And frankly? I’m willing to take every last crumb of her I can get a hold of, even if it means following her around with a football-shaped fur ball.
I’m trying not to stare at her, which is exactly why I’m the first to see her freeze, her gaze fixed on something in the trees.
She goes tense, making Hank react and stop walking.
“You okay, Kal?”
It takes her a second to answer, her gaze searching for something, and I look in the same direction to see what’s happening.
But all I see are people walking around, some holding hands, others with kids, there’s even someone flying a kite by the pond.
Nothing unusual.
Definitely no one as threatening as last night.
Thank fuck.
“I thought I saw… Nevermind.”
She shakes her head as if dismissing the thought, but the forced casualness in her posture tells me she’s still on high alert.
Hell, I’m not sure I’ll be able to walk in the dark for a while after last night’s events.
I should definitely offer to meet Kallie at the hotel after her next shift. Maybe she’ll actually accept my offer now. After last night, and after this morning…
I’m busy remembering all the ways she’d moaned my name, opened herself to me, looking relaxed, carefree and so fucking beautiful, that I don’t notice Sir Wigglebutt pullin me towards a nearby bench where he walks underneath like it’s a doorway.
Unfortunately for me, the doorway is too short, and I smack my knee right into it, shattering the daydream of her smooth, wet skin.
I let out a sharp yelp. “Ow!” I rub at the joint while Sir Wigglebutt wraps his leash twice—no, make that three times—around the nearby garbage can.
“What happened?”
Her lavender eyes meet mine with concern.
I just throw her a smirk. “You were wrong. Sir Wigglebutt is a much bigger menace than Hank the Tank.”
Her answering laugh makes me forget every bruise and ache. That sound is worth any price, and I’d pay it a thousand times over just to keep hearing it.
I would absolutely endure every and all hardships again and again if it means I get to hear her laugh like this all the time.
New goal unlocked.
Find all the things that make Kallie laugh. And moan. And gasp my name.
Yep.
Solid plan.
Chapter Sixteen
LET IT MARINARA
The pretty little night flower.
Even though I’m too far to catch her scent, I know from memory she’d smell delectable. Rich. Irresistible. The aroma of her skin, her blood, is a fragrance without equal in this fading world.
My throat burns at the anticipation of a drop and my fangs ache, the thirst almost too unbearable. I nearly leap across the path to her, my sweet, and claim what’s mine. But it’s not time yet.
