Everafter Series 1 - Everafter Read Online Free PDF

windowless room.
    “Oh, no,” said Alexa. She moved past me and dropped her duffel bag next to the coffee table. Her voice was saturated with contrition. “Oh God, Val, I’m so sorry. I didn’t think—I should have come home to clean this up.”
    Grief knocked the wind from my lungs as I imagined Alexa walking into the apartment a week ago, the scent of roses rising beneath her feet. I could see her standing exactly where she was now, surveying the elegantly set table for two—only in my mind’s eye, she was smiling. Had she called my name? The smile would have dissolved into a frown when I hadn’t answered. Had she thought that my absence was part of the surprise? Or had she phoned my cell right away? How long had it taken for her to become frantic?
    I took a deep, shuddering breath. It must have sounded like a sob, because she turned toward me, pain and worry shadowing her eyes. I don’t know what she saw, but she was at my side in a second. Her arms were wrapped around me, holding me up.
    “What is it? Are you in pain? Val? You’re trembling—”
    “I can remember,” I whispered. She tightened her grip on me. My ribs hurt, but it would have been worse if she had let go.
    “What, sweetheart?” she said in a too-measured voice. That meant that she was freaking out, but trying to keep it from me. Which never worked. “What do you remember?”
    “Tuesday. The day.” Despite the throbbing of my leg, I turned awkwardly in the circle of her arms so that our bodies fit together. “I wanted us to have champagne. I ran out just before you got home…”
    “What then?” Against her will, fear leaked into her words.
    But I still couldn’t see anything else. Trying made my head hurt, and I leaned down just enough to rest my cheek on her shoulder. “Nothing.”
    She didn’t say anything for several minutes—just stroked my back very gently until I finally stopped shaking. I wasn’t going to tell her about the ring. It was gone anyway—stolen by the mugger, along with my wallet and cell. I couldn’t have cared less about the credit cards, and my phone was easily replaced, but when I thought about his bloodstained fingers touching Alexa’s ring—God, I wanted to fucking kill him. I trembled again, this time out of rage.
    “You’re chilled,” Alexa murmured. “We should get you into bed.” Her hand crept up to play with the short, fuzzy hairs on the back of my neck. “But first, we should call the detective.”
    “I still don’t remember something that will actually help.”
    Alexa tugged gently on my hair, urging my head up so that she could meet my gaze. “She told us to call if you thought of anything,” she reminded me. “Let her decide what’s useful and what isn’t.”
    When I nodded, she leaned in and pressed her lips to mine. I wrapped my good arm around her waist and lost myself in the tenderness of her mouth. The soft strokes of her tongue against mine melted away the pain, the fear, the frustration. There was nothing more powerful than this—than us. Suddenly desperate for the feel of her skin, I slipped my hand under her sweater to rest my palm in the warm hollow of her lower back. The tenor of the kiss changed immediately—she groaned into my mouth and used her hand at the back of my neck to urge me closer. This moment wasn’t about desire, or even love. It was need that drove us, need that inspired the insistent thrusts of her tongue and the hard clutch of my fingertips against her muscles.
    We might never have stopped if I hadn’t felt the drop of moisture on my cheek. Not mine—hers. I tried to pull back, but at first she wouldn’t let me. My shoulder protested as I raised my left hand to cup her face, but I ignored the flash of pain. I held her gently but firmly, lifting my head just enough to take in her frightened expression and the tears that streamed from her eyes. She wouldn’t look at me. I thought about what I would feel like if our places were reversed, and even