“I see.” A flicker of something flashed in his dark eyes, but it was gone before I could make it out. “You never showed up for our date.”
“Oh, right, our date. Gosh, I’m really sorry about that. It must have completely slipped my mind,” I said coyly while making sure to let him know that his compulsion had failed. Obviously, that wasn’t entirely true, but he didn’t need to know about the hell I’d gone through to get on the other side of it. I was keeping that part to myself.
“It slipped your mind?” he repeated, tossing the word around his mouth, tasting it with his tongue. “Well, now, isn’t that something.” His dark eyes flared with curiosity as his gaze consumed me.
Emboldened by his reaction, I went on. “In my defense, I’ve been a little distracted lately.” I winked at him, hoping to get under his skin—even if just a little bit. “Right Trace?” I said and then looked up at Trace for confirmation though he was already peering down at me with a mixture of amusement and adoration smeared across his face. He was enjoying every second of the show.
Trace nodded, his eyes sparkling mischievously. “What she said.”
A muscle in Dominic’s jaw twitched, and I knew I was finally getting somewhere. While he couldn’t feel love for me with his emotions turned off, he was still a man at the end of the day, and men liked to win, and right now, Dominic was losing, and it was clearly getting under his skin.
With a taste for progress and in desperate need of more, my brain clicked off as I lifted on my toes and kissed Trace square on the mouth. I’d meant for it to be brief and chaste, just a quick middle finger to Dominic, but then Trace pushed his hand into my hair and tugged me closer, kissing me back far more heatedly than was needed to pull off the farce.
A swarm of butterflies dove through my stomach as my blood hummed under my skin. With my fingernails digging into his shirt, I pressed myself against the heat of his body, the fire of his mouth, and shivered deliciously as it all but thawed my bones right there in the entranceway.
Dominic cleared his throat, the sound of it snapping me out of my haze. I quickly pulled away from Trace, remembering where I was and what I was trying to do here in the first place. A deep blush slid across my cheeks as I tore my gaze away from Trace’s heated eyes.
“Touché, angel.” Dominic’s lips curved upward, and the butterflies promptly died in my stomach. “I think you’re going to be a much more worthy adversary than I previously estimated you to be,” he said as he languidly backed away from the door, his eyes still tacked on me like he’d just spotted his prize.
Shitballs. That didn’t look or sound remotely good.
Feeling as though my plan had just backfired in my face, I took a brazen step outside and followed him onto the front porch. “If I were you, I would go home and consider quitting while you’re still ahead.”
He stopped retreating. “And why would I do that, angel?”
I hugged myself as a chill crept back into my bones. “Because you’re starting to piss me off, and I really don’t need another excuse to put you out of your misery.”
“Is that so?” His grin widened. “Do you really think you have it in you, love?”
At that specific moment, probably not, but he was making it harder and harder for me to do nothing. “Keep pushing me and I guess you’ll find out,” I said, my voice cold and flat. The truth was, I was hoping my warning would be enough to make him lay low or maybe even skip town and get as far away from me and Hollow Hills as possible. For his own sake and mine. But deep down, I knew he wouldn’t do that.
I knew he wasn’t done playing yet.
Not by a long shot.
“Is that a challenge?” he asked, his dark eyes catching nothing but the shadows. And then he was in front of me, as quick as a heartbeat, leaning his head down beside my ear as he murmured, “Because it sure does sound like one.”
Before I could produce an answer or even process what had just happened, Trace materialized behind Dominic, his hands on both sides of his head, ready to snap his neck.
“No! Don’t!” I screamed, panic squeezing my insides like a corset.
Trace’s gaze shot to my petrified face, and he hesitated, giving Dominic the opportunity to break out of his hold and shove him back a few steps.
Trace rolled his neck and pumped his jaw muscles as though it were taking every bit of restraint he had not to turn Dominic into a puddle of ash. “If you ever show up here again, it’ll be the last thing you do. You got that bloodsucker?”
