at all," he replied, "but I know you're ready to see them." He shifted me back into my seat and fastened the belt around my waist. "Now, sit tight, my pretty woman. You've seen Basileus in action, but you have yet to see me in action."
I laughed. This was going to be an utter disaster. But I didn't mind that possibility so much.