Free The Decaying Empire (The Vanishing Girl Series Book 2) by Laura Thalassa Page B

tears. And I realized I’d assumed incorrectly Caden’s reasons for starting slow.
    He didn’t try to explain what had happened, but he didn’t have to. He’d almost broken down. Caden might be vulnerable around me, but there were still some lines he didn’t want to cross. Like weeping while banging.
    I understood. Or I didn’t. But hey, I hadn’t experienced loss like he had. So I’d pretend everything was okay . . . until it was.
    Still, as Caden thrust in and out of me, trailing kisses over my body and stroking my skin as it were fine silk, I couldn’t help but feel . . . cherished . Not that I’d ever been lacking in that department when it came to him. But the whole resurrection thing? Yeah, it came with a few perks.
    Like I said before, a girl could get used to this.

    We’d spent the rest of the day in Caden’s bed, reacquainting ourselves with one another. Both he and I were knowingly putting off the real world. Because let’s face it, the real world sort of sucked at the moment.
    I lay with my head on Caden’s chest, my body draped half on him, half off.
    He held me against him, one of his arms wrapped around my waist. With his other hand, he languidly stroked my tattoo.
    “My angel,” he murmured, brushing a kiss along my forehead.
    “No more princess?” I asked, glancing up at him. I’d been meaning to ask this since he’d started using the new nickname.
    He shook his head. “A princess needs saving. An angel . . . saves.” Saves me. He hadn’t said it, but the thought lingered in the air between of us.
    “Ah.”
    “Plus you have angel wings tattooed on your back. It was about damn time for a nickname change.”
    “You could just call me Ember . That works too.”
    Caden snorted. “Not going to happen, angel. Just be happy I don’t call you puss-puss, or honey, or some other name that would make you want to kill yourself slowly.”
    My lips curled into a smile. “Puss-puss? Do I even want to know where you came up with—”
    “Hell no, you don’t—so don’t ask.”
    I bit my lip. “I still can’t believe you even said the words puss-puss .”
    Caden raised an eyebrow. The expression said, Challenge accepted . “I like your puss-p—”
    I slapped a hand over his mouth before he could finish. “Yeah, say that again and you won’t be getting any for a while.”
    Beneath me Caden’s body shook, and it took me a moment to realize it was from his deep, rumbly laughter. After a moment I joined in. I couldn’t help it; his laughter was contagious.
    This was what life was worth living for.

    An alarm blared, and I winced. I couldn’t have slept more than a few hours last night.
    An arm hooked around me and dragged me back down into bed. “Mmm, let’s sleep in, angel.” Caden’s voice was husky with sleep. He reached over me and hit the “Snooze” button on top of the alarm clock, and the blaring cut out.
    The past several days came rushing back to me. Woken. Escaped. Captured. Sedated. Woken again. Back at the facility.
    Back at the facility.
    Suddenly I couldn’t sit still. My legs jittered with the need to run—to escape. Yesterday was a welcome vacation from my life, but I couldn’t pretend things were all peaches and cream.
    I scrambled out of bed. Caden groaned in protest and then rolled over.
    I headed for his dresser, realizing even as I opened the top drawer that I wouldn’t find my own clothing in it.
    Only I did.
    Bras, underpants, socks—the whole shebang. I opened another drawer, and chills skittered down my back. My shirts were all in there, all accounted for.
    I opened the remaining drawers and noticed that the ones I’d left empty were now filled with Caden’s clothing. He’d been cohabitating with a ghost while I was gone.
    “I couldn’t get rid of them.” I jumped at the sound of Caden’s voice. He stood a few feet behind me, arms crossed. He wore a defiant look on his sleepy face, daring me to call him out on keeping my things in here for