Eyes in the Darkness (The Coveted)

by Ripley Proserpina

  He widened his eyes. “Gooey? No. She’s a regular lady. Now, look.” He didn’t give me a chance to wimp out this time. Grabbing my shoulders, he spun me quick.

  And there she was. My first ghost. A regular lady. Jeans. T-shirt. No feet. Okay, that wasn’t normal. She hovered a little above the ground, and when she saw me watching, she lifted her hand in a wave. And me? I waved back.

  “Let’s go.” Jacinda was weighed down with four bags and hurried toward the door, blowing right by the ghost like it was no big deal.

  Aaron linked his arm around my elbow and took a step. I found myself dragging my feet. “I don’t think we should go out there.”

  As if she heard me, the ghost disappeared and reappeared right in front of the door. Then she shook her head. A feeling of repulsion hit me, and I didn’t want to go anywhere near the door. But Aaron had my arm and was pulling me closer and closer.

  “Stop,” I got out. Something was out there, and it wanted us. The ghost was a warning. What Aaron said made sense, she was a harbinger, but a ghost was a soul. And this one was trying to help.

  Hand on the door, Jacinda waited. “We need to go.”

  “No.” We passed by the ghost, and she smiled sadly. “Do we run, or do we wait?”

  She opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out. Her lips moved, and I tried to read them. One word. Over and over. “Wait.”

  Aaron stared over my head out the glass door to the car. The lights in the store flickered again, and his face turned stony. “She could be lying. We can’t wait another minute.”

  But the woman said it again. “Wait.”

  I dug in, countering his weight with my own.

  “Lacey!”

  Just then, the power line running from one pole to another sparked and sizzled. The sky was clear, but the transformer exploded like it had been struck by lightning. At the same time, tires squealed. We watched, transfixed, as a car careened over the median, across traffic and slammed into the pole. Sparks rained down on the parking lot and the pole split, the top half coming down like a javelin to pierce the roof of the car.

  “Oh my god,” Jacinda whispered.

  A chill raced through my body, and I glanced toward the ghost. Her hand was on my shoulder, and she said it again, “Wait.”

  The transformer exploded, and the car went up in a ball of fire.

  “I don’t think the monster wants me.” I faced Aaron. In the distance, sirens wailed. The fire department was on its way. “I think it wants to kill me.”

  The ghost vanished like she’d never been there. For a moment, no one moved, no one spoke. Panic threatened to take me to my knees, and yet I stayed just where I was. I couldn’t fall apart. We’d just been saved by a ghost. I had no idea what I was supposed to do. How was I supposed to handle it?

  I backed up two steps. I really didn’t know why. It was just what I did. I was on autopilot or something.

  Almost in unison, Aaron and Jacinda pulled out their phones. They hit a button and put the phones on their ears as they walked outside. How were they so calm? Was this just an everyday occurrence for the Chee family? Did things simply blow up around them on a regular basis?

  I followed after them. It seemed safer with them than without them. Of course, nowhere was safe. Not with this monster.

  “Ollie, we need you. It’s bad.” Aaron spoke low in the phone

  “Sweetheart, how quickly can you wrap up your vampire? Serious situation here. Protocol nine. Yes. Nine.” Jacinda must have been speaking to Ray.

  Remotely, in the part of my mind that could function at all, I couldn’t help but think about how nice it must be to have someone to call in an emergency, someone who would come, who would care.

  “Right,” Aaron said, disconnecting the phone. He turned to me and in a split second, had me in a hug. I breathed against him. He smelled so good, like sandalwood, a scent I’d always loved. Aaron was beautiful, and right then, he was the definition of the word solid as he held me close.

  “He doesn’t want to kill you,” he whispered in my ear. “He just doesn’t know the difference between love and death. They’re not like us. He’s showing you strength. He’s showing you what he can do. He’d be okay with killing us. They’re not human, these creatures. Maybe he preferred to kill you than to see you in that hot outfit.”

  My brain stuttered. Did he think my clothes were hot?

