“Jesus,” I hissed in surprise, flinching back. “You scared the shit out of me.”
“I feel bad,” she whispered. She stood there, wearing my robe. It looked three sizes too big for her, and made her look smaller than she was.
I put a hand over my eyes. “About what?”
She snorted a laugh. “About making a senior citizen sleep on the couch in his own house.”
Opening my fingers to peer back at her, I let out a low growl that would have made any shifter proud. “Who the fuck are you talking about? Are you being a smartass right now?”
“Come on,” she said, taking my free hand and tugging at me. “Come to bed.”
Despite myself, I let her help me sit up, unease and excitement fluttering in my stomach. Did this mean what I thought it might mean? Surely not.
“I’m really fine out here, Veronica,” I said, my mouth and throat suddenly extremely dry.
“I’m not taking no for an answer,” she said, still tugging on me, urging me up.
I stood and allowed her to guide me to the bedroom. Unable to help myself, I glanced down, taking in the curves of her body, the gentle curls of her hair, and the softness of her fingers. Iwantedthis woman. Desperately.
I’d almost allowed myself to believe shewasbringing me to bed to have her way with me until I stepped into the room and saw the bed. I chuckled ruefully. She’d built a blanket and pillow wall down the center of the king-sized mattress, cordoning off two sections. One for her, and one for me, never the twain shall meet.
You dumbass.Thought you were gonna get lucky, didn’t you?
“Nice barrier,” I said, trying my best to hide the disappointment I felt.
She shrugged and moved to the opposite side of the bed. “Figured it would prevent any weirdness.”
“Thanks,” I said, slipping under the covers of my side. “Thisismore comfortable than the couch.”
As she slipped off the robe, I had to swallow hard. She’d found one of my old T-shirts in the dresser, the hem of which skimmed her upper thighs. Below that, the tan skin of her legs was flawless. Would she feel like silk if I traced her skin with my fingers? Would goosebumps spread out under my touch? Berating myself, I tore my gaze away. She clicked off the lamp on the nightstand, and climbed into her side of the bed. Even though sunlight still came through the window, it was more than dark enough for rest.
“Good night, Veronica,” I mumbled.
“Good night, Declan,” she whispered. It was the last thing I heard before sinking into darkness.
11
VERONICA
After the chaos I’d experienced, the bed felt amazing. How had I been shopping in a bookstore just the previous night? My life had been pretty simple up until then. Simple was relative, I supposed. Being a middling magical student at one of the preeminent magical academies in America, while also being a mystical shapeshifter, was probablynotwhat most humans would callsimple. But in my world that was exactly what I’d been. There were thousands of people like me in this state alone. I was nothing special. Another cog in the wheel of life. I had hopes and dreams, sure, but I’d planned on an average life. Never in my wildest dreams—or nightmares—would I have believed I’d be on the run for murder and hunted by horrifying monsters at every turn.
I also never would have thought I’d be lying less than two feet away from a gruff, sexy private investigator. A man who was intimidating as hell, but was doing his best to help me. Hell, he was putting hisownlife on the line, and I had no idea if I would ever be able to thank him.
I thought of the feel of his hand on my shoulder, the rough strength of his fingers as they took my arm. The last thing I thought before fully drifting off was the way I’d caught him looking at me a few times. Had that been desire I’d seen in his eyes?
Sleep claimed me like a curtain falling across my subconscious and dragging me blissfully into darkness. Dreams played across my mind, all disorganized, none of it making any sense. Like a strobe light, images flashed one after another. Wendy laughing. Balthazar pointing out a mistake. The bookstore. Virgil smirking at me from across the room. Blood. The angry face of an instructor. Declan holding a hand out to bring me inside. Over and over, they played across my mind with no coherent narrative.
My eyes snapped open when I felt pressure on my hip. I blinked, trying to throw off the dregs of sleep.
What?I thought groggily.
A hand. That’s what it was. A hand on my hip, the fingers slowly tracing along my ass and thigh.Whose…?
Declan.
My first instinct was to pull away, to ask him what the hell he thought he was doing, but I lay still. He dragged his fingertips across my skin, over my panties, and across my leg. A pleasant shiver trickled across my body, sending gooseflesh erupting along my arms. Building up every ounce of courage I had, I pushed myself backward, toward him. To my surprise, the pillow wall I’d made was gone.
Digging his fingers into the crease of my hip, he pulled me even closer until I was pressed right against him. My breath camein tiny gasps of exhilaration. Iwantedhim. Whether it was the adrenaline of the day or something more causing this desire that burned through me, I didn’t know, but Ineededa release. I wanted to push away all the awful thoughts and experiences of the past twelve hours and throw caution to the wind. I imagined him on his back, naked, his throbbing cock jutting into the air. I pictured myself slowly lowering my dripping wet pussy onto him, impaling myself on his shaft.
