Wild Life by Opal Wei

Author:Opal Wei
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2023-11-14T16:31:01+00:00

CHAPTER 10

GOING DARK

“The backup generators will come on at any minute,” Davy said.

Zoey felt confused as they stood, not scared by the sudden darkness and silence. She felt him take her hand without any hesitation, his fingers closing around her palm, as if he always knew exactly where it would be. She leaned on him, and he put his other arm around her. She realized she’d been holding her breath, worried that if he saw how screwed up she really was it would change things between them.

Davy made her feel safe. That was the worst and the best thing about him. An overdeveloped sense of responsibility had kept her afloat all these years, but it was so tiring. She hadn’t realized how much she needed to let go. While it wasn’t necessary, it probably helped to take refuge in a pair of strong arms around her.

So here she was holding him like he was a life raft, like she hadn’t been managing.

She buried her face in his neck, and almost missed the fact that the lights came back on dimmer than before.

“There,” he said, his voice so deep and satisfied that it made her toes curl. “We should try to make sure all nonessential electronics are turned off—lights, the Wi-Fi, things like that. We don’t want to tax the backups, and when the real power gets fixed, we won’t have a surge. I have some high-beamed flashlights, though, if that helps.”

He was still talking, still holding her, his voice full of responsibility and backup plans. No wonder she felt so good with him. Her hand traveled up his back, up the solid line of his spine to his shoulders, hard and strong. They were used to bearing weight. They could take hers.

His breath had hitched, even though she knew her fingers were light. His voice stilled. She was kissing him softly now, her lips finding the underside of his chin, still bristly, the hollow of his neck.

“Zoey,” he sighed, “Zoey, Zoey,” and she loved the way he said her name, like he was finding music in it. Zoey, he murmured, the soft buzz of an instrument on his lips, against her skin, in her ear.

“Storm day,” she murmured. “We shouldn’t have to work.”

He hoisted her up and they stumbled through the rooms, kissing and turning off lights, unplugging appliances. Every room was going to have a memory now. A nip of her neck stolen while he made sure all the great room lights were switched off. A tumble followed by making out as they bent to unplug his keyboard in his office.

They were thorough.

By the time they got to her bedroom, the blankets they’d been wearing were gone, and while the rain lashed at the windows, they were warm together under the covers.

Zoey wanted to laugh and keep laughing. She felt giddy and ridiculous. She didn’t have to think. She couldn’t go poking through the crates right now for some slide she didn’t really want to think about after all. It was a relief, such a relief that she was absolved from being mindful about the future for now.

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