64

Sienna woke to the sound of running water. It took her a moment to remember where she was. For that brief, beautiful moment she had zero recollection of the current events leading up to her waking in a grubby motel room.

When it hit her, she felt sick.

Adrian appeared from the bathroom in a puff of steam, one towel fixed around his waist and another in his hands, washing his longish dark hair.

"If you want to wash up do it quickly," he demanded. No, 'good morning.' No, 'how are you?'

Typical Adrian.

"Yes, I'd rather not stink of your sweat," Sienna muttered. The words slipped out of her mouth before she could edit herself.

"Hah." Adrian grinned, apparently not offended. "I like my scent on you."

She frowned, not knowing what to make of that. Sometimes he showed an interest in her. At times he bordered on complimentary. And then there was the remainder of the time where he treated her like she was a lower class of being.

'You are here to keep yourself alive,' she told herself in a stern voice. 'Don't worry about your love life.'

The shower was too small, with no complimentary shampoo or body wash. Searching the under-sink cupboard, she found one of those horrid, hard soap blocks that always dried out her skin.

'Beggars can't be choosers,' she shrugged to herself.

Turning the shower knob, she was annoyed but not surprised to find Adrian had used all of the hot water. Once she'd washed herself and jumped out, she was further irritated to see he hadn't left her a towel.

Dripping a trail of cold water droplets as she walked, Sienna made her way over to Adrian and pulled the towel from his head.

The pair regarded each other with furrowed brows before each tutted and went their separate ways. Sienna dressed in the bathroom, feeling dirty as she pulled yesterday's clothing onto her semi-clean body. In this heat, she was going to start to reek if she didn't get some clean clothing.

"I need some clean clothes," she told Adrian.

"I packed plenty," he told her. "You can borrow something of mine."

He threw her a pair of joggers, underwear, and a shirt, all of which would be fine if she were over six feet tall and a well-built male.

As she held the clothes they radiated the scent of his washing powder—strawberry and lily scented. That smell brought back the memory of adoring him. Of wanting him so badly she would do anything to please him. The memories filled her heart with such longing that it ached, the pain almost physical.

'Oh, why did things have to change?'

She pulled on the clothing, pulling the drawstrings tight and tucking in the T-shirt so she looked somewhat feminine.

"We'll go and get some breakfast and then hit the road again," Adrian said as he shoved his belongings back into his backpack. He paused packing to check out her outfit, his eyes lingering on her bum as he looked up and down her form.

"Nice," he snickered.

"I can pull off anything," Sienna told him. She flipped her hair over her shoulder, spraying him with a shower of cold droplets.

She didn't hear or feel him step over to her until she was pinned by his grasp.

"Who do you think you are?" he asked. The words were angry, yet his face appeared calm. "Small, fragile human with the fiery attitude of a ferocious Luna."

Sienna stared up at him. She didn't feel particularly brave or fiery.

"It's all an act, Adrian. I've been hurt too many times. This act is a shell, protecting me from getting hurt again."

Adrian's grip relaxed. He gently rubbed the skin of her upper arms. "I'm sorry I hurt you."

Sienna was so shocked by these words she could barely choke out a "Thank you."

She bit her lip. "I... I mean... it was Damien who hurt me. I was kinda begging to be hurt by you but with Damien... he made me think he cared. That I could finally let my guard down and be the version of me I was always meant to be. He made me feel so safe and loved and the whole time he was planning on torturing and eating me."

She laughed and cried at the same time, too overcome with emotion to control it.

"Why do I deserve that? I thought he understood. I thought he had forgiven me—"

Her words became muffled as Adrian pulled her into his chest.

"He doesn't know how to forgive. He doesn't know how to love. And that is not your fault."

"Come on." Adrian soothed, stroking her hair. "We need to get some food and get moving before he eats both of us."

Sienna nodded and wiped her tears on her arm. On the way out they handed the keys back to the attendant at the desk.

"Hope you enjoyed your stay," the guy uttered while scratching his butt. "Come again."

"I'd sooner not," Sienna whispered to herself, but Adrian overheard and laughed. He had to have pretty decent hearing—probably a werewolf thing. She had been meaning to ask him about it... about what made him different... but almost wanted to save that conversation to have with her bestie. To think this whole time her best friend had been hiding such a monumental secret. It made her past problems seem... trivial.

‘I’ve spent my life being way too self-obsessed to notice what is right in front of me.’

There was a greasy spoon a few yards up the road—the perfect place to get a breakfast when you were starved from driving all night.

The smell of bacon and coffee hit her as soon as the door opened.

"Yum." She smiled to herself.

"What do you want?" Adrian asked as the pair slipped into a booth.

"Everything. With coffee. And extra coffee. Please," Sienna asked, smiling widely in the hopes he wouldn't force her to eat bread and water. At this point, she wouldn't put it past him.

"Good choice." Adrian nodded and waved a finger at the waitress.

The breakfast was so amazing that Sienna didn't even notice the egg yolk dripping down her chin. She ate it so fast it made her stomach hurt, but Adrian still beat her. he was mopping up tomato juice and smiling before something grabbed his attention and his face fell.

He grabbed Sienna's hand, yanking her away from the table so hard it tipped, spilling coffee everywhere.

"W—what's wrong?" Sienna stammered.

"Oh crap, I don’t believe this!" he cried. "He's coming after us."