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Luna
He’s following me. Even before I looked, I could feel him coming after me. His manifestation is too majestic and malevolent to pass under the radar. Biting my lip, I shake my head. He’s not malevolent, because bounty hunters are normal people just like everybody else.
A thrill tickles my spine as I make my way up the staircase to the street and it’s so crowded I nearly can’t breathe. I throw a glance over my shoulder and Derex looks like he rules over this town, his shoulders so large he could tackle five linebackers and make them cry for mommy.
His penetrating eyes bore into mine deep enough to almost blind me and if I expected him to be embarrassed that I caught him coming after me, then I was wrong. He’s not even trying to hide it, as if stalking me in broad daylight is perfectly normal but the man doesn’t belong in sunshine...he belongs in some place darker where there are tons of shadows and maybe in those shadows he would have his arms around me, his firm mouth sucking my throat until my pulse dances everywhere in my body. Pinching my lip, I turn around the corner and I could choose another route if I wanted to lose him but I have no interest in doing that.
I want him behind me and I want him up close.
Even though seeing him for the first time was mildly terrifying, I also felt strangely at ease when falling into his lap, as if he knows how to look after a girl. And I sure could use some looking after. This isn’t a quaint area and I especially don’t like walking under the bridge with all that vulgar graffiti and the gang that always hangs around, but now there’s no problem.
Usually when I see the gang, I tense up and run the other way but this time I cross under the bridge as if I’m sliding through water and it’s all because Derex is walking behind me. Their mean eyes flare at the sight of him, their heads lowering with cautiousness. They’re scared of him and I feel like smiling and saying: Yeah, look who I brought. Not so tough now anymore, are you? We keep moving like two partners in crime until I slow down my pace, thinking he’ll do the same but he’s done playing and walks up to me.
“You’re following me,” I breathe, searching his eyes and my voice doesn’t sound accusatory but more as if I want to be taken to bed. He must be so powerful when he makes love to a woman, potent and virile and I bet he can make a girl dazed for days. I wonder how someone even recovers from him and it probably requires a ton of rest, painkillers and a hot water bottle.
Derex gives a curt nod. “I’m walking you home if that’s fine by you.” He reaches his palm out. “Hold my hand.” The way he holds it out, reminds me of a king and I do yearn to be introduced to his kingdom.
Unable to say no, I put my hand in his, feeling more than content when his fingers wrap around mine. His grip is a little too strong, almost as if he isn’t aware of his strength but I quickly get used to it and suddenly I can’t imagine anybody else but him ever holding my hand.
“This isn’t a nice area, Luna,” Derex rasps, his aggressive eyes moving over the grounds as if he’s a hunter looking for threats that need to be taken down. “It’s for bad people and not pretty girls like you.”
“It’s cheap,” I shrug and a muscle ticks in his jaw. “And all I can afford.”
Derex curses. “Are there any men in your life, because if there are then they deserve a good beating?”
My jaw slacks at the ferocity. “I don’t have a father, or brothers...don’t have a boyfriend either.”
“You’re unprotected out here,” he says. “No muscles and strength surrounding you, seems like I came just in time.”
He sounds as if he’s making plans for me, plans that I have no idea what they entail and all of the sudden, I want to help his plans come to life, because from the expression in his eyes I know they can’t be anything bad. He doesn’t look at me the same way he looked at John, there’s no animosity or violence, just something hot and generous and I don’t think of him as overly harsh anymore.
Around me, his edges turn smooth as if they’re perfectly safe to lean into. Others might get hurt when coming too close but he withdraws his talons for me and I’m...flattered. We stop outside my building and I fish out the key from my pocket while he waits patiently and I go dizzy at the smell of him. All that richness and earthiness and I want to bury my entire face in it, just to feel my eyes roll back in my head.
“I appreciate you following me home,” I breathe and he nods. I’m expecting him to tell me goodbye and walk away but instead he watches me with intent in his gaze. Swallowing, I say, “Do you want to come inside? For t...tea?”
His eyes flash as if that’s exactly what he was hoping for.
“I’d love some tea,” he replies in a husky tone and my insides twist into a maze of complicated emotions. He puts his gigantic palm on my lower back as we walk through the entry and I feel like I’m melting. What am I even doing inviting a stranger inside? Especially one that nearly gave an entire metro a heart attack and then chose to follow me home as if that’s something he does every day. Before I open my door, I look at him and pinch my lip.
“Is this something you do all the time, Derex? Do you always follow girls home like this?”
He leans in a little and my lashes flutter at his overwhelming closeness. “Never,” he rasps and inwardly I whimper. “Only girls named Luna.”
Nodding, I try to hide just how much those words thrilled me and I open up but the thrill fades the moment his eyes slide over my apartment. He looks positively pissed off, his jaw clenching and the corners of his eyes have narrowed with revulsion. Obviously he hates my apartment even more than I do and the place almost cowers in shame at his assessment. I clear my throat, murmuring,
“Lemon or peppermint?”
“Peppermint,” he replies and with a swift nod, I put on the water boiler and take out teabags. Turning around, I jolt when I catch him staring at me. He’s standing by my window, the lights shining behind him and he’s a fascinating mixture of light and dark, which for some reason makes me wonder what he would look like in white.
“You sure wear a lot of black,” I murmur, not intending to make it sound like criticism and he raises his brows.
“I live a very colorful life.”
“Oh?” I say with interest. “In what color?”
He tilts his head to the side. “Red.”
I snigger a little because red is such a passionate shade and his reply made him sound...cute. “You’re a romantic then?”
