?


    - Cleo -


    I can hear him talking to someone, and I know it isn''t to me because I am semi-unconscious.


    My body is willing me to sleep yet my mind knows I should not stay...that, I should get up and go back to my own hotel room.


    To go find Maya.


    Every part of my body is exhausted, even my lips that somehow feel bruised. I challenge the gods to find a better way to lose your virginity than what I have just experienced.


    It was perfect. My body was humming, my wolf purring.


    I could hear her...I''m sure he can as well but I am too exhaustd to do anything about it. I can''t hush her, and I don''t really want to.


    He has awakened an unknown desire within me, and if I wasn''t so exhausted I would go again, and again.


    I feel the bed dip where Jace climbs back on, the distant one-sidedmunication that I can hear means he must be on a phone call.


    If I had the energy I would push my wolf to hear for the voice on the other line, but it felt too much effort at this moment in time.


    I make a deep guttural sound as I try to force myself to wake up, to not let my self sleep the rest of the night here.


    But when he finishes his phone call and hushes in my ear to sleep...I can''t help but lean into his touch again.


    I feel his hand stroke the side of my face, my naked body twisting itself to seek him out...that maic pull making my body entwine itself around him.


    I hear him chuckle before his hand moves to my ass, where he tabs it gently...before heavy breathing follows and I also give in to that call to sleep.


    I wake up cold, the warmth of his body being next to me a distant memory as I find myself alone in his bed.


    “Jace?” I call out, as I stir from my sleep...my eyes taking in the early morning sun through the tinted windows of the penthouse''s bedroom. With the absence of blinds, the windows must be cleverly designed to see out but not see in, providing an almost surrounding coastal view. It was stunning.


    Judging by the sun it was still early on in the day; I hadn''t overslept as I had feared.


    Keeping my eyes trained on the closed door, I scan the bedroom floor for my pink bikini.


    For a shewolf I wasn''t the mostfortable being naked, I tolerated it especially when shifting in a pack environment but the alcohol lead confidence ofst night has now burnt off in my sleep, leaving the normal, slightly reserved Cleo present.


    Once I find my bikini strewn across the carpeted floor, I ce it on and search his wardrobe for a white shirt to cover myself up...just until I get to my own room and can put my clothes on.


    "Just breathe Cleo, this is Jace...he won''t make things feel weird." I tell myself as I stare at my reflection in the mirror.


    A rosy-pink hue upon both facial cheeks and a sun-kissed tan noticeable on my forehead and nose where I caught the sun yesterday.


    My wolf present as my torguoise blue eyes shine more ethereal...almost unworldly.


    Plucking up the courage, my hand grasps around the door handle...opening the door to the open-nned penthouse living area, only to find it... empty.


    I move towards the kitchen area, expecting to find a note...but it was bare.


    Nothing...not even a "I''ll be back soon" note.


    Suddenly the realisation of the morning after was dawning upon me. I might have no regrets but I cannot say the same for Jace.


    His silence, his not being here speaks volumes to me...he''s run again.


    Those walls havee back up.


    It really was just that one night. He couldn''t even have a coffee with me the morning after. He couldn''t even find it in himself, for old time''s sake...for me, to share an awkward morning caffeine induced drink with me.


    Embarrassment, anger....shame washes over me. He''s made me feel like a cheap date that meant nothing to him.


    I just want to get out of here, I suddenly feel seedy...like I slept with a stranger and he has already decided to ghost me in the night whilst I was asleep in his bed.


    I''m back at my hotel room within minutes, quietly opening the door in an attempt not to wake Maya when the door is ripped open, my hand moving forward with it.


    "I knew it!" Maya squeals out as she pulls me into the hotel room, closing the door behind me.