Page 72 of Alluring Darkness
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ELI
Iwake up with a warm, soft body against mine. For a moment, I just pull it closer to me and tighten my arms around it. Aroundher.
Then my eyes snap open. Staring over the side of Raina’s head, I look at the clock on the nightstand. It’s almost noon.
Noon.
Cold panic washes over me.
I’ve slept for eleven and a half hours.
Once is a coincidence. But now, there is no denying the fact that Raina is somehow the reason why I’m able to sleep again.
Shoving her away from me, I roll over on my other side and then quickly get out of bed. Raina mumbles and groans when my manhandling wakes her up as well.
With my heart slamming against my ribs, I stalk over to the dark wooden dresser and yank it open while I try to suck in calming breaths without Raina hearing it.
Sheis responsible for this.Herpresence for some reason allows me to sleep. And that means that she has power over me. More power thananyone.
Fuck, fuck, fuck.
I snatch up a pair of pants and shove my legs into them before grabbing a t-shirt and yanking that over my head as well. Panic continues whirling inside me like a crackling storm.
Raina is the worst assassin-in-training at this entire fucking university. So why the hell is she still the most dangerous person I’ve ever met?
I can’t keep doing this.
Every day, she gains more and more power over me. Every day, I grow more obsessed with her. More dependent on her. Hell, I even fuckingcaremore and more about her. When I heard that she was blackout drunk in a fucking bar, I couldn’t breathe because I was terrified that something might happen to her. That someone might do something to her.
It has to stop. I have to put some distance between us until I can figure out how to get my treacherous emotions under control. UntilI’min control. Fully. Completely.
Dragging a hand through my hair, I draw in a deep breath and then turn around to face the bed again.
“Get up,” I snap, putting unflinching command into my voice.
Raina blinks and then squints at me from the bed. “Well, good morning to you too, asshole.”
“You have three seconds to get out of my bed before I tie you to it and beat your ass with my belt.”
Something flickers in her eyes.
“One.”
She quickly scrambles out of bed.
A smug smile curves my lips.
While throwing a scowl in my direction, she brushes her hands down her shirt,myshirt, and then runs her fingers through her hair. As if only then realizing that the shirt isn’t hers, she glances down at it again while she lets her arms drop back down by her sides. Then she looks towards where her clothes are sitting on my bathroom floor.
She starts towards them, but I’m faster.
Before she can round the bed, I move so that I’m blocking the door. Annoyance flits across her face. Planting her hands on her hips, she raises her eyebrows as she glares up at me.
“Unless you never want to see this shirt again, I suggest you step aside so that I can grab my own clothes,” she declares.
The absolute authority in her voice and the cocky tilt of her chin sends a pulse through my body. And suddenly, all I want to do is to follow through on my threat and tie her to my bed, spank her bratty ass, and then fuck the insolence out of her.