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Chapter Sixteen
Once Troy and Kase had tired themselves out—and that had taken long enough for Grant to magic us up a second bucket of popcorn—the sun had started to peek above the mountains.
Blood leaked from Troy’s lip, the white of his left eye bathed in red. Not that Kase looked any better.
They’d beaten the shit out of each other and for no good reason.
Which left me at the front door with Troy after Hunter and Grant had left together, like sudden best buds.
“I don’t like him here.” Troy’s voice came out rough and labored.
“It’s fine. Believe it or not, I’m not afraid of Kase.”
“You should be.”
“But I should trust you? Because I sawtwoof you acting like toddlers in there.”
Troy shook his head and leaned forward so his forehead touched mine. “No, you shouldn’t trust me either. I explained this to you already. Humans don’t last long in our world. You need to stop trying to creep deeper into it, because one of these days, it’ll grab you and won’t let you go.”
I sighed, and guilt pulled at me. I had no reason to feel guilty—I hadn’t made them act like spoiled brats—but that didn’t stop it. “Are you going to be okay? Not going over to your house to die, are you?” Even as I asked, going for funny, the worry bled through.
His chuckle was strained. “No, I’m not going to die. I’ll shift into my wolf form once I’m settled in at home, and I’ll heal in a few hours.”
I went to move backward, but he caught me with a hand around my nape. He brushed his cheek to mine—no doubt it left some blood since there wasn’t a spot of him clean of it—and nuzzled my throat. He grazed his teeth over my pulse, and the feeling shot through me like a bolt of pure lust. It wasn’t overtly sexual, yet I had a brief moment where I wondered if I couldn’t have him then, injuries be damned. I could lie him back, straddle him and do all the heavy lifting myself when it came to sex.
A groan left him, one full of pain, and he pulled away. “In my wolf form I have excellent hearing. If you have any problems, call out. I’ll hear you.”
I thought he might kiss me—and whether or not Kase was just inside, I’d have let him—but instead he left, a clear limp in his step.
I closed the door and locked it.
Kase wasn’t in the living room, and when I followed the hallway toward my bedroom, the splash of water in my master bath let me know where he was.
The shower was probably cold since I’d used the hot water earlier, but given he was as vampire, I doubted he cared.
I went about setting up the room. I ensured the windows were closed entirely, even going so far as to staple an extra blanket across the one window in the bedroom.
The thought of him bursting into flames in the middle of the day sounded horrible. I’d already had one vampire turned to ash around me, and I’d like to leave that number at one.
I did the same to the guest bedroom across the hall, because I did not need him staying inmybed.
I also changed into pajamas, more than ready to crawl into my bed and sleep for just as long as the problems in my life would allow. It seemed sleeping at night like a normal person was something I’d have to let go of.
The water shut off, and after another minute, the door creaked open.
I was not at all prepared for the sight.
Kase had a towel wrapped around his hips—which made sense because his suit had been all but trashed—and nothing else.
It showed off his chest, his lean waist, the way his skin had an almost-sheen that came from it hardening with age.
He wasn’t as large as Troy or as Hunter, and yet his lithe frame was entirely solid. He held the towel with one hand, and his hair was damp but pushed backward.
Oddly, there was no bruising. A few small cuts, but even they seemed far better than they had been.
“I thought you wouldn’t be pleased with the idea of me getting your bedding dirty,” he explained.
I went to tell him I agreed until his words hit me.
