Chapter 57

Alina: Waking up early in the morning to the sound of waves crashing on the shore was normal, but this was the first time I’d woken up to that same sound in the middle of the night. The bed was empty when I opened my eyes, but it was still warm. Erick must have woken up not too long ago. The bedside digital clock said three forty-nine am. I lifted my head to look around the room and found Erick seated on the wide windowsill of the castle bedroom. The moonlight was drenching him and the entire room in a soft bluish-silver glow. Trying not to startle him, I rubbed the sleep from my eyes and got off the bed as quietly as I could. I got a robe from the back of a nearby chair and donned it over my short night dress. Erick was in black sweatpants and a grey tee that hugged his body like second skin, and his features were all hard angles and lean muscles in the moonlight. His head was turned away from me, so I went to call him, but his hands came around my waist at that instant, pulling me do