The Darkest Temptation ✔️

THIRTY TWO

Word Count: 1978

~Tove

Someone is shaking my shoulder, jolting me awake.

"What's going on?" I ask into the air, rubbing my eyes warily.

A figure is crouched beside the bed, which is actually just a mattress on the floor that has been pushed into the corner of the room.

"Hey, it's just me," I hear Keo soothe, feeling me tense up.

Once the fogginess has faded from my vision, I realise it really is my mate. He left early today and I wasn't expecting him back tonight.

"Something wrong?" My voice sounds rough and croaky.

His hands glide into both of mine, prompting me up into standing position. "No. Come with me."

The wood floor groans uneasily under our feet as I follow him to the other side of the small space where a single light illuminates the kitchen and now, my mate.

He's shirtless, like he has been here for a while, contemplating whether to wake me.

"It's late," I murmur. My voice is almost lost under the sound of a hideous wind that tugs at the structure of the house, at the rain that batters down on the tin roof.

"I'm hungry. I wondered if you were too." he lets go of my hand as he shifts around the kitchen, searching for something.

I frown, watching him wander around the space while I slide into a chair tucked under the bench. His strong shoulders are tense, a sort of franticness about him that is worrying me.

"A little. I was sleeping," I tell him.

He doesn't look up, pulling out a large pot from in the depths of one of the cupboards. "You skipped dinner. I was worried."

"Oh...I'm just missing home. Thought I would sleep it off," I breathe.

How he knows I slept without eating is beyond me, although it's not surprising. He has a strange sense about everything going on with me, it seems.

"I'm sorry I keep leaving. It's unintentional, but we have a good lead on Vail's killer," he explains, struggling to get the large pot under the tap in the sink.

I watch on curiously, wondering what this strange ritual is. I've never seen this kind of behaviour from him.

"You're here now."

"It's storming badly tonight...I was thinking of making soup," he explains, laughing breathily, although it's tense sounding.

I look to the window, at the rain that lashes against it. It reminds me of the night I first met Keo...

He is as much of an enigma now as he was then.

"Making it or summoning it?"

"Making it. Believe it or not I can cook." He sets the pot down on the stovetop, fiddling around with the gas.

I blink. Here is one of the most powerful people in this realm, standing shirtless in this old shack in a half abandoned Territory, cooking soup.

"You want to cook?" I question, looking for more clarification on why he is suddenly acting so strangely.

"For you, yes. It distracts me," he murmurs. He waves his hand and an assortment of vegetables, spices and herbs appear on the counter in front of him.

"From?"

He glances toward the window, shuddering before turning his attention back to peeling a carrot.

"Oh...the storm?" I realise.