“Stop!” she cried, and dropping her hands, she turned to face him. Looking at him was far less mortifying than his continued apologies. “I didn’t… I wanted… I said it’sfine!”
Her eyes burned a brilliant white-blue as she shouted the last word at him. The wildness of that color brought his dick back to life, and he shifted as his jeans became uncomfortable.
“You wanted what?” he asked.
Simone resisted slapping her hands on the bed; she had no idea how to deal with this man. He was so muchmorethan anyone she’d ever met.
“Simone?” he pressed when she didn’t speak.
“Stop being such a… a… jerk, and let it go!”
Chapter Nineteen
Killean would have laughedat the fact her best insult was jerk, but he was far too irritated by their circumstances to find anything amusing.
“We’re going to teach you how to swear, dolly,” he muttered.
When Simone glowered at him, he found he far preferred her anger to the distress and humiliation she exuded seconds ago.
“I am not adolly,” she retorted.
Killean enjoyed this spirited side of Simone and wanted to see more of it, but fire was spreading through his parched veins. He needed to feed, and to do so they had to leave this room. “Unless you want me to pick out your clothes, I suggest you dress so we can go shopping.”
“We can’t wear those clothes in public, people will stare at us.”
“Who cares?” he asked. “Would you prefer we go out in the robes or naked?”
“Of course not!”
“Then get dressed and let people stare. You’ve already spent far too much of your life worried about what others think of you.”
Simone opened her mouth to argue, but how could she argue against the truth. Shoving herself to her feet, she snatched her dress off the chair in the corner. Even though it was ruined, she’d neatly folded it and set it there after showering last night. She glared at him as she stalked past him to the bathroom and closed the door.
She tried not to cringe as she pulled the filthy dress on, but the smell and feel of it made her skin crawl. When they got back, she would scrub herself all over again. She also tried not to think about the fact she was nude beneath the dress. For some reason, it made her feel more scandalous than just wearing the robe had.
She ran her fingers through her hair and almost fell over when she lifted her head to gaze into the mirror. The startling, white-blue color of her eyes robbed her breath, and her stomach plummeted into her toes.What’s wrong with me?
She’d prefer not to speak with Killean again, but she had no idea what to make of this alarming development. Cracking the door open, she peered out to discover him leaning against the wall next to the exit. His eyes were closed and his head bowed, but she sensed a wealth of stress beneath his calm exterior.
“What’s wrong with my eyes?” she asked and was amazed her voice didn’t tremble.
Killean opened his eyes and lifted his head. “Instead of red, that’s the color a hunter’s eyes become after they turn. The same thing happened to Kadence and Nathan. When you calm down, they’ll return to their normal color.”
Simone stepped back into the bathroom and closed the door. She rested her forehead against the cool wood as her mind spun. Turned, she wasturned. She’d known that, of course, but seeing her eyes and hearing him say those words made itreal.
Nothing would ever be the same again. Her life as she’d always known it was gone. She didn’t fit in anywhere anymore. Her entire life had been about becoming a hunter wife and mother, but now she could beanything!
Her momentary elation deflated as reality descended. What exactly could she be with her limited education, training, and newly acquired vampire status? She didn’t fit in with the human world, and even if she’d still been mortal, she knew nothing about people and had zero interest in fitting in with them.
So what did she do now? Her mind spun as she tried to figure it out, but she didn’t have any ideas. The possibilities were so vast yet so limited that it made her head pound.
It didn’t matter, she decided, she could figure it out later; Kadence and Nathan would help her. Her future would never be what she’d anticipated, but they would help her get through this, and with an eternity ahead of her, she had plenty of time to sort through everything.
Without having to get married and take care of her husband, she could delve deeper into all the things that interested her, like gardening. She enjoyed digging her hands into the earth, planting things, and watching them grow, but she’d never explored the interest further than what was necessary for her to know as a wife and mother.
Mother. Tears pricked her eyes as her thoughts turned to her mom.She’s okay. She had to be because Simone couldn’t think about the possibility she was dead, not with everything else going on.
Simone splashed cold water on her face and took calming breaths while she willed her eyes back to their natural color. Gradually they returned to normal, and she found herself gawking at her reflection in the mirror. It was as amazing as it was unnerving to watch.