  A car streaked past the stores before brakes squealed. I looked up. It was Colton. How had he known to come here? Aaron didn’t let me go. He answered my unasked question. “I’m sure Oliver called them. Colton must have been close.”

  He was out of the car in seconds. “Lacey?” he shouted as he jogged toward us. “You okay?”

  Aaron let me go a second before Colt drew me to him. I let him hold me. This was a lot of hugging for me, but I really needed it right now. “Not really. No.”

  “Were you hurt? Was anyone hurt?”

  I swallowed. “No. A ghost saved our lives.”

  I’d never been a fainter, but I was suddenly too hot. Colton’s voice seemed too far away and then too close. I smelled sandalwood, caught a flash of blue eyes, and my brain clicked off.

  Done.

  Fourteen

  I wasn’t heavy, but I wasn’t a peanut either, so when I woke up in a stranger’s bed, I wondered who’d been strong enough to bring me here.

  My question was answered when I rolled my head to one side and saw Colt, elbows on his knees, studying me.

  “Is this your room?” I asked.

  He shook his head and began to tap his foot. It was a nervous tic. I saw him do the same thing before he went up to the plate when he played baseball. “Why are you worked up?”

  Sitting back in the chair, he continued to watch me, shaking his head slowly from side to side. “You almost died today. If you hadn’t listened to your gut, you would have been in that car.”

  Oh. That was right. “I saw a ghost today.”

  “You nearly were a ghost today, Lacey. Jesus. I can’t—I’m not going to let another moment pass without saying something to you. I know you don’t remember everything—”

  I sat up quickly, and my head spun, but I managed to reach for him. He took my hand, shifting his body so he was next to me on the bed. “I do remember.”

  “You do?” His blue eyes were wide and surprised. “I thought…”

  “I remember. I remember Thorn in the backseat, and you in the driver’s seat. I remember leaning over the gearshift to kiss you, and when I turned around, the monster was outside the car. But I remember kissing you.” My gaze went to his lips. They’d been soft, and he’d been clean-shaven. Not like now when it seemed like he was too busy to shave or cut his hair. I remembered pushing my fingers through the short silky strands and the way it felt. His curls had been a little longer and fell across his forehead. When I’d brushed it back, it had circled my finger like a ring. I wanted to touch it now.

  Leaning into him, I kept my gaze on my hand. Immediately, he closed his eyes, and his shoulders sagged. He let out a breath, one that went down to his toes and seemed to carry with it more worry than I could fathom.

  He couldn’t see me, and that made me brave. I wanted to see if he tasted the same or if his lips would prickle because of his scruffy beard.

  Gaze on him, I pressed my lips to his. As soon as we touched, everything else disappeared. I didn’t even realize I’d shut my eyes. I was lost. Colt was quick to return my affection. His kiss was hard and a little desperate. He didn’t wait to see if this was me testing the waters; he dove right in. His tongue pushed past my lips, commanding I respond with the same heat. As we kissed, that long-ago night returned to me. It was as if my body needed the physical reminder to find that memory.

  He’d kissed me the same then, in a way that made me think he had way more experience than I did, and that he knew what he wanted. My nipples hardened, pressing against my bra, and my shirt felt like it clung too tightly to me. I tried to breathe in between
our caresses, and he didn’t rush me.

  Colton raised his hand to cup the side of my face. At no time did he try to push us closer together. I almost wished he would. I was brave sometimes, and others I was utter chicken shit. This time was the latter. Still, even not rushing things along, I got hotter every second that we embraced like this. Not letting myself think about it too much longer, I pressed my chest fully against him, sighing from the extra rub it gave my crazy sensitive breasts.

  He dropped his hand from my cheek to the back of my neck, bringing me even closer until I straddled his lap. Still, he made no move to hurry me along, even as his kisses became desperate and needy. I pulled back to study his face, to see his eyes, the same heat I experienced reflected in his tired gaze.

  Colton stroked his finger over my bottom lip. “You’re so fucking beautiful.”

  I loved that coarse language, and I wasn’t ashamed of the butterflies that let loose in my stomach upon hearing it. I ran my fingers over his beard. “Thank you for thinking so.” I swallowed, forcing myself to not become a coward right then. “You know I have next to no experience with this. Any of it. And I know that you do.”

