Keeping Their Dark Rose by Jessica & Jane

Chapter 12

He stares at me for a long moment, and my throat tightens at the look in his eyes.

“How are you feeling?” His tone is short and I watch the muscle in his jaw flex as he grits his teeth.

“Like I’ve been hit by a truck,” I murmur, trying to sound nonchalant despite the tremor in my voice. At one time, he would have held me, stroking his fingers through my hair to make me feel at ease.

Now, though, we aren’t teenagers and he doesn’t see me as I was. I’m no longer his step-sister but the person who sent his mate to prison. I don’t even know if Colt is still there or if he is just as mad at me as Ethan is.

My body aches but it’s not as much as I ache for what I’ve lost. For what I threw away when I ran from him and the others. I press my lips together, trying to hold back all of the things that I want to say.

I know he doesn’t want to hear them.

A shadow of concern flickers across his face, but it’s gone in an instant. It would have been something I’d have missed if I hadn’t been watching him so closely. “You need to rest and recover. Don’t try to do too much too soon.”

I swallow the lump in my throat but my curiosity gets the better of me. “What’s going to happen to me now, Ethan?”

He hesitates, his eyes narrowing as he glares at me. “We’ll discuss that later. Right now, you need to focus on healing. Do you need anything for the pain?”

I shake my head and he nods, turning away from me before glancing back at me over his shoulder. “If you do, tell me.” His words are an order and we both know it.

“I will.” I say, hesitating as he nears the door. “Ethan… I just wanted to say thank. you.”

“I didn’t do it for you,” he snarls under his breath, before storming out of the room. the door slams behind him. I’m left alone with my thoughts in the dimly lit room, wondering what he has planned for me.

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I struggle to keep my eyes open, fighting against an ever-increasing exhaustion. But no matter how hard I try, the fatigue and my body’s need to heal kicks in. My eyelids grow heavy and exhaustion pulls me under into a dreamless sleep.

A dull throbbing pain in my leg pulls me from sleep and I clench my teeth together, trying to hold back a groan of pain. I open my eyes and I am not sure how long I’ve been asleep; the room is bright with sunlight streaming through the big windows.

I push myself to sit and catch sight of a person sitting in the corner of the room in an overstuffed cream colored chair. My breath catches in my throat as I look at him. I hadn’t thought that I would see Max again. He doesn’t look much different than he did when I last saw him just older.

His dark brown hair has gotten longer. It falls across his face in waves that look like they would be soft to the touch. A strange longing stirs within me, a longing to run my fingers through his hair. I shouldn’t want to touch him but I do, my fingers ache

to touch him.

His eyes are closed, dark shadows stain the skin beneath his eyes like he spent most of the night up and worrying as he used to do. Max was always the type to worry over others and I hated that he had worried over me last night. At least now, he’s relaxed and getting some rest, his breathing even. His face is softened with sleep and I feel a pang of guilt. He isn’t like Ethan; he’s not as strong as his step- brother. The death of his mother had broken him.

Leaving him with Ethan and his dad. He was always so gentle towards me. Max had been the one who had welcomed me into their home so long ago and made me feel like everything was going to be okay after our parent’s marriage.

My leaving had to have hurt him more so than it had his brother and Colt.

We had been friends once and I had trusted him with all of my secrets. The hopes and dreams that I had of the future, everything that my girlish mind thought of I shared with him. Now he was practically a stranger to me.

I close my eyes, trying not to think about things that I can not change. But I can’t forget the secrets and lies that have shaped our past, and I know that we’ll have to confront them sooner rather than later.

Max stirs and I stiffen. Opening my eyes, I watch as his long dark eyelashes flutter as he shakes off the last bit of sleep. His brown eyes open. No brown eyes would seem dull next to his eyes. Max’s eyes are a warm chocolate color with deep flecks of gold that seem to catch the morning sunlight that streams into the room. They

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Chapter 12

meet mine and it feels like my heart stops beating.

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“You’re awake?” His voice is groggy with sleep as he sits up, scrubbing a hand over his face. “I thought you’d be up sooner, needing something for the pain.”

“I could use something.” I say, feeling the twinges of pain in the side of my face. I haven’t seen a mirror yet but it hurts so I know that it can’t look good.

Max unfolds himself from the chair, his bare feet hitting the carpet as he stands up. He reaches over to the nightstand beside him and picks up a bottle. Unscrewing the top, he shakes two pain pills into his hand before handing them to

me.

I take them and his fingertips brush against my palm. My breath hitches in my throat at his touch. It’s not that it’s soft or kind, just that it’s familiar, and it’s been so long since someone touched me like that.