Page 67 of Deadly Cravings
I peered closer at him as his jaw twitched. His nose flared and his chest moved up once sharply. He must be feeling something intently if he had to take a breath.
He seemed to be working through something, but my skin itched, and I was practically dancing in place with the need to pee.
“We’ll continue this later,” I muttered and yanked the door open. I was down the drive quicker than I’d been before, crows seemingly watching my descent. Smoothing the end of the shirt tightly over my ass, I rushed the distance to my house. The clang of their gate ricocheting off metal echoed to me.
My foot slid over the wood board of the porch and a pinch assaulted it.
“Fuck!” I lifted my leg, hopping the rest of the way to the front door. It was a splinter. It had to be, nothing else was assearing as a splinter. I whimpered. I couldn’t wait until I was in the shower, basking in the water?—
The doorknob twisted but didn’t budge.
Are you kidding me right now?
I squeezed my fists so tightly they popped. Suck it up, Catalina. I half-limped down the steps and made sure to not drag my foot to avoid another splinter and rounded to the side of my fence.
Pressing my fisted hands to my waist, I took in the height. I pushed to my toes and reached my arm over, trying to reach the latch. With my nose wrinkled, I strained, the lip of the wooden fence dug into my arm uncomfortably.
No more splinters, please.I wiggled my fingers, trying to get it to flip, but it was a no go.
“Do you need help?”
I screeched and jumped back, but only managed to ricochet into the fence when the arm of the shirt caught over one of the fence boards.
The breeze against my ass told me just how much I was on display. I squeezed my eyes shut.How embarrassing.
A snorting laugh sounded from behind me and a weird half-growl half-huff escaped my mouth.
“Are you just going to stare?” I mumbled and narrowed my eyes at Asher. In a few steps his arm was around my waist and his front was pressing into my back. The strain on my toes lessened when he lifted me effortlessly and unhooked my shirt.
My bare feet settled on the ground, and I peeked up at him from under my lashes.
“How long have you been watching?”
“Long enough, Pet.” My hand twitched to smack the slight smirk off his face, and I narrowed my eyes at him. Asher pressed closer to me, and I scooted back, flattening against the wood.My lips parted as I stared up into his shadowed eyes. The blue glinted with restrained fury.
The latch clicked and I fell backward. My arms windmilled. Before slamming into the ground, Asher bunched the front of my shirt.
“You did that on purpose.” I yanked free and stumbled into the yard, toward the side door. I stepped a little too hard on the splinter in my foot. Wincing, I passed my threshold into the empty garage.
“Let me in.”
“No,” I shouted back to Asher and slammed the door in his face. Storming inside and then to my bedroom, I headed directly to relieve the tight pressure on my bladder.
As soon as I was done peeing, I turned on the shower and tossed the borrowed shirt toward my hamper. The pile of clothing was getting to the point of no return. I needed to do laundry as soon as I finished unpacking all my stuff.
TWENTY-SEVEN
catalina
“What, do you like me now?”Binx meowed and rubbed against my leg, almost pushing me over with his big body. What was wrong with him?
When I’d come out of the shower, I’d found Binx waiting for me in my bedroom. His eerie gaze followed me around my room as I’d unpacked my measly belongings with a tad more aggression than necessary.
I’d spent hours coming to terms with everything. Most especially the odd warmth I felt when I thought of the vampires next door. For the umpteenth time, my attention narrowed in on the window. Just one little peek. There was no way he was still out there . . .
Crossing the room, I peeked down at Asher still hanging around my backyard. He hadn’t budged, in fact, he seemed to be settling in for a long wait. I pushed back my damp hair and looked at Binx.
“He’s too much sometimes.”