  He raised an eyebrow. “You know that I do?”

  “I… Yes, I do.” I kissed his cheek. “We went to the same school, Colt. I saw things.”

  The same eyebrow twitched. “You saw things? I feel like a parrot.”

  I smiled at him. “In the gym. Well, the back of it. I was sent there to clean up the boys’ soccer uniforms as some punishment for who-knows-what. I can’t even remember. What I do recall was you and Jeanne Monroe. You guys were…”

  He held up his hand. “Okay. Enough said. Yes. I know what you saw. I… I haven’t thought of anyone else in over a year. Just you. It’s so cheesy, but it’s like they never existed for me. Not once there was you. And certainly not after that night. As for your experience…”

  I shifted slightly, and he winced, which was how I noticed just how hard Colton was against me. My cheeks must have been tomato red. “Or complete lack thereof, really.”

  “That only makes me even happier to have you here with me. And I know that I’m not the only one who feels this way. I know what happened with Thorn.”

  I caught my breath. Yes, of course he would. And now he had me here, which might make him think I just did this, I just rolled around with anyone who wanted to. “And I know those Chee brothers like you, too. Whatever you want, okay? See all of us. If that’s what you want. Just make sure I’m in there. I don’t want to waste time fighting for you, when I could be with you instead.”

  “I don’t know what I want,” I admitted. I trailed my gaze along his face. His beard was thicker today, and it made him look years older than me. Or maybe that was because of what he’d seen. I smoothed my thumbs over his cheeks and down until they both pressed into the dimple on his chin.

  “You want me,” the cocky bastard said.

  My nipples were still pebbled. “Yes. I want to know you more than as Thorn’s friend. Or the guy who showed up when I hung out with Thorn.” I sucked in a breath and then let it out. “I want to know what it is about you that had me kissing you in front of him, and not caring one.” I kissed his lips. “Single.” I pressed a kiss to the tip of his nose. “Bit.”

  He pulled me into him and swept his tongue into my mouth. Groaning, I rocked against him.

  “Do you want me to touch you?” he asked.

  “Yes.” I nodded at the same time so there would be no doubt at all. The sooner he touched me, the sooner I could find some relief from this ache.

  I grabbed his shoulders so I had a little more leverage, and he snaked a hand along the waist of my pants. Drawing back, he met my eyes and watched me as those fingers dipped past my belly button and slid into my underwear. His half-smile was gone. There was only watchfulness. He was cataloging every breath. Every hitch in the rocking of my hips.

  When he finally touched me, I shattered. Just like that. He circled my clit once, once, and my body exploded. I cried out against his lips as my body shook and thighs clenched around his hand.

  He kept his hand right where it was, fingers gentle as I came back to earth.

  “You’re so beautiful,” he whispered and kissed me again.

  I relaxed against him, dropped my head to his shoulders, and giggled. Holy shit. Had that sound come out of me? I didn’t giggle. I snorted or rolled my eyes. But with Coltscratch that, with all of these guys, they were bringing out a side of me that could be silly and… and… light.

  Each of them was breaking down my walls. I was hugging people. Having conversations without sarcasm. I wasn’t on my guard every single second.

  I liked this Lacey. In the midst of a monster and murders, I was actually happy.

  “What’s that smile for?” he asked. He withdrew his fingers, and I felt the loss, but he quickly scooted me around so I was lying with my legs across his bed and my butt in his lap.

  “I feel good, Colt,” I whispered. I traced the pocket of his t-shirt, not daring to look at him while I spoke. “I’m scared, but I’m also not. I trust you.”

  He breathed out. “Lace. You can’t know what it means to hear that. I was so afraid everything was ruined. I was afraid that no matter what I did, it wouldn’t be enough to win you back.”

  “Do you want to tell me why I was okay with kissing you with Thorn in the backseat, when I’d been kissing him, I think, earlier?”

