imagining his gaze there. She longed to turn and take a peek. Instead, she curled more tightly into herself, tried to make herself as small as possible, and resisted the urge.
The desk lamp snapped off, plunging the room into darkness, and all of her senses jumped into hyper-alertness.
A faint spring creaked, the only indication that he’d gotten into his bed. She envisioned that bare chest exposed above the sheet. Was he wearing shorts? Boxers? Anything?
This was just because she’d isolated herself too much. The unremitting loneliness… going without a man’s touch… without sex . That explained why she would yearn for a lycan who justifiably hated her.
“Good night.” His voice rumbled across the dark, stroking her flesh as softly as a feather.
She jammed her eyes tightly shut, even though he couldn’t know she was only pretending to be asleep.
He couldn’t know that it took hours for exhaustion to claim her, with thoughts of him flooding her, consuming her, drowning her just as that river had.
Only instead of the black river water, it was his brilliant silver eyes that she saw.
E LEVEN
T he elevator dings and you step off. An empty corridor looms left and right, cast in yellowy light from the wall sconces. The elevator doors whoosh softly shut at your back. You step right, the plush carpet deadening your steps as you advance. Doors drift past until you reach the one you seek. The door’s gold-scripted numbers confirm you’re in front of the correct room. You flatten your palm against the wood, imagine you can feel a pulse in the dead particles.
A sigh trembles from your lips as you imagine her on the other side. The one like you. Even now, asleep, she’s with you, sharing in everything. You know this. Your hand slides away.
A quick glance left and right reveals you’re still alone in the corridor. The faint sound of a television plays from behind the door of a nearby room.
You squat in front of the door and deposit the bunch of rose stems. Stems minus their blooms. A slow smile curves your lips as you recall how you used those petals. Even now Jason flashes before your eyes, the pink petals arranged so gloriously around his body. He was more beautiful in that moment than ever in life, and you’re sad… because it’s over. And you can’t do it again. At least to him.
With one last glance at the butchered roses, you step back, satisfied that your token will be waiting there for her when she wakes up.
* * *
T RESA’S EYES FLEW WIDE. Darkness swirled around her, thick as tar. Her face turned instinctively toward the door. A small thread of light glowed from underneath.
“She’s here.” She barely breathed the words but she felt Darius instantly alert, fully understanding and springing from the bed.
Light flooded the room as he yanked the door open. Beyond his naked torso, Tresa could detect nothing. No one. But she knew the other witch had just been there. Standing there, staring at their door. A shiver scraped down her spine to know that she had been so close. That she still was. She couldn’t have gotten far. Shepushed back her shoulders and forced herself not to tremble like a scared child.
“Hey! You there!” A curse exploded from Darius and he suddenly flew from the room. Tresa dove from the bed and caught the door, stepping into the corridor to see where he was going.
Pain stabbed the bottom of her foot, and she hopped back just as she glimpsed Darius slamming through the stairwell door. A glance down revealed a pile of thorny rose stems.
She examined the bottom of her foot where several of the thorns had pricked her flesh. Blood welled from the puncture wounds. With a muttered epithet, she looked back up. The witch had just stood here. Had left the destroyed flowers while she and Darius slept. This time there was no stopping the shiver from coursing through her.
She tentatively rested her foot on the floor, stepping over the flower stems to peer down in the direction
The desk lamp snapped off, plunging the room into darkness, and all of her senses jumped into hyper-alertness.
A faint spring creaked, the only indication that he’d gotten into his bed. She envisioned that bare chest exposed above the sheet. Was he wearing shorts? Boxers? Anything?
This was just because she’d isolated herself too much. The unremitting loneliness… going without a man’s touch… without sex . That explained why she would yearn for a lycan who justifiably hated her.
“Good night.” His voice rumbled across the dark, stroking her flesh as softly as a feather.
She jammed her eyes tightly shut, even though he couldn’t know she was only pretending to be asleep.
He couldn’t know that it took hours for exhaustion to claim her, with thoughts of him flooding her, consuming her, drowning her just as that river had.
Only instead of the black river water, it was his brilliant silver eyes that she saw.
E LEVEN
T he elevator dings and you step off. An empty corridor looms left and right, cast in yellowy light from the wall sconces. The elevator doors whoosh softly shut at your back. You step right, the plush carpet deadening your steps as you advance. Doors drift past until you reach the one you seek. The door’s gold-scripted numbers confirm you’re in front of the correct room. You flatten your palm against the wood, imagine you can feel a pulse in the dead particles.
A sigh trembles from your lips as you imagine her on the other side. The one like you. Even now, asleep, she’s with you, sharing in everything. You know this. Your hand slides away.
A quick glance left and right reveals you’re still alone in the corridor. The faint sound of a television plays from behind the door of a nearby room.
You squat in front of the door and deposit the bunch of rose stems. Stems minus their blooms. A slow smile curves your lips as you recall how you used those petals. Even now Jason flashes before your eyes, the pink petals arranged so gloriously around his body. He was more beautiful in that moment than ever in life, and you’re sad… because it’s over. And you can’t do it again. At least to him.
With one last glance at the butchered roses, you step back, satisfied that your token will be waiting there for her when she wakes up.
* * *
T RESA’S EYES FLEW WIDE. Darkness swirled around her, thick as tar. Her face turned instinctively toward the door. A small thread of light glowed from underneath.
“She’s here.” She barely breathed the words but she felt Darius instantly alert, fully understanding and springing from the bed.
Light flooded the room as he yanked the door open. Beyond his naked torso, Tresa could detect nothing. No one. But she knew the other witch had just been there. Standing there, staring at their door. A shiver scraped down her spine to know that she had been so close. That she still was. She couldn’t have gotten far. Shepushed back her shoulders and forced herself not to tremble like a scared child.
“Hey! You there!” A curse exploded from Darius and he suddenly flew from the room. Tresa dove from the bed and caught the door, stepping into the corridor to see where he was going.
Pain stabbed the bottom of her foot, and she hopped back just as she glimpsed Darius slamming through the stairwell door. A glance down revealed a pile of thorny rose stems.
She examined the bottom of her foot where several of the thorns had pricked her flesh. Blood welled from the puncture wounds. With a muttered epithet, she looked back up. The witch had just stood here. Had left the destroyed flowers while she and Darius slept. This time there was no stopping the shiver from coursing through her.
She tentatively rested her foot on the floor, stepping over the flower stems to peer down in the direction
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