My gaze slid back to Dominic. His lips were pulled into a vicious grin, his eyes trained on me victoriously. He knew right then and there that I didn’t have it in me to let anyone hurt him, let alone hurt him myself and he was basking in the knowledge of it. And just like that, the bastard scored another point.
“I’ll be seeing you, angel. Real soon,” he said and then calmly walked down the stairs, whistling an unfamiliar tune as he faded into the thick fog of a cloudy, moonless night.
My shoulders slumped as the adrenaline left my body.
I wasn’t sure how much longer I was going to be able to keep up this charade. To keep looking over my shoulder. To keep hiding in other people’s houses. To keep playing this game with him. It was exhausting and worse, he was winning each round with every encounter we had.
“Hey. He’s gone,” said Trace, his arm slinking around my waist when I didn’t move. “Come on. Let’s go back inside.”
I nodded, my eyes still focused on the empty street before me as the connection slowly dwindled into nothing. When I was sure he was gone, I turned around and followed Trace back inside his house.
Back into my current hiding place.
“Fucking bloodsucker,” mumbled Trace as he locked the door behind me. “You think he got the message this time?”
I puffed out a humorless laugh. “Not a chance.”
If I knew Dominic’s dark side, and I most certainly did, the game had only just gotten interesting for him. Unfortunately, I still had no idea what game we were playing or the slightest idea on how to win it.
“He can’t hurt you here,” he reminded softly, his sweet attempt to lessen my anxiety. “You know that right?”
“Yeah, but I can’t hide here forever,” I pointed out and rubbed my forehead. “He’s not going to stop until he gets what he wants.” And I had no idea what that was.
“You don’t have to solve this tonight. You’re safe for now,” he said as he slid his hands against my upper arms, calming me with his gentle touch. “You should get some rest,” he suggested, his eyebrows pulling together in concern as he looked me over. He was probably noticing that wet roadkill look right about then. “You had a long day.”
I nodded, feeling as though the last couple of days had officially caught up to me. My eyes drifted closed as the warmth and lulling charge from his touch soothed me further. I felt myself swaying toward him, my body aching to be in his arms again, to finish that kiss, and I snapped my eyes open.
Panicked, I took a full step away from him, causing his hands to fall to his side.
He scrutinized me for a moment and then pushed his hands into his pockets as a small frown took shape on his face. “I can sleep in the other room if you want some space tonight,” he offered.
Whatever he’d seen on my face, he’d misread it.
Meeting his gaze, I shook my head because I didn’t want to be away from him. In fact, that was the last thing I wanted at that moment. What I really wanted was to cover myself with Trace’s body—to bury myself in his eyes, to lose myself in his lips and not have to think about anything else ever again. But of course, I wouldn’t do that.
Because I couldn’t do that.
Because I was supposed to stay away from him.
“I don’t want space,” I admitted quietly and then crossed my arms, feeling overly exposed.
“Okay.” He stared at me for a beat then smiled. “How about we finish that movie upstairs?”
“That would be great,” I sa
id, returning his smile. That was exactly the kind of distraction I needed. You know, the kind that did not involve shoving my tongue down Trace’s throat.
“Alright,” he said, his eyes warm and disarming. “I’m just going to take a quick shower first. I really need to get that Rev smell off my body,” he said and then crinkled his nose.
“Great,” I said hoarsely, barely hearing the last part of his sentence as an image of him all wet and lathered up flashed through my mind.
This was undoubtedly going to be a long night.
21. LOST ON YOU
I was already curled up in bed, tucked under the covers when Trace came back into his room ten minutes later, freshly showered and changed. His long dark hair was wet and slicked all the way back and his face was cleanly shaven. It was all very nice to look at, but that wasn’t the part that had me chewing on my bottom lip. No. I hardly noticed any of that, what with my eyes all but glued to his naked upper body.
His still-wet, water-beads-cascading-down-his-gloriously-bare naked upper body.
“Was that too long?” he asked as he walked across the room and tossed his clothes into the hamper.
