Page 80 of Rook
He brushed a strand of hair behind her ear, fingertips lingering at her jaw. “You hungry?”
“Starving.”
He smirked. “Good. I’ll make you something.”
She blinked. “You’re volunteering?”
“For you? Yeah.”
Her heart did a ridiculous little flip.
He kissed her once more, soft, lingering, then rolled out of bed, pulling on a shirt. Avery sat up, the blanket slipping down her shoulders, under her breasts, and Rook froze mid-movement.
His eyes darkened.
“You’re gonna kill me,” he muttered.
She flushed. “Sorry.”
“Don’t be,” he said, voice low. “Just… stay right there for a second. I need to breathe.”
She laughed, and he shook his head, smiling like he couldn’t believe she was real.
He was halfway to the door when his phone buzzed on the nightstand.
He glanced at the screen.
His entire body went still.
Avery’s smile faded. “Noah?”
He answered the call. “Yeah?”
Stone’s voice was loud enough Avery could hear it from across the room.
“Rook. Church. Now.”
Rook’s jaw tightened. “What happened?”
“Reapers,” Stone said. “We’ve got movement. And intel.”
Avery’s stomach dropped.
Noah’s voice went low, dangerous. “I’ll be there in five.”
He hung up.
For a moment, he didn’t move. Didn’t speak. Just stared at the floor like he was trying to hold two worlds together with his bare hands.
Avery stood slowly. “Go. I’ll be okay.”
A muscle jumped in his jaw, the shift from Noah to Rook happening so fast it almost hurt to watch. The warmth from moments ago drained out of his expression, replaced by something sharper, colder, carved from instinct and responsibility. But beneath it — just for a heartbeat — she saw the crack he couldn’t hide.
He dragged a hand over his face, exhaling hard. “Feels like I’m being split in half,” he said quietly. “You make everything go still… then a call like that reminds me the world’s still burning.”
Avery’s chest tightened. He wasn’t talking about fear. He was talking about her, about the way loving her and protecting her pulled him in two directions at once.
She stepped closer, touching his arm. “Noah…”
