“You’re being weird,” I said.
“You should stay with me tonight. At the B&B.”
I choked on my spit. “Why would I want to do that?”
“So you don’t wake up to someone licking you.”
“How am I to believe I won’t be trading one licking pervert for another?”
“If I licked you, Lily, it’d be because you wanted me to. And you’d beg me for more.”
With that, he turned to go.
Heat rose in my cheeks.
I tried to think of something clever to say as he walked away, but all I could think about was the image of his tongue on me, and it wasn’t nearly as unpleasant as I’d expected.
CHAPTER 17
Istared out the window on the drive back, debating my options.
If I returned to the hostel, chances were good that the licker wouldn’t return, not after I’d disfigured him. Were the licker and Noah the same person? The photograph at Noah’s home suggested so.
Silas seemed concerned for my safety, which of course made no sense. Neither Noah nor the licker was a threat to me, and even if they were, why would Silas care?
Exhaustion made every muscle ache, made my brain numb, and made trying to figure out anything about anything feel like a Herculean task.
I leaned my forehead on the glass and felt my eyes drifting shut. How long had it been since I’d gotten a decent night of sleep? How long since I’d….
Silas touched my wrist, startling me awake. He said softly, “We’re here.”
Here?I sat up and rubbed the drool from my chin and blinked. “Here where?”
Silas climbed out of the car, came around to my side, and opened my door. “Do you need me to carry you?”
“No,” I said. “I’ll carry myself, thank you very much.”
I ignored his offered hand, climbed out of the car, and took in my surroundings. We were back in Inorog, parked at the supposed-to-be-closed B&B. Was I actually going to stay here,with Silas?
“I’ll walk to the hostel. If the licker shows, I’ll catch him in the act. If he doesn’t, no harm done.”
“You’re exhausted. Spend the night here where it’s safe,” Silas said. “Lie in wait for your assailant tomorrow, once you’ve rested.”
That was sound logic.
“I’ll simply rent a room for myself at the B&B. That’s safe,” I said. “Put me in contact with the proprietor.”
“There are no other rooms. The place is shut down, Lily. The owner is lending me her own quarters while she’s out of town.”
“Of course she is.” A pang of something I almost mistook for jealousy flared in my chest. But whatever kind of relationship Silas had with some random Roldarian woman was none of my business. AndI didn’t care.
Fernando bounced out of the car covered in soot like one of the spotted dogs in the Disney film. He’d smeared black stripes all around his eye like I had as a small child with my mother’s mascara. Aside from the peeks of blue between the black stripes, Fernando was entirely charcoal-colored.
“What do you think?” I asked Fernando. “Should we stay?”
“Bad man fren. Has chocolate,” Fernando said.
“All right,” I agreed. “We’ll stay because he has chocolate.”