Page 37 of White Noise

Silas goes still for half a second.

Then his mouth curves against the side of my face.

“Pretty little thing.”

I grit my teeth.

He drags his fingertips higher, watching every involuntary response like he’s studying me.

“So soft. So fucking responsive.” His voice drops, fascinated and cruel all at once. “One little change in my frequency and your whole body answers me before you even know what the fuck is happening.”

“Get off me.”

His thumb presses over my pulse again.

It jumps.

Silas laughs quietly.

“See that?” His grip tightens around my wrist, thumb pressing directly over my pulse as another vibration rolls through me. “Your heart knows exactly what I am. Your skin does too.”

I twist against him, anger cutting through the fear because the worst part is that he’s right. My body reacts before my mouth can come up with another lie.

“I think you’re fucking insane.”

“Maybe.”

His hand stays locked around my wrist, holding my pulse beneath his thumb while the static beneath his skin hums harder against mine.

“Doesn’t really matter what you think I am,” he murmurs. “All that matters is that you’re still trying to decide if it makes you want to run…”

His free hand comes up beneath my chin, fingers closing firmly enough to stop me from looking away. He tips my face toward his and holds me there, forcing my eyes to stay on his while his mouth hovers near my ear.

“…or stay.”

I glare at him, but there’s nowhere to hide the reaction now. One hand has my heartbeat trapped beneath his thumb, the other keeps my chin lifted, and every flicker of static in the condo throws white light across his face.

Silas studies me like he has all the time in the world.

“I want to know how much of that fucking attitude survives when I take away every place you hide.”

His thumb slides down the side of my throat until it settles over my pulse, and the corner of his mouth lifts when he feels how hard it’s beating.

“I want to ruin silence for you, little echo. Every time a speaker crackles, every time a screen loses signal, every time the lights flicker in the dark, I want your first thought to be me. Eventually, I don’t want you wondering whether I’m coming through.”

He leans closer, his eyes fixed on mine.

“I want you to know I am.”

The vibration beneath his fingertips deepens, and a shiver moves through me before I can stop it. Silas notices immediately, his expression sharpening with that same dark interest he gets every time my body reacts before I can hide it.

“You can smash every screen in this fucking house if it makes you feel better,” he murmurs. “Rip the wires out. Break the locks. Throw the whole goddamn television through a window. It won’t matter. The frequency already knows you.”

His hand slips from my throat and catches my wrist before I can move away, pulling me backward hard enough that my body collides with his.

Static snaps through every place we touch, and I suck in a sharp breath as the sensation spreads up my arm and through my chest.

It isn’t painful. That would almost be easier.