I roll my eyes and toss the dying phone aside; it probably won’t last another half hour. I eye my pile of clothes on the floor, indecision tugging me in opposite directions. Then I walk past them to the bathroom door and try the handle. It’s unlocked.
Slipping inside, my eyes fall to the shower’s glass door. Through it, I can make out the blurry shape of Joseline’s curvy form.
This is a bad idea. A terrible idea. But even as I tell myself how stupid it is, I pace to the shower door and slide it open.
Joseline jumps, clutching a soapy rag to her chest,and her eyes meet mine. Her black hair is a slick sheet around her, and water clings to her long eyelashes. Her plush lips, swollen from me biting them, are parted slightly.
“What are you doing?” she asks, her eyes dropping down my body and climbing back up. “Is everything okay?”
“Mind if I join you?” My voice comes out drier than I expect, but she steps aside to let me in.
Once we’re together in the tiny shower, steam swirling around us, electricity zaps through the air. I try to ignore it, but the tension is thick enough to choke on.
“Sorry if the water is too hot,” she says, still clutching the rag as she watches me. “Well, you’re probably used to that.”
“Funny.” I smirk and slip into the scalding spray of water. “But, yes. This is nothing compared to where I come from.”
I let the water run over me, drawing the ache out of my muscles, rinsing away the sweat, grime, and possible hellbeast remnants clinging to my skin. I'd been too preoccupied to care about them earlier, but I’m probably filthy. At least Joseline didn't seem to mind.
When my eyes snap back to her, she takes a nervous step back. It's small but impossible to miss.
“After everything, you still don’t trust me?” I chuckle softly.
“I mean, you did save my life…” Her soft expression hardens, and her eyebrows shoot up. “Wait a minute, how did you know where to teleport us? You haven’t been to this hotel room before.”
“Sebastian told me.”
Her eyes narrow on me, clearing not buying it.
A guilty smirk lifts the corner of my lips. I was hoping she wouldn’t put the pieces together, but I should have known better. Joseline is too smart for me to sneak things past.
“I thought it might be a good idea to know where you were staying, just in case.”
Her eyes narrow on me. “Just in case? So you, what? Stalked me?”
“I don’t stalk,” I scoff. “Besides, Sebastian did tell me where you were staying. But I came by to scope the place out on my own. Don’t give me that look. It clearly paid off, didn’t it?”
She doesn’t say anything, merely glaring at me as the steam builds between us.
“I’ve had countless opportunities to hurt you, sweetheart,” I point out. “If I wanted to, I would have.”
I take a step toward her, noting the way she shivers at my closeness. Her heart lurches, and anxious energy pours off her, filling the shower stall.
“What if it’s not my body I’m worried about?” Her voice is soft, nearly a whisper.
I cant my head to the side, mulling over her words. If she isn’t worried about me harming her, why does she still flinch away from me? What is she so worried about?
Her energy?
Her mind?
Her…heart?
At the thought, my own skips a beat. Regardless of how either of us feels, this can’t last past tonight. It wasa one-time thing. I swore to never take a human mate, and there’s no way she could want to be involved with a demon like me. Especially not after seeing what her best friend is going through.
No. When we wake up in the morning, all of this will just be a memory.
I can promise her that.
