something was different, wrong even. I could feel her control slipping away. Exposing herself wasn’t likely, but she appeared mad enough to do some damage.
I turned my head to look at Kat for the first time since I’d seen her in the line. And I already knew I was going to hate myself for what I was about to say, because she didn’t deserve this. “I think it’s obvious if you’re wanted here or not.”
“Daemon!” My sister’s eyes filled with tears, and now it was official. I was irrevocably a dick. “He’s not being serious.”
“Are you being serious, Daemon?” Ash twisted toward me.
My gaze held Kat’s, and I clamped down on everything. She needed to leave before something shitty happened. “Actually, I was being serious. You’re not wanted here.”
Kat opened her mouth, but she didn’t say anything. Her cheeks had been pink — the way I liked them — but the color faded quickly. Anger and embarrassment filled her gray eyes. They glistened under the harsh lights of the cafeteria. A sharp pierce sliced through my chest, and I had to look away — because I had put that look in her eyes. Clenching my jaw, I focused over Ash’s shoulder on that stupid mascot again.
In that moment, I wanted to punch myself in the face.
“Run along,” Ash said.
A few snickers sounded and anger whipped through me, heating my skin. It was ridiculous that I was pissed that other people were laughing when I’d embarrassed her, hurt her more than anyone.
Silence fell over the table, and relief was imminent. She had to be leaving now. There was no way—
Cold, wet, and sloppy stuff plopped on the top of my head. I froze, aware enough not to open my mouth unless I wanted to eat…spaghetti? Did she…? Sauce covered noodles slid down my face, landing on my shoulder. One hung off my ear, smacking me against the neck.
Holy shit. I was dumbfounded as I slowly turned to look at her. Part of me was actually…amazed.
Ash leaped from my lap, shrieking as she shoved her hands out. “You…You…”
I plucked one of the noodles off my ear and dropped it on the table as I peered up at Kat from underneath my lashes. The laugh came up before I could stop it. Good for her.
Ash lowered her hands. “I will end you.”
My humor vanished. Jumping up, I threw an arm around Ash’s waist. “Calm down. I mean it. Calm down.”
She pulled against me. “I swear to all the stars and suns, I will destroy you.”
“What does that mean?” Kat balled her hands, glaring at the taller girl like she wasn’t afraid of her one bit, and she should’ve been. Ash’s skin was scorching hot, vibrating just beneath the surface. At that moment, I really started to doubt she’d not do something stupid and reveal us in public. “Are you watching too many cartoons again?” Matthew stalked over to our table, his eyes connecting with mine for a moment. I’d hear about this later. “I believe that’s enough,” he said.
Knowing not to argue with Matthew, Ash sat down in her own seat and grabbed a fistful of napkins. She tried to clean up the mess, but it was pointless. I almost laughed again when she started stabbing at her shirt. Sitting down, I knocked a clump of noodles off my shoulder.
“I think you should find another place to eat,” Matthew said to Katy, voice low enough that only the people at our table could hear. “Do so now.”
Looking up, I watched Kat grab her book bag. She hesitated, and then she nodded as if in a daze. Turning stiffly, she stalked from the cafeteria. My eyes followed her the whole way out, and she kept her head held high.
Matthew turned from the table, probably off to do some damage control. I wiped the back of my hand down my sticky cheek, unable to stop myself from laughing softly.
Ash smacked me again. “It’s not funny!” She stood, hands shaking. “I can’t believe you think that was funny.”
“It was.” I shrugged, grabbing my water bottle. Not like we didn’t deserve it. Looking down the table, I found my sister staring at me. “Dee…”
Tears built in her eyes as she stood. “I can’t believe you did that.”
“What did you expect?” Andrew demanded
She shot him a death glare and then turned those eyes on me. “You suck. You really freaking suck, Daemon.”
I opened my mouth, but what could I say? I did suck. I’d acted like an ass, and it wasn’t like I could defend that. Dee had to understand that it was for the best, but when I closed my eyes, I saw the hurt in Kat’s eyes and I wasn’t so sure I’d done the right thing…at least the right thing by her.
“The Morning After”
Daemon
I wasn’t sure if I was dreaming, but if I was, I didn’t want to wake up. The scent of peach and vanilla teased me, invaded me.
Kat.
Only she smelled that wonderful, of summer and all the things I could want and never have. The length of her body was pressed against mine, with her hand resting on my stomach. The steady rise and fall of her chest became my entire world, and in this dream — because it had to be a dream — I felt my own chest matching her breaths.
Every cell in my body sparked and burned. If I was awake, I’d surely take on my true form. My body was on fire.
Just a dream, but it felt real.
I couldn’t resist sliding my leg over hers, burrowing my head between her neck and shoulder, and inhaling deeply. Divine. Perfect. Human. Breathing became more difficult than I’d ever imagined. Lust swirled through me, heady and consuming. I tasted her skin — a slight brush of my lips, a flick of my tongue. She felt perfect underneath me; soft in all the places I was hard.
Moving over her, against her, I loved the sound she made — a soft, wholly feminine murmur that scorched every piece of me. “You’re perfect for me,” I whispered in my own language.
She stirred, and I dreamt her responding, wanting me instead of hating me.
I pressed down, sliding my hand under her shirt. Her skin felt like satin underneath my fingertips. Precious. Prized. If she was mine, I’d cherish every inch of her. And I wanted to. Now. My hand crept up, up, up.
Kat gasped.
The dreamy cloud dissipated with the sound I felt all the way through me. Every muscle locked up. Very slowly, I pried my eyes opened. Her slender, graceful neck sloped before me. A section of skin was pink from the stubble on my jaw…
The clock on the wall ticked.
Shit.
I’d felt her up, in my sleep.
I lifted my head and stared down at her. Kat watched me, her eyes a smoky, wonderful gray and questioning. Double shit.
“