She finally got the key in the lock and twisted. The door swung open. She stepped inside, then turned, holding the door open for me.
“Coming in?” she asked, grinning. Water dripped from her hair, her clothes, her eyelashes. She was a drowned angel. My heart was full to bursting.
I loved her. I loved her so goddamn much it scared me.
I should tell her, explain everything. What I was, where I was from, why I was really here. But not tonight. Tonight, I just wanted to be with her, to exist in this perfect bubble. I would tell her everything soon and face whatever consequences came from my secrets.
But tonight was ours, so I stepped inside. Everything I wanted to tell her could wait until morning.
15
— • —
Riley
I was drenched. Absolutely soaked.
And it wasn’t because of the rain.
I watched Caelan walk into my apartment, and my whole body tightened with anticipation. He moved slowly, not taking his eyes off me. There was a predatory quality in the way he stalked toward me, a hunger that made my heart race and my thighs clench.
I was the prey. Iwantedto be caught…But I also liked to be chased. So when he was close enough to touch, close enough that I could feel the heat radiating off him despite our wet clothes, I did the unexpected.
I ran.
It was playful, ridiculous, and I was laughing as I screeched and darted into my living room. Water went everywhere, dripping from my hair, my clothes, leaving puddles on the floor. Gerald the stain probably thought I’d lost my mind. It wasn’t wrong.
“You’re going to make me chase you?” His voice was low, amused. I could hear the smile in it.
“Catch me if you can, big guy.”
“Oh, I can.”
I shrieked and bolted around the couch. He followed, moving faster than I expected, and I nearly slipped on a puddle of my own making. Graceful. Very sexy. Definitely how heroines in romance novels behaved.
“You’re leaving a trail,” he observed, stalking around the other side of the couch. “Not great for stealth.”
“Shut up and chase me properly.”
“Properly?”
“You know. Like a monster.”
“A monster.” His eyes gleamed with mischief. “You want me to be a monster?”
“I want you to try to catch me like you mean it.”
He made a sound that shouldn’t have been possible from a human throat. A growl, deep and rumbling, that made goosebumps erupt across my skin. Then he snarled and lunged over the couch instead of around it.
I screamed with laughter and ran for the kitchen.
“That’s cheating!” I yelled over my shoulder.
“Monsters don’t follow rules.”
“That’s very convenient for you!”
He caught me in the kitchen.
