Devour (25 page)

I pulled him down by his collar and kissed him gratefully. He was alive, I was alive, we’d made it through whoever those guys were, his evil twin, me binding myself to him and his crazy stalker semi-ex. It had been quite a night. I felt his knees lift until he was kneeling over me but he didn’t leave me. He put an arm under my back and lifted me to be closer to him.
His warmth and the warmth my body was creating on its own from being completely affected by him was enough to make me comfortable again. He eased away gently and sighed against my skin. Then he kissed my forehead and put a hand out to steady himself, but he jerked back with a hiss.

“What?” I asked.

“Thorns.”

I took his hand and looked at it. A thorn had pricked his thumb, barely, big baby. I smiled and without even thinking, put it in my mouth to make it feel better. What in the world made me do that? He watched me, enthralled by my actions, and sucked in a breath as I ran my tongue along his skin. I released him and then kissed it. He looked at it and then back to me. The look on his face was hard to decipher. Was he grossed out? Was he perplexed by my human behavior and need to comfort?

“Stop,” he whispered. “I don’t ever want to feel your insecurity around me again.” He pushed me back down to the ground and followed me on his knees like before. “I’m fascinated by you, that’s all. You’re unlike any human I’ve ever come across before. The things you say and do…the way you react to things… It’s all I can do to keep up with you. I think you are going to be very entertaining in the days to come.”

“Hey,” I muttered.

He smiled that smirk that made me first wonder how I was ever going to resist him. And now I didn’t have to. He pulled me up again, just like before, and his mouth found mine easily. He held me so effortlessly and didn’t need my help but I gripped his arms anyway just to feel him real and there under my fingertips.

We heard a grunt and froze, his lips still on mine. We waited for another noise, another clue. Then we heard it again and Eli put a finger to my lips to remind me to stay quiet. I nodded as he raised himself up to stand. Then he rolled his eyes and sighed before pulling me up with him.

“My idiotic brother is awake. We better scram before he remembers what happened and takes it out on us,” he said, but he laughed as he pulled me along, easing my fears.

Fifteen

E
li took me to his house first. Luckily, somehow, it wasn’t past my curfew yet and we were good on time. He said he wanted to clean both of us up before taking me home.

He opened the door and I took a good look around as he ushered me in. It looked the same as before, plain and old fashioned. He took my hand and pulled me through the house, right passed that bird. I swear its eyes followed us across the room.

“What’s up with the bird?”

“I told you, it’s a nasty vile creature. I hate that bird,” he explained as he opened a door to a long line down of dark stairs. “My room.”

“So,” I asked as I braved the stairs ahead of him, “if you hate the bird so much, why do you keep it?”

“It’s immortal,” he sneered as if that idea upset him.

“What?” I asked and turned on the stairs to look at him. He grabbed a pull string above his head and the area around us illuminated. You’d think a basement would be dank and dusty but it looked just like any other room, but huge. The walls were black stucco and the floor was white tile. It was so clean I was afraid to walk on it. A huge wooden post bed sat in the middle of the room against the wall. The room was freakishly sterile and organized, as if no one lived there at all. The bed was smooth and clean like a hotel bed-make job. I looked at him and quirked a brow.

“What?” he asked smoothly as his eyes followed me from his perch on the back wall.

“Anal much?”

He laughed that delicious deep chuckle that gave me goose bumps just hearing it…letting alone feeling it rumble as he was suddenly at my back.

“I have to say, I like you in my room.”

I turned to him slowly and peeked up at him, fully expecting a Tate face; open mouth, droopy passion induced eyes and a tight neck from strain because he could never seem to control himself. I wondered if I should regret coming down to his room. Would he think it was an invitation? But as my eyes found his, I saw that he was himself. His lips held a smile, but it wasn’t cocky or flirty. It was sweet. He really just liked the idea of me in his space. And given by the apparent lack of guests, I couldn’t say I blamed him.

“Me too,” I answered and smiled back. “Are you going to keep staying here?”

“I don’t see why not.”

“Um, maybe because the Horde and your evil-ex know where you live?” I spouted sarcastically and fisted my hands to my hips.

“She is
not
my ex,” he said smartly.

“Whatever, you know what I mean.”

“Uhuh, I do. That you are particularly intriguing when you’re jealous.”

“Well, it’s a little disconcerting…the whole a goddess-wants-my-boyfriend thing.”

He laughed again and hooked his fingers in my front pockets to pull me to him.

“You are one cute human.” He tipped my chin with a crooked finger. “Did you not see the whole me-choosing-you-over-her thing,” he said mockingly.

I tried to scowl, tried to frown, bit my lip to stop the smile but it won, hands down.

“Yeah, that was pretty sweet,” I agreed.

“Yeah. Now, let’s get you a clean shirt and get you home before I have to add ‘Pastor’ to my list of growing enemies.”

“Why does the Horde care if we’re together?” I asked as I took my shirt off when his back was turned to rummage through his dresser drawers. I held my shirt over my front. He turned and stumbled a little at seeing me that way but held the shirt out as he turned back around.

I accepted the t-shirt he gave me and hoped that no one noticed my shirt was different at home.

