Silent Cravings (50 page)

“But if Christoph answers the door, she
has
to stick around,” Analie pointed out. “She can’t just bolt with him right there.”

Christoph tossed the magazine he was reading onto the nightstand. The least he could do as a guest was get the door when someone knocked. He headed out of the room, running his fingers through his curly hair. It had broken free from its chemical prison once he’d taken a shower, and it was coiled and ready to strike at the next comb that came near it.

He opened the door and smiled broadly at Mouse. Of all the people who could have been at the door, she was the one he wanted to see most.

“Don’t underestimate the power of her timid nature,” Clarisse drawled. “She might make excuses and run off, then come back later when she’s less embarrassed. I’ve seen her do it before.”

Mouse stood there for a moment with a deer-in-headlights expression plastered across her face.

Eventually, she realized that she must look like an idiot by standing there not doing anything and jerked into motion. She had written a note earlier, downstairs in her apartment, and held it out to him with one hand, ducking her head and covering her eyes with the other. If she’d still been alive, she would’ve been beet red right at that moment.

I’m really, really sorry to ask but everyone keeps bugging me and I wanted to know if we could please just get it over with.

She hadn’t been thinking too clearly when she wrote the note, but chances were good he’d figure out what she meant by “it” soon enough. As soon as he took the paper, she retreated a few steps back, still not looking at him.

“Bet she didn’t. I’ll bet she asks him.”

“Ye can’t know she did.”

“Why don’t ye go look, ye silly bints?” Angus said.

“She needs to do this on her own, ye ken.”

“I donae see how that matters.”

“It’s
’
cause you’re an oaf with no finesse, and nae thoughts but where yer next lay is coming from.”

“…so? Wha’s tha’ have tae do with it?”

Christoph read the note, blinked, glanced at Mouse, looked over the note again, then looked at Mouse with a big smile. When he spoke, his tone was cheery. His posture was relaxed.

These were things a warrior learned to affect when feeling things such as terror.

“Yeah, okay. My place or yours?”

“Christoph would follow, though,” Analie put in. “That’s what he’d do with any lady Were in the pack. Mouse shouldn’t be that different in his point of view.”

“I don’t know about that,” Clarisse said, frowning. “He seemed pretty nervous about the subject.”

“She’s a pretty lass askin’ him tae do something intimate. He’ll follow her.” Angus sounded quite sure of himself.

“Why’s that?”

“Thinkin’ he’ll get in
’
er knickers.”

Mouse peeked at Christoph through her fingers in confusion. She’d expected him to either become terribly nervous or at least be as embarrassed as she was.

Flustered, she straightened. Knowing Ashi was there helped decide the matter. The last thing she wanted was witnesses. She beckoned he follow her, all the while studiously avoiding his gaze and keeping some distance between them. This wasn’t working out the way she’d thought it would
at all
.

“Okay, whoa, besides the wrongness of talking about my longtime rival’s personal life, that is not at
all
how a Goliath gets a girlfriend.” Analie shook her head.

Don’t panic. Keep it cool. Keep smiling. Don’t tense up. It’s like getting a shot. Or giving blood. It’s exactly like giving blood. It
is
giving blood. Oh, god. It’s giving—

No.
Calm, relaxed, like the ocean... the gentle waves of the ocean. Calm and peaceful. Breathing normal. Heart normal. Oh, look, stairs. Walk down the stairs. Nice and easy. Relaxed.

Oh God, we’re almost there! No! No! Calm, like the ocean, like a Zen sand garden, like gently drifting snowflakes... collected, peaceful, just going with the flow.

Look at Mouse. Isn’t she nice? Nice Mouse. She’s pretty, too. Pretty, nice Mouse. She’s got big boobs. Whoa, whoa, heart rate normal! Slow down... slow down... nice and relaxed...

I swear to God, if that’s Analie poking her head out the door I’m going to murder—

Ocean, Christoph. OCEAN!

“Who said anything about a girlfriend?”

Clarisse put her head in her hands in exasperation at Angus’ thick-headedness.

Mouse shot a dirty look at whoever was watching them down the hall. She wanted to get out of sight as fast as possible. Unlike just about everybody else in the building, she could
not
find it in herself to be casual about feeding on someone. It was too intimate an act.

Once inside, she stepped aside, rubbing the back of her neck as she tried to find some not-too-awkward way to get around her embarrassment and get this over with. Lord knew how Christoph would react once he knew what it felt like to get bitten.

Taking a hissing breath between her teeth to steady her nerves, she edged over to sit on the couch, plucking up her trusty pad and a pencil to ask the most awkward question of all.

Do you have a preference where I do it?

Once again, she wouldn’t look at him when she held out the note, keeping her eyes covered with her other hand.

“I so win this bet,” Analie said, watching Christoph and Mouse disappear into the apartment.

She looked back at Angus. “There are ways to go about having a ‘fling’ as well, and let me tell you, there’s a whole system to it.” She paused. “Not that I know the system.”