“Have you seen my panties?”
Eclipse noticed the blush that suffused her cheeks as her eyes scanned the floor.
“Please don’t go,” he said softly.
Those cornflower-blue eyes darted to him, but they didn’t linger. “Like I said, I’ve got a life to get back to.”
So that was the way she was going to play it?
“Orianna…”
The smile that formed on her face was forced, her eyes never meeting his. “Look, Eclipse. About last night … or today. Whatever. That was fun and all, but…”
“Fun?” Eclipse snorted. “That’s not quite the word that came to mind. Maybe mind-blowing. Or earth-shattering. Cataclysmic, even.”
She rolled her eyes, but her smile was softer, a bit more relaxed.
He doubted she wanted him to wait her out, but Eclipse was curious as to what excuse she would come up with, so he remained where he was, watching her.
Finally, she spun around to pace to the far side of the room, turned back. “I don’t know what’s going on here.” She motioned toward the bed as she neared. “This … whatever all that was…” She exhaled heavily, then sat on the edge of the bed at his feet. “I haven’t quite wrapped my head around any of this yet.”
“Any of what?”
“You. Me. This.” She glanced over her shoulder. “Vampires and angels. Was any of that real? Or was I dreaming?”
“It’s real.”
“Which means nothing is as it seems, and my sister really is dead.”
Eclipse felt the pain as it washed over her. “I’m sorry,sezari, but yes.”
Another exhale, this one rich with exhaustion. “I was worried you would say that.”
“Call in to work,” he found himself saying at the same time he was thinkingor quit altogether. He preferred she do the latter.
“I just started there. If I do, they’ll fire me.”
He smiled because there had been absolutely no conviction in her words. “Good. Let them. We’ll spend the night together.”
As she peered back, he saw her smile in profile. “Didn’t we already do that?”
“If you’re talking about what went on here”—he patted the mattress—“that was how we passed the daylight hours. It’s night. Time for us to get up.”
“So you’re a night owl, too, huh?”
“I … uh … can’t go out in the sun,” he reminded her, watching for her reaction.
“Oh, right.” Her eyes darted to the windows. “Like vampires.”
He smiled. “We share a few characteristics.”
Orianna turned, resting her knee on the mattress. “Just out of curiosity, what exactly do you have that they don’t?”
Eclipse smiled. “A way with the ladies, for one.”
She barked a laugh that eased some of the tension inside him. “Yeah?”
“I don’t hear you complaining.”
