I’d dealt with my body’s traitorous reaction to our kiss by once more becoming snarky the past few days, while he simply disregarded my blatant rudeness at every single turn.
I tried to ignore the way Graysen’s skin glowed with that freshly showered look, as well as that fine figure corded in muscle and ink. Nevertheless, it made my heart beat faster, and honey-coated desire flowed over every sensitive place in my body. He was more comfortable being barely clothed these days, or perhaps more accurately, he was doing it on purpose, taunting me to pounce on him.
Ire lit my blood.
Gods, his damn towel was beginning to tent. He had a one-track mind. Sex. With me.
Rolling my eyes at him, I turned away as steam funneled from the kettle and the automatic click of the switch popped up.
Behind me, I heard the grating sound of a wooden drawer being opened and closed as he snatched out a pair of boxer briefs. Though irritated, I couldn’t help but glance at the polished kettle on the kitchen counter, using it like a mirror to leer at him.
Graysen whipped the towel away, folding it neatly and hanging it over the back of his office chair before bending over. I raked my gaze greedily down his scar-ruined back to his tanned, taut ass as he stepped into his navy boxer briefs, straightening andbouncing a little on the balls of his feet as he tugged them up and over his godsdamned erection.
Hellsgate, he’s glorious.
Graysen suddenly stilled, his wet hair flicking about as his head jerked to the side as if he’d sensed my appreciation.
Shit.
I got to work pouring hot water into the cup to dissolve the salt, stirring the water with a teaspoon. The plastic struck the porcelain insides with atap, tap, tap.
There came a rattle of coat hangers and the soft sound of Graysen’s armor being pulled on, a whirr of a zipper, a clipping of buckles. While he dressed, I untied the knot in the neck of the wriggling canvas bag, opening it wider to peer inside to see a pair of round russet-colored eyes blinking up at me. Right now, the otherworldly creature was cute and fuzzy and tiny, the size of a squirrel, all fluff with big bat ears and a long rattish tail.
I’d been reading the book that Dustin had given me that detailed Zrenyth’s mites for the past couple of days. Though at first, I thought the creatures listed near the beginning were of no consequence, I discovered that this one, a Brunnie that lived in burrows beneath trees and loved to eat squirming juicy grubs, had an alternative life cycle if it encountered salt and watery blood.
I blew on the liquid to cool it down before leaning in and lowering the teaspoon of saline water infused with my blood into the bag. The brunnie shrunk back, but its tiny black nose sniffed. Then, a long, thin tongue darted out to lap at the concoction I’d specially prepared for it.
36
Graysen
Nelle was checking me out—again.
Her brazen stare skimmed over my ass as I bent to grab my brand-new boots. “My eyes are up here,” I drawled, snapping upright and pointing at them.
A flash fire of anger exploded in Nelle’s gaze, turning it feral. She tossed her teaspoon into the sink with an insipidtinkof plastic on metal. A scowl scrunched her nose as she yanked off her shawl, unpeeling it from her dress that crackled with static electricity. Haphazardly folding the shawl, she threw it onto the kitchen counter next to several canvas bags.
While I’d been in the garage servicing the Ducatis and she’d been out on her run, black despair had murmured beneath my skin, rattling my bones like chains. Hopelessness had been rising in her for days, thick as muddy water.
It was dangerous to let her sink any deeper.
I had a natural talent for provoking her anger. Anger smothered other impulses—a single bright flame in thedarkest hour. Vengeance could silence the starved gnawing of desolation.
Stirring her vexation was easy when I wandered around half-naked. She liked what she saw. Hated that she liked me. Yet couldn’t stop staring. She adored the vee, appreciated abs and forearms, anything I put on display, but Nelle was an ass girl, and she lusted after mine.
I flashed her a smug grin and a wink, to which her nostrils flared as she bared her teeth and hissed. Placing my boots down beside my bed, I straightened the space out of habit. As I tossed my towel into the wash basket, a rustle of rough fabric carried from the kitchen where Nelle messed with one of her canvas bags.
Scratching the back of my neck, I headed toward the tower opening. Dawn light speared into the room, catching the pink glitter on my old boots and making them sparkle. There was no use keeping them, but for some fucked-up reason, I couldn’t throw them away.
A sea of voices and the rapid stomp of boots drifted up from the inner courtyard as staff and soldiers returned from their warm-up. Our brusque Weapons Master barked new orders, and chatter dissolved as everyone split into groups. Jett and I had crossed paths in the garage after our staff had picked him up from the runway. Still surly as fuck, yet something peaceful radiated off him, as if wherever he’d gone had re-energized his soul. Like the asshole he was, he ignored my question about where he’d been after ducking out of the Escalade last night. However, I’d caught a scent clinging to him: female.
The scent was distantly familiar, but I hadn’t figured out who’d kept him company.
Stooping over, I snatched up Nelle’s flashlight from the leather couch where she’d tossed it and clicked it on, testing the yellow beam against my palm. Satisfied, I set it back in line with theothers I kept for her on the bookshelf, then crossed to the tallboy and pulled out a pair of socks.
“Are you heading out again today?” Nelle asked, the godsdamned usual snark in her tone jarring my nerves. Glancing over my shoulder, I skimmed her figure at the kitchen sink. She’d plaited the front pieces of her hair into a pretty braid that swept across her hairline, the rest falling loose over one shoulder. Her white dress had an antique lace overlay that hung lower than the shift beneath it, and the neckline draped low over the swell of her breasts, clinging to the edges of her shoulders.
“Yeah,” I replied, lust roughening my tone. Tipping back my head, I pushed a hand through the wet hair sticking to my forehead to shove it back and pretended not to notice when Nelle’s attention darted to my mouth. Her eyes grew hazy, darkening like an impending storm. Intense lust, almost a tangible touch, hovered over my lips.