“Huh? No. Not at all,” I answered croakily as I tried not to stare at him when he walked back the other way to his dresser and pulled a folded t-shirt from the second drawer.
But of course, I stared and gawked because not looking at him was almost as impossible as not falling for him.
Dear lord, please make him sleep shirtless tonight.
“On or off?” he asked as if reading my mind.
“Off,” I answered far too quickly to be considered normal. “It’s pretty hot tonight,” I added, hoping that would make it more believable, even though my toes were nearly frozen solid under the blankets.
“What does that have to do with anything?” he asked as he threw his t-shirt over his head and jammed his arms through the sleeve, flinging my X-rated hopes and dreams for the evening right out of the window.
Also… “Huh?” I was beyond confused.
He turned and met my eyes. Or you know, caught me watching him, his own expression inscrutable. Neither one of us said anything as we looked at each other, seemingly trapped in a maelstrom of tunnel vision.
Oh, my god, stop staring at him! I screamed at myself. Stop staring and say something! “You look really…” Good. Kissable. Delicious. Sexy as hell. “Clean,” I finished awkwardly, my mouth feeling dryer than a cotton ball.
His dimples pressed in as he suppressed a laugh. “Thanks?” he answered, though it definitely sounded more like a question than a reply. The blush returned to my cheeks with a vengeance and I was sure Trace had noticed it.
Chagrined, I broke eye contact, but my gaze quickly returned, as though I couldn’t stand to look away.
He worked his jaw in quiet contemplation and then grabbed the remote from his desk before turning on the television. “So, lights off?” he verified, cocking his head to the side.
“The lights?” And then it hit me. He had been asking me if I wanted the lights on or off—not his shirt. Resisting the urge to face-palm myself, I nodded and said, “Yup. Off’s good.”
He paused, a half-smile tinkering with his lips. “What did you think I was talking about?”
“What? Nothing. I mean, I thought you were talking about the lights, and you were, so we were totally on the same page.” My blush morphed into a balls-out inferno on my face. “So, how about that movie?”
He gave me another weird, assessing look and then nodded. Pushing a hand through his hair, he flicked the desk lamp off and walked around the bed to his makeshift one on the floor.
“You can lay down on the bed with me. To watch the movie.” I had no idea why I’d blurted that out, or why our earlier kiss was somersaulting through my mind like a clown on crank, but my heart was violently beating in my chest because of it. “I mean, if you want to.”
His focus dropped to my lips and lingered there. “Are you sure?” he asked, working his jaw again, as though he didn’t trust my invitation or the intention behind it. Or maybe he just didn’t trust that I meant it.
His question made me pause, though. Was I sure? What was I even doing right now? Wasn’t this precisely what I was trying to avoid in order to protect him? Then again, we’d kissed, twice now, and nothing bad had happened. That had to stand for something, right?
“Yeah, I mean, we’re just watching a movie, right? It’s no big deal.” I wasn’t sure who I was trying to convince more in that moment, him or myself? Whatever. So what if I wanted to be a little closer to him. Was that really so wrong?
Hadn’t I earned at least that?
And yet he still wasn’t moving. Just watching me with those wistful eyes of his.
“It’s fine if you don’t want to,” I said, feeling stupid for even asking him. “I just felt bad that you have to watch it from the floor. Just forget I said anything.” I looked away, turning my attention to the home screen of his television, wishing I could melt into a puddle of water and just disappear into the mattress.
Quiet settled over the room and then he shuffled forward, the bed dipping from his weight. I knew he was laying beside me, not close enough to touch, but close enough that I could feel the heat and energy emanating from his skin as though it were trying to reach out and embrace me.
It always felt that way being next to Trace. Like an unseen hand to hold, a hug that wrapped itself around me during even the darkest of moments. The ghost of a love that stayed with me no matter how far I ventured. It was hard not to yearn for the safety of that feeling, not to succumb to it wholly and without abandon.
Even when I knew I shouldn’t.
