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"You have a point. I'm sure revenge-seeking guys are very sexy," he said. His face was smooth of any emotion I had thought I saw when he glanced back at me.
"You should try it sometime. I bet it would catch all the girls," I attempted to joke. Why did it feel so awkward?
"Maybe it would catch the one I want," he replied. Suddenly, my tongue stuck to the roof of my mouth as all of the moisture evaporated from the inside. I took a long swallow of the beer, finishing it in record time and helping my dry throat. Why did his stare feel so intense? "Of course, I'd have to get a dog first. Then someone would have to torture me and kill my dog in front of me."
I blinked, trying to clear my muddled brain. "Uh, how about no? No torture and no killing of puppies." When I couldn't take his exquisite attention anymore, I popped off the couch like a jack-in-the-box. My blanket landed in a pile on the floor as I ran from the room. "I'm gonna get another drink. You want one?" I threw the words over my shoulder, already in the kitchen before I finished my sentence.
"Sure." His low response carried to me as I leaned against the sink, trying to get my breathing under control. So much for not making it weird. I couldn't get any stranger. The light from the fridge glowed brightly in the dark kitchen, and the cool air helped my heated face. "Everything okay?"
I yelped and jumped, knocking my head on the freezer door. Rubbing my forehead, I faced Raiden. "Yeah, why wouldn't it be?"
He crossed the room and placed our plates in the sink. Eyeing me, he turned and leaned against the counter. "You're off."
"I guess getting kidnapped and tortured by demons does that to a girl," I quipped, even though that had nothing to do with how I was acting now.
"Of course, yeah, you're right. Sorry." He tugged his fingers through his hair as he stared at the ground, deep in a thought I couldn't read. Then he rubbed the back of his neck and brought his smokey gray eyes back up to mine.
I focused on the refrigerator again and snagged two more Coronas out. As if on autopilot, I held a bottle out to him before moving past him and back into the living room. He murmured his thanks before following me. We settled back into our spots on the couch, with him seeming to be even closer than before. It had to be my imagination.
The ending credits forPoint Breakwere rolling when I actually pulled my attention back to the screen. I picked up the remote and hit the home button.
"You want to pick something?" A semblance of a smile spread across my face as I met his eyes.
His forehead wrinkled as he watched me for a moment before snagging the controller from my fingers. One of the streaming services blinked on the screen, and he went to search and straight to the romantic comedies. I let out a groan as I sunk into the couch. He was going to torture me. The arrow scrolled over the movie selections before landing onTrainwreck. I hadn't actually watched this one. Because I hadn't watched many romance movies at all.
"You said I could choose the next movie," he reminded me as I sulked next to him as the opening credits started on the TV. My sulking didn't last long before the movie sucked me in, and I was laughing at all the situations. Amy and her one-night stands were relatable. I understood her. Maybe not her reasoning, not completely, but the need to keep everyone at arm's length. I was familiar with that.
Tears fell as the movie ended, and I kept my eyes glued to the screen. There was no way in hell I was going to look over at Raiden right now. My face was all blotchy and red from crying about some girl getting her happily ever after.
"Hey." His voice was soft in the darkness that fell as the screen went dark. "You okay?"
I sniffed and wiped my nose with a tissue I had plucked from the side table earlier. "I'm fine. It was just a movie."
"You loved it." I could hear the smile in his voice without ever looking at him.
"It was just a movie," I repeated, the tears finally drying, and I wasn't sure who I was trying to convince, him or me.
"Come on, Sammy, just admit I picked a good one," he grumbled a little. He wasn't actually upset. I knew it as soon as I peeked over at him. The smirk on his face was his usual panty-melting one. I gave a small shake of my head, and he sighed. "You asked for this."
I wasn’t sure how it happened, but he had my feet in his hands, tickling them. I struggled as much as I could with my ribcage being bruised and battered. "Oh my God, stop!" I cried as I kicked my feet like I was peddling a bike, trying to escape his grasp. Wiggling, I flopped like a fish out of water, attempting to free both of my feet at the same time. The laughter that burst from my lips made my ribs ache, and my cheeks hurt, but it was refreshing to laugh with him. Before I knew what happened, I was in his lap and his arms wrapped around me to hold me onthe couch, so I didn't crash into the coffee table in my bid for freedom.
His chuckles dried up into a choked breath of air as our gaze met. We were so close together. I could see little flecks of brown in his gray eyes. I blinked as my laughter evaporated, and I became hyper-aware of the fact I was in his lap, and he was very hard beneath me. With reasonable certainty, I was sure it wasn't a cucumber in his pocket. We were statues as we stared at each other; the silence charged with our awareness of each other. His eyes darted between mine and my lips, and I knew what would happen next. This wasn't just a fantasy in my head. He was going to kiss me. And the crazy part was I would let him.
He gave me a chance to pull back, long enough for goosebumps to break out all over my body. My nipples hardened beneath the thin fabric of my shirt. His eyes darted between mine as he took his time, making it feel like an eternity of torture before he lowered his head, and we breathed in the same air, our lips barely brushing over each other. I was thankful for my slightly faster healing time, because the busted lip had mostly healed and no longer hurt. I couldn't say the same for my swollen face. It gave me pause, when my brain pipped up with how I looked right now. How could Raiden want to kiss me like this? I should pull away.
My breath froze in my throat as I deliberated what to do. But it was too late. His mouth met mine in the softest caress ever. Not the hungry and desperate kisses I was used to. This was as if he was memorizing each moment of our lips molding together. Then his tongue slipped between my defenses, and I met him with my own. He tasted like Corona and lime. The memory of this would brand itself into my mind forever.
Slow, leisurely, intimate in the TV's glow, the only sound our breaths and our mouths dancing with each other. He ran his hands over my shoulders to the back of my neck, deepening thekiss even further, as if he could eat me up. It was like a dream, and I lost myself in it.
The buzzing of his phone broke into our little world, like an alarm set to pull me back to reality. My senses crashed back into me as the buzzing continued. What the fuck was I doing? I scrambled off of his lap, escaping his hold, my lips tingling with the aftereffects of our kiss. He stared at me, ignoring his persistent pager, while his phone started to ring, then he sighed and tugged his fingers through his hair, and snagged it off of the couch cushion next to him.
He hit the answer button and put the phone to his ear. "This better be good."
He watched me like a predator would watch a wounded animal as I inched toward the living room archway that led to the foyer. I had to get away. Running from the room wasn't a good look, so instead, I mumbled something about needing to pee before I disappeared into the hallway and locked myself in the bathroom. The water ran cold as I gripped the sink and stared at myself in the mirror. My cheeks were pink anywhere bruises didn't already blossom, and my eyes were bright. The cool water on my skin brought me back into myself and was a firm reminder that I could not leave this room until he left.
How would I ever face him again?
His footsteps sounded down the hall as he got closer to my hiding place. He tapped lightly on the door, and I could picture him putting his ear to the surface. Not that I had ever witnessed him doing anything like that. "Sammy," he called softly.
