Chapter Twenty-Three
Leo was exhausted. He hadn’t slept a wink last night, not with the taste of Esme lingering on his lips. Not with the feel of her still resonating in his palms. Not with the smell of her forever imprinted on his brain. He had no idea how he would spend the rest of his life without another taste, another touch, another whiff of her sweetness.
He’d paced the halls of the east wing for a few hours. Somehow, after midnight, he ended up on the west wing just down the hall from the nursery. His steps halted there on the last step of the staircase.
He felt like a ghost haunting the castle; unable to rest with an unquiet need for human contact. Like any spirit unable to let go of their old life, Leo was having trouble moving on to the next chapter of his life.
So much so, t
