Chapter 20

I lay on my back, looking at the great stretch of black as it crept across the ceiling, starting directly above where the broken floorboards were and aggressively sending its feelers out, like ink on blotting paper. The damp infested this house. I didn't know how Harper could stand it; this place so full of rot and damp and dirt, it was like a sickness in the veins, infecting every corner. I felt sure the longer I was here, the more it would infect me.

I turned my head to look at him, noting the long thick blanket of dark lashes that lay on his cheeks, his pale flawless skin and hair that fell across his face. I resisted the urge to brush it away. I daren't wake him.

There was part of me that wanted to just lay there with him, breathe in his musky scent, wrap my arms around him and listen to the rhythmic sound of his heart.