Reaver drummedhis fingers on the steering wheel as he drove. I was feeling unnerved by the weirdly possessive shit he had just said to me and also oddly turned on. I squeezed my thighs together in an attempt to quell the burning that had pooled in my core and his eyes flicked to my lap before returning to the road.
There was no way he could tell… could he?
I nervously picked at one of the leather cuffs I always wore to cover up my scars. His eyes flickered toward that movement, too. I saw the question before it left his lips.
“Why?” he asked, glancing intentionally down at where the cuffs poked out from under my jacket. I narrowed my eyes on him.
“Why what?” If he was going to be a nosey fucker, I was going to make him say it.
“Why did you try to kill yourself?” It was a question, but his delivery was flat as he checked his blind spot before changing lanes to get off at my exit.
“Reaver, we are not nearly close enough for you to ask me a question like that,” I said quietly. “I don’t even think I like you, and Iknowyou don’t like me. So let’s not pretend you give a shit why I tried to kill myself.”
He glanced over at me as he eased the car off the busy main roads that ran like arteries through Gravestone. We bled smoothly into my more residential area, and he pulled in front of my little apartment.
I moved to get out, but his hand shot out and grabbed me.
“I didn’t say you could get out yet,” he growled, though his tone was not as angry as it normally was. I let out an exasperated sigh and turned to face him.
“What now?” I asked but froze when I found him looking at me in a way I hadn’t seen before. He was studying me, and he looked almost confused. Conflicted even.
After a long pause, he finally seemed to find the words to speak. “I never said I didn’t like you, Lilith.” His voice was quiet, almost a whisper.
“You didn’t need to say it, Reaver. It’s clear in the way you treat me.” I glanced down at my hands and rubbed the leather cuffs on my wrists awkwardly. “No one’s ever tried to be my friend before, you know. I’ve accepted that friends just aren’t in the cards for me, but no one has ever been as mean to me as you are either. Not even…” I trailed off. I obviously couldn’t tell him how Death had been stalking me. I eyed my apartment anxiously. I had a feeling my demon would be paying me a visit tonight. I had broken a lot of his rules lately.
“Not even who?” he asked quietly.
“Nevermind. Anyway, the point is, you don’t have to pretend you like me. I’m used to being alone.”
“Again. I never said I didn’t like you. I said we could never be friends.”
I shot him a look. “Isn’t that the same thing?”
His gorgeous hazel eyes were swimming in the golden light of the streetlamps that lined the quiet road. Reaching out and gripping my chin, he ran his thumb over my lower lip and pulled it down gently, exposing my bottom teeth to him.
He licked his lips, and his gaze dropped down to my mouth again before flicking back up to my eyes.
“No, Lilith. It’s not thesame thing.”
We stayed like that for a moment before I realized he was still touching me. If Death hadn’t killed him over everything that had happened yesterday, he would probably kill him now. I tugged my chin away from his fingers.
“You shouldn’t touch me,” I said, even though a part of me wished that he could touch me for just a little longer. He was a fucking asshole, yes, but I was so deprived of human contact even small touches felt precious.
“And why is that?” he asked, looking intrigued.
For a moment, I thought about lying to him, then decidedfuck it. Who cares if he knew? He probably wouldn’t believe me anyway.
“Because everyone who touches me dies.”
A wicked smile curled across his lips, and his eyes gleamed sadistically in the moonlight.
“I’m not afraid of death, Lilith.” I frowned at him and shook my head. He didn’t get it. “Now be a good girl and go to bed. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“The devil doesn’t come dressed in a red cape and pointy horns. He comes as everything you’ve ever wished for.”
—TUCKER MAX
Chaos was waiting for me when I walked in. He was sitting pretty on my kitchen table, and I smiled at him. Reaver had been weird today, though not entirely in a bad way. He definitely exhibited some sketchy red flag behavior with the whole seatbelt thing, sure. But he had also helped me with the police situation and been almost…niceon the car ride home. It made me hopeful.