“Well,” he cleared his throat, “what he said about polluting our race, he believes that. The Horde does. They are a group who takes matters into their own hands and places those of us that they deem a traitor into custody. And they kill humans who interfere with our kind or find out about us.”

“So, they’re like your council or police or something?” I asked as I pulled the shirt over my head and smoothed the front. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I smirked as he went on.

“No, not at all. We have no government, no council, no regulations, no laws. That would defeat the whole purpose in their eyes, though the hypocrisy is almost funny.” He turned his profile towards me. “Can I turn around now?”

“Yes, I’m decent. As decent as I can be wearing super hero turtles from the 90’s.”

He looked me over and smiled wistfully as he said, “I love that shirt.”

“I’ll make sure you get it back.”

“No problem. You’ll be with me anyway won’t you? I’ll just take it back if I want it.” He pulled me by my hands and sat me on the bed. “Now, see, they think mating is acceptable because, as I said, it’s all about control. They’ve never accepted nor understood a bonding and I’ve never personally met anyone who has been. But I knew it would be trouble, I just assumed we’d lay low and then avoid my kind at all cost. But Enoch and Angelina couldn’t make things easy for us, could they?” he spat angrily and clenched his fists on the bed between us. I covered my hand with his, smoothing the angry blue veins.

I waited for him to say something. I didn’t try to soothe him with empty words.

He continued, “We’re going to have to do a lot of pretending. A lot of…lying. A lot of trying to avoid my kind.”

“Are they going to be coming after us or something?”

“I don’t know if the Horde bought it or not. They’re very manipulative and sneaky. They may have just been playing us, but they took Angelina so…I don’t know. I just know that I can’t leave you alone. Not yet.”

“Eli,” I countered, “you can’t just sit outside my house every night, all night.”

“Of course I can, CB,” he replied almost smugly. “You can’t stop me, so don’t even try. I know I can’t come in, but I can at least watch out for you while you sleep.”

“But you’ll be…bored. You’ll get tired of me pretty quick that way,” I grumbled.

He scooted closer and put a hand around the front of my neck, using his thumb to tip up my chin as he said, “Have I not made my feelings for you clear?”

“Yes, but-“

“Nothing. Absolutely nothing is more important than you. Besides,” he pulled me closer and put an arm around my shoulder, “I like the night. It’s quiet. It’s easy to deal with. I’ve lived a very fast paced and reckless life and to be able to just sit and enjoy peace is a gift all its own. And sitting outside your window, knowing you’re safe inside, is just icing.”

“Ok,” I conceded, “if you must. But I don’t want you putting yourself in danger either.”

He nodded and chuckled a little.

“Ok, CB. You got it.”

“So tell me about the bird. It’s immortal?” I asked, continuing my earlier question.

He shifted uncomfortably, pulling his arm from me and leaning his elbows on his knees. He fingered the barbed string on his wrist and avoided my gaze. I thought, that couldn’t be good. I leaned forward too and asked him the silent question with my eyes. He sighed and finally looked up to see me.

“It’s Angelina’s bird.”

“What?” I asked and sat up.

“It’s Ange-“

“I heard you!” I almost yelled and he looked away again. I felt suddenly hysterical. Why would he have her bird if nothing went on and why wouldn’t he have told me about it? “Why do you have her bird?” I tried for calm.

“She abandoned it on one of her escapades to come and get me. She’s had that blasted bird for as long as I can remember. I’ve always hated it. She taught it to say all kinds of stupid things.” He looked back to me. “I know you think it proves me guilty of lying to you, but I haven’t. She left it, I don’t know why, but she did and I couldn’t just leave it there too. Number one, it’s immortal as I said and number two, as badly as I don’t like the thing, it’s an animal. It doesn’t have to eat to survive but it feels hunger and it was cruel to leave it there in that cave in California for all eternity, hungry and alone. Besides if a human had found it there’s no telling what they would’ve done with it.”

I stared at him in awe. Really? That’s why he wanted to hide all that? Because he thought I would assume he was lying?

“Eli-“

“I didn’t want you to think I had feelings for her still or that I was keeping the bird as some love trinket or reminder.”

“I wouldn’t-“

“In all honesty, it just makes me soft to keep it but I couldn’t help it. I’ve had the bird for 21 years now and believe me, I have no love for that bird. It hasn’t spoken a word to me. I’m not sure what that’s about but…” He looked back to me and his eyes pleaded with me. “Please forgive me. I meant to tell you but it just snowballed and then my omission felt like a lie and then you met her and it seemed like it was too late to say anything then; that the evidence was too damning.”

“Eli, you’re nuts,” I said when I could finally get a word in.

“What?” he asked, completely confused.

“You really think that after everything that you said today and everything that happened to us at the park with Angelina that I would think you still have feelings for her?”

He smirked a ghost of a smile.

“Well…I just didn’t want to hurt you.”

“I don’t care who the bird belongs to. It’s really sweet that you saved it, especially since you find it so revolting.”

He laughed.

“Really? I thought you were going to throw some human hissy fit over this.”

“Well, it sucks that you didn’t tell me and it sucks even worse that you think I’d leave you over it or something, but I don’t care. It’s just a bird.”

“It’s not just a bird,” he told me and took my hand to run this thumb over my wrist over and over. “He’s immortal. You didn’t think to ask me about it?”