  He tilted his head. “Because we told you that we both were crushing on you bad. And after you got over rejecting that idea, rolling your eyes, and accusing us of having a negative agenda, you liked the thought, too. There was magic that night. We went to the desert because Thorn had left his jacket out there earlier in the day. He wanted it back. He still cared about things like varsity letters back then. We drove out. And it just worked. Then the monster came, and it was… I don’t know. I’m not sure exactly what it was.”

  I swallowed, or tried to. My mouth had gone dry. “I think it wants to kill me, not love me.”

  “Maybe it wants both.” He kissed my neck, and I dropped my gaze to where he was still looking quite hard.

  “I… do you want me to… um… take care of you?”

  His smile was fast. “Not today, beautiful. Maybe next time. When you’re feeling a little more secure with things. Right now, I really am good with just sitting here with you, feeling close.”

  I kissed his chin, feeling the hair beneath my lips, and smiled at the contact. He must have liked it, too, because his grin was huge. “What is with the outfit? It’s hot. But it doesn’t scream Lacey Madison to me.”

  I looked down. Oh, God. I was still in the fucking trendy clothes I’d been trying on before the ghost and the car and the whole dang mess. “I need new clothes. Well, Jacinda says I do. She’s probably right. I have holes in things.”

  He winced. “I didn’t notice. But, yes, then you need clothes. The ones she brought back to her house? They’re not all like this, right? Some of them are more you?”

  “I hope so. I never got to try them all on.”

  His phone beeped, and he looked down at it. “I have a million messages. Thorn. Aaron. Oliver. I kind of just took you away. You fainted, and we left. I should probably answer them, even though it means I’m going to lose having you to myself for a minute.”

  I pressed my head against his chest. “Maybe just tell them I woke up and then wait another… twenty minutes.”

  He laughed. “Okay. Push off their worry and keep you for a bit. I can do that.”

  “Colt.” It was easier to say this to him without looking. “I’ve never successfully done for myself what you did for me earlier. I could never get there.”

  His arms tightened around me. It took him a second to answer, and I could feel his heart pounding. “Guess you were just waiting for me.”

  I breathed him in. He kissed my forehead and then my cheek, before he tapped a message on his phone and set it aside. I wasn’t sure I’d ever felt so re
laxed in my whole life.

  “Colt?” A woman’s voice shouted upstairs. “Are you up there?”

  Oh fuck me four times till Wednesday. It was his fucking mother.

  It was ironic that we had just been talking about Colt’s experience, because he didn’t panic like I did. He studied me, nodded decisively, and called out, “Yeah! I’m up here with Lacey!”

  I smacked his chest, and he sat up, clutching himself like I’d hurt him. “Ow! What was that for?”

  I smacked him again. “You just told your mother I’m here!” Jumping off the bed, I searched the floor. The bed definitely looked like we’d been up to some hanky panky. I grabbed his hand and tugged. “Get off! Get off!”

  “You just did,” he murmured, but he helped me straighten the covers and pillow.

  I was just running my hands through my hair when the door opened wide to reveal a not-smiling Mrs. Ivy. “Hello,” I said nervously.

  Her gaze went right past me to Colton. “No closed doors,” she said.

  “Mom.” He ignored her statement. “You remember Lacey?”

  The woman straightened her shoulders, fixed a smile on her face, and glanced briefly my way. “Hello, Lacey. Why are you here?”

  “Did you hear about the janitor?” he asked her.

  “Yes,” she replied. “As did everyone else in this town. It’s quite the news, people getting carted away by the police.”

  So she was definitely aware of that little nugget.

  “I came back for Lacey.” Colt shocked me, and I turned toward him, mouth open. “She’s my girlfriend. I want you to get along.”

  Mrs. Ivy ground her teeth together so hard, I could hear them across the room. She stared at her son like she was trying to send him subliminal messages. To her credit, I was definitely picking up on them, even if Colt was not. You can’t be serious. Get this girl out of my house. You can do so much better than this. Where did I fail you?

  I caught them all.

  “I picked Lacey up from shopping. She was with Mrs. Chee, have you met her? What’s her first name, Lace? Jasmine?”