[h2]Esme Stirling[/h2]

When Duke tightened his arms around her, Esme gently squeezed his arms. A warm smile came to her lips when he placed the soft kiss against her hair, and she listened as he spoke. His sweetness was almost too much for her to handle and made her want to never leave his embrace. She just wanted to curl up right there in his arms and have him hold her close in a warm and strong embrace. It was something she had missed during her time alone and hadn’t realized how much she had craved it until now, even after what she went through two and a half years ago. “It’ll always go both ways.” she told him as she pulled her forehead from his neck and opened her eyes. She pulled her head back just enough to where she could see his face, a warm smile still rested on her lips. “You can also ask questions, as long as they aren’t stupid ones.” she teased. “I just don’t know how easy some of them will be to answer.” 

She watched him as he brushed her hair back with his free hand, taking in how his thumb brushed down the side of her face and the deep breaths he took to calm himself. Before his hand could leave her face, she lifted her own hand and placed it on top of his, holding it to her cheek as he spoke once again. Her warm smile grew, and it shone in her eyes as she looked up at him. “Of course I want you to. Why wouldn’t I?” she asked, her tone as warm as her smile. “Not just to work on that, but also catch up on everything that we missed. I’ve really missed you.” Lifting her head slightly from his shoulder, she released his hand, and placed her hand on her chest, just under the cuts that were made by the demon earlier. Leaning forward, she placed a soft kiss on his cheek before laying her head back on his shoulder and looked up at the ceiling. “I know you’ve been trying to get out of this life, but I would like to spend some more time with you before you decide to leave.”

After answering, Esme found herself once again thinking about just how long Duke would stick around for. It could be as soon as she healed and was back on her feet for all she knew. She wanted to make sure they parted on better terms than they did the last time and also keep in touch. If she was completely honest, she didn’t want him to leave, but she wouldn’t force him to stay, either. It was his choice if he stayed or went. Taking a deep breath, she slowly let it out and focused back on him again. “So, what do you say to finishing up here, ordering in, and then either talking or we could try to find a good movie to watch until the others get back?” she asked warmly. It was pretty obvious she didn’t want to talk about him leaving anytime soon. She then remembered that she didn’t have any of her things. It was all in her car, which was left at the roadblock made by the demons earlier, which meant she didn’t have any clothes to put on when she got out. 

It looked like she would have to borrow a shirt from Duke, keep a towel around her, or put her bloody clothes back on until she could get her car. Though she knew Duke wouldn’t allow her to put those clothes back on. Though she had a bra and underwear, at least. From what she could tell, they weren’t too badly messed up. She inwardly sighed, hating that they had left her car in the middle of the road with everything she owned in it. She tried to not let herself think of someone finding it and driving off in it since the keys had been left in the ignition when Cason and herself were dragged from her car.