Even when I wasn’t supposed to.
Apparently, I didn’t have to worry about that tonight since Trace seemed very intent on giving me that space to work out my ‘confusion’. Perhaps he’d been weirded out about everything that happened tonight, and honestly, I couldn’t even blame him. No guy in their right mind would sign up for all of that drama.
I definitely owed him a behemoth of an apology.
“I’m really sorry about what happened before with Dominic,” I said, my gaze fixed on the television screen as he pulled up the movie we’d been watching earlier. “I hate that I’m bringing problems to your doorstep like this.”
He grunted, irritated. “He brought himself here.”
“You know what I mean,” I said, still not facing him as he fast-forwarded the movie to where we’d left off.
“You don’t have to apologize to me, Jemma, and never for something he did.”
I turned and met his eyes. “But he came here because of me—”
“He came here because he’s a bloodsucker with no humanity who decided to turn you into his pet project.” An angry frown tweaked his lips. “He’s lucky you’re still in love with him or I would’ve ripped his heart out of his chest.”
My heart careened against my ribs as a heavy jumble of guilt and shame washed over me. As much as I tried to protect Trace, to keep the past hidden from him out of fear that it would break him, he knew a lot more than I gave him credit for and he was handling it surprisingly well considering. Perhaps I needed to remind myself that it was only the past that could hurt him. Not the present. Not the future.
“Thanks for not…killing him.”
He made another grunting noise, clearly not as pleased with the end result as I was.
Releasing the breath I’d been holding, I turned back to the tv and watched as Trace continued to fast-forward the movie in search of the part we’d left off on before Dominic interrupted us.
Of course, it wasn’t long before my gaze drifted back his way. I couldn’t help but notice the foot of space between us and wondered if he’d done that on purpose. With his legs crossed at his ankles, he was literally hugging the edge of the bed. I was certain that if he so much as sneezed the wrong way, he’d tumble right the hell off.
“Do you want to share the blanket?” I asked, hoping that my offer mig
ht coax him closer and maybe squash that guilty feeling in the pit of my stomach. It was bad enough that I’d already taken over his house and his bed, now I was even hogging his nice plush comforter. The least I could do was offer to share. It was the decent, friendly thing to do.
His stormy eyes lifted to mine and stayed there as though he were trying to unriddle me. “You sure that’s a good idea?”
I honestly wasn’t sure of anything anymore, but I picked up the edge of the blanket and inched it to him anyway.
With his eyes moored to mine, he accepted the offer and slid under the comforter with me. While he wasn’t close enough to touch me, but body still hummed contentedly at his proximity as I turned my attention back to the television screen, vaguely aware that he was still staring at me.
After a moment, he pressed the play button and the movie continued right where we’d left off.
With my mind at ease, I relaxed into my pillow and sighed as the gentle current thrummed between us, safe and reassuring and as warm as the sun.
It wasn’t long before the remnants of my horrid day disappeared into the abyss of my mind, leaving only a clean canvas for the moment I was in. The movie I was watching. The boy I was watching it with. And for the first time in a very long time, I felt content. At peace. And also, a little afraid. Mostly because of the movie and its cheesy jump scares, but also because of how easy it was to fall back into this place with him. How easy it was to let myself love him and forget everything that had come before. All the pain. The fighting. The bloodshed. The darkness. The death.
It was so easy to forget all of that. Loving Trace had always been as easy and natural as breathing. It was easy then and it was still easy now. It was the losing him part that nearly broke me in two. The figuring out a way to live without him. I already knew I wouldn’t be able to survive that again…
And that was the part that scared me most.
22. NIGHT CRAWLING
The sound of the curtains flapping against the window roused me from my sleep. The credits were rolling on the television screen and Trace was sleeping quietly beside me. Apparently, we’d both been too tired to make it through to the end of the movie, but unfortunately for me, I hadn’t been enough to keep me asleep.
Incipient: A Dark Paranormal Romance (The Marked Book 6) Page 14