Isabelle was surprised to discover that he was truly concerned about her, truly afraid that he might have hurt her. “Of course, you tackle like a girl,” she couldn’t help but tease
Stefan searched her face again to see if she was lying to him. He knew that her pride would keep her from admitting any kind of pain to him. Her violet eyes were twinkling happily though as she grinned at him. That grin caused something to shift, and change inside of him. Something melted in him as he realized that he had been truly afraid that he had hurt her in his overzealous attempt to prove that he could catch her.That she couldn’t avoid him. He had never been worried about anyonein his lifebefore.
“Well, you would know,” he retorted, before he could begin to think about what that worry might mean.
Isabelle laughed softly as he grinned down at her. His black hair was matted to his forehead with sweat, and his skin was glistening with it. The shirt he wore clung to every hard muscle of his chest, and upper arms. Suddenly, she became aware of the heat of his arms, of the way that they felt around her. Their encounter in the bathroom flashed through her mind as her body tensed with anticipation.
He must have seen something in her face for his smile suddenly vanished, and his eyes darkened with desire. Isabelle’s breath froze in her lungs as she felt him harden and lengthen against her thigh. Desire ripped through her and she shuddered in response to the fierce hunger that radiated from him.
“You caught her!” Aiden joggedup, a bright grin on his face as he effectively shattered the moment.
Stefan sighed angrily as he cast a lingering look down at her passion clouded eyes. He was truly getting sick of all the interruptions that her family caused, and he was beginning to think that he would never have a moment alone with her. Isabelle shifted beneath him and he had to stifle a groan against the bolt of fire that caused his hardenedshaftto jump. He groundhis teeth as he forced himself to his feet, pulling her with him.
“I can’t believe you caught her! No one’s caught her since she wasthirteen! This is great!”
Aiden’s team rushed up to gloat as her team walked over to stand behind her in silent misery. Isabelle risked a glance at Stefan, expecting to see smug satisfaction in his eyes, but his jaw was locked firmly and his eyes were troubled and distant.
CHAPTER 10
That night,Isabelle gave into common sense and returned to the other house. She could no longer stand her mother and father’s silent, questioning looks. Nor could she stand her own cowardice. She couldn’t avoid Stefan forever, and hiding from him was proving to be a useless endeavor. He would findher;she just had to make up her mind as to what she would do when he did. She was becoming more eager to just give into temptation, and cast all caution, and reason, out the window. However, her lingering fear about the consequences that might follow kept holding her back.
She could no longer deny the fact that the attraction she felt for him was more than a simple, passing fancy, but something more. It was the possibility of what that something more might be that scared the hell out of her. She would just have to take her chances and see how the chips fell. There was still the hope that he wasn’t her soul mate, that maybe she was wrong, but every day that hope became smaller and smaller.She wasn’tevenentirely sure that she wanted to hold on to it anymore.
In the short time that he had been here, he had managed to totally disrupt her life, and shake the firm resolve of everything that she had wanted, and believed in. She wasn’t quite ready to concede defeat, but she knew that her determination was wavering. She just needed time to think, and to sort through everything.
She had stayed to help her parents clean up, but her mother had shooed her away when only a few dishes were left, so the house was dark by the time she returned. She was grateful for that fact. She was completely exhausted, and she didn’t want to deal with anyonetonight. Her body ached from the football game, a game that they had managed to win by the skin of their teeth, and she longed for a comfortable bed instead of an uncomfortable couchat her parents.
She pulled her shoes off and moaned in pleasure as she wiggled her cramped toes. Opening the screen doorquietly, she picked up her shoes, and crept into the silent house. She tiptoed through the entryway and into the living room. “You came back.”
Isabelle almost shrieked as she jumped in surprise. Her shoes dropped from her numb fingers,thuddingsoftly onto the floor. She spun quickly, her eyes wide, her heart hammering, and her breath coming in rapid pants. “Didn’t mean to scare you.”
Isabelle inhaled sharply as the adrenaline jolt she had just received slowly dissipated. “Crap,” shewhisperedher hand flying to her badly abused heart. “Don’t do that!”
Stefan chuckled in amusement as heproppedhis head on his arms. “Sorry, I figured you would have sensed me.”
Now that she wasn’t shaking with terror, and her heart was beginning to return to normal, she was able to think, and function again. “I wasn’t paying attention.”
“So I noticed.”
His dark eyes gleamed predatorily in the moonlight streaming through the windows. He was sprawled out on the couch, his hands propped behind his head on one of the couch pillows. His long legs were crossed, hislower calves, and feet, dangledover the edge of the armrest. He looked casual, and relaxed, but she could sense a tensionin him that belied his demeanor. He looked absolutely delicious, she decided.
“What are you doing down here?” she whispered breathlessly.
“Resting.”
“You have a bed.”
“I know.” It was just being occupied at the moment by someone that he didn’t want in it. In fact, the one he wanted in it had finally returned, and was staring at him as if she couldn’t decide if he were a monster, or if she wanted to devour him. He was going to make the choice very easy for her. “Finally decide to stop avoiding me?”
She shifted uncomfortably as she bent to pick up her shoes. He looked dark and dangerous sprawled out on the couch.He lookeddeadly and frightening, and utterly irresistible. For a brief moment she wondered what he would do if she walked over to him and laid down beside him. Actually, she knew exactly what he would do, and what she would let him do to her. Her body was beginning to tighten just from the thought of what would happen, of what she wanted to happen. She wanted to learn what it was that her body was seeking, wanted to learn what he could teach her.
She swallowed heavily and took a deep breath as she tried to get herself back under control. All of her resolve was slipping away, and she couldn’t let that happen. She just couldn’t. She needed a few moments to breathe, to relax. She pretended that she couldn’t find her shoes so that she could take the time she needed to regain her discipline. The thoughts she was having were wrong. She was supposed to be staying away from him, not fantasizing about joining him on that couch.
She took a deep breath, strengthened her resolve to treat him as casually as he treated her, and seized hold of her shoes. Standing back up, she crossed her arms at her waist, holding her shoes as if they could be usedto wardhim off.
“I was tired of the couch,”she said softly.
“I know the feeling.”
