"Hey," he says as he looks up.
"Hey, can I join you?"
He motions to the open spot next to him, and I very slowly make my way to his side, my whole body tense with uncertainty.
"I assumed this was coming," he murmurs softly, stifling a grin.
"Um, I just wanted to apologize," I mumble while sitting down. "I know I sort of... Well, I didn't exactly-"
"Hey, it's all good. It's not like I was in control either. It took more strength to stop it than I care to confess. Just forget about it."
Seeing his lip ring makes me think of how good it felt in my mouth. His lips felt so good, and his tongue... oh, his blessed tongue. I don't even know where to start with that.
His eyebrow cocks up as he catches my scandalous thoughts darkening my already jaded aura, and my eyes widen in realization.
"Don't make me jump in the lake again. That water is like ice," he jokes while glancing back down to his tablet in his lap.
My cheeks stain red, so I focus my attention on his screen as he shifts from page to page. I realize it's Sierra's journal, and the page he's reading draws my attention.
Amy is struggling with adapting to our world. Her sire was apparently very strong, and his darkness is embedded deep within her. She only responds to Kane, and he's done helping her out.
After losing Alyssa, he's been focused on one thing, and that's killing Castine before she can touch him. That foolish witch is good with trickery, I'll give her that. In all the many years I've known Kane, he has never been duped until now.
Deke is worried what will happen with Amy if we don't keep stopping her rampages. The day she finally kills someone, we could possibly lose the sane girl we love. She'll never forgive herself, and he believes the darkness will consume her.
The rest of us accepted our fate long ago, but Amy is still clinging to her mortal values. She doesn't realize we've all made terrible mistakes, and she's not in the frame of mind to handle such a thing.
I pray Kane is successful in killing Castine soon. Maybe then, he'll resume helping us out with our wild little girl.
I stop reading as Gage shuts off the screen. He leans back and wraps his arm around my shoulders when he sees a tear slip free from my eyes.
"Hey, don't start all that. I suck at the emotional stuff."
I let a small laugh free as a couple more tears drip out of my leaky eyes. I wipe them away, and before I know it, I'm leaning against the dark user who is pulling me against him. I curl into his lap, though I know it's a bad idea to be so close.
I just ache for comfort. Whatever this weird bond is I have to Kane, I have to find a way to be rid of it. I almost wish Gage had just fucked me and freed me last night when it wasn't a conscious decision. I wouldn't have felt so guilty, and we could have resumed our friendship without it being as awkward.
As sexy as Thad is, there's no way in hell I'm letting that man-whore help me out of this, and I shouldn't risk giving myself to a dark us
er. But I damn well ached for him last night.
My head rests on his chest as he runs his fingers through my hair, and then his hand comes to rest on my side as his soft lips find the top of my head.
"It's the bond. It's making it hurt more. It's only going to get worse if you don't do something about it."
I feel so stupid right now. I'm crying over a broken heart given to me by my sworn enemy, and my other enemy is comforting me. I'm apparently a foolish mortal with a death wish.
I realize all girls go through a "bad boy" phase, but this is ridiculously insane.
"I'll figure it out. Until then, I just have to stay away from him. The sooner they have my house ready, the better. I want to go see my mom tomorrow, so that will be some bit of a reprieve."
"Why not tonight? I can drive you, and we don't have anything else going on."
"I don't think the light will be too crazy about me bringing in a dark."
He laughs a little, and then he nods.
"I guess I temporarily forgot we were on opposing sides. I'll just drive you near there, and then you can take my car the rest of the way. I'll grab us a couple of hotel rooms, and you can meet me there when you're done."