Carnal

Chapter Thirty-One - Exposed

Ella's P.O.V.

I fought sleep the entire ride home.

While I wouldn't say I had been sleep deprived for the previous few days, I felt as though I hadn't been able to rest.

Cain radiated a sense of support and protection and I realized just how exhausted I was when I felt myself finally relax in his presence.

He drove home with one hand on my thigh. The intimate touch made my heart race, but I tried to put on a cool, relaxed exterior by leaning my head against the window.

Still wrapped up in the flannel blanket he had given me, I was finally content.

The only thing keeping me awake was the hunger rattling my stomach.

Maybe that's why I felt so weak...

At one point, Cain looked over after hearing my stomach growl, as it had been for the past few hours.

"When was the last time you ate something?"

I failed to answer immediately, trying to count the hours it had been since I ate the sugary scone on the train.

He took this silence as an answer and began to slow down so he could take an exit off the highway.

"Where are you going?"

"It's too late to have someone at the castle cook you something and I'm shit at making anything that requires more than a microwave."

I looked down at the clock that was on the dashboard.

"What do you expect to be open at this time of night?" I asked incredulously.

He ignored my question and picked up his phone.

"We're making a pit stop," he said to the person on the other line. "Go ahead home. We'll be there after a while."

I looked behind us to see the three SUVs containing my brother and everyone else continue to drive down the highway as we took an exit ramp.

Our car was the only thing on the road as we traveled into a small, sleeping town.

It wasn't until I saw the illuminated golden arches that I realized where we were going.

The lights inside were on as he pulled around the building, up to the drive-thru speaker.

"What do you want?" He asked me.

I leaned over the console to look at a menu I couldn't read. Seeing the menu, I remembered that I was in Germany. While I spoke enough German to hold a steady conversation, I couldn't read it. Ordering from memory was the only thing I could do.

"Nuggets," I said, sitting back down.

I figured that was a safe option and considering that I was to the point of starving, I didn't care what I ate as long as it would fill me up.

Cain turned back to the speaker and ordered the food, speaking German to the sleepy-sounding woman who was taking the order.

"Drink?" He asked.

"Water."

He finished the order and pulled around to the window.

The woman handed us the bag of our food as he handed her his card to pay for it.

Smelling the hot, salted fries made my mouth water instantly. I rummaged through the bag to find Cain had ordered two boxes of nuggets and ample amounts of fries.