He settled the beer on the table beside him and laid his guitar on a stand. He rose and in one swift movement had lifted me from my chair.
Our chests were pressed together. His heartbeat drummed against my shoulder. Yes, I was that much shorter than him.
Roan ran the pad of his calloused thumb across my chest. “And you?”
I swallowed so deep I was surprised I didn’t swallow my own tongue. “Me?” I said hoarsely.
“You.” His gaze burned into me. My pulse fluttered at my throat, and sweat sprinkled my brow.
“I might feel the same.”
Anguish filled his eyes. He closed them and cursed under his breath. “I knew we had a problem, but I didn’t know how badly.”
I nodded. “I felt something strange back there. It felt like the fibers holding the bad spirits at bay were thinning. Like the barrier separating our worlds would shred if it had a chance.”
He nodded. “I feel it, too. Your mother was right to tell us to stay apart.”
I squeezed my eyes shut, wanting the reality to be wrong. Hoping that somehow we would find a way to be together.
“Until I know what I’m dealing with in regards to my gift,” Roan whispered in my hair, “I don’t know what to do about us. I yearn for you. It feels like my heart will explode.”
I pinched my eyes tight. Invisible walls pressed around me. I couldn’t hold air. I curled my fingers into the sleeves of his cotton button-down. My grip didn’t hold like it would have in a plain cotton T-shirt.
I opened my eyes. “These shirts really weren’t made for my kind of freak-out.”
He threw his head back and laughed. “No. They weren’t.” His expression returned to agony. “Listen. I don’t know how to right this.”
“You need a teacher. I may have a solution.”
“Who?”
I licked my lips. My throat suddenly felt so dry. Maybe it was because of the words I was about to say; maybe it was because of the emotion swirling around us.
Either way, I had to swallow a few times before the words would come out.
“Who?” Roan repeated. “Who can teach me?”
I stared up into his dark eyes. “My father.”
FIFTEEN
“I’ll have to talk to Tart, see if she knows where to find him.”
“You think he’ll help me?”
Roan and I still stood pressed together. The look in his eyes said more than any words. The agony I’d seen earlier was replaced by fear, which sharpened into anger.
I understood. Why couldn’t you be with whomever you wanted, regardless of some stupid gift?
“I think we have to find out. The other demonologists haven’t panned out. This is another option. I’ll talk to her first thing in the morning.”
Roan hiked a brow. “And in the meantime?”
I threaded both sets of my fingers through his and brought them to my chest. “In the meantime, why don’t we get some rest?”
“Rest?” he said.
My lips quivered. Emboldened by the admission of my feelings, I stuck out my chest. “Maybe we’ll get some rest. I don’t know. We can always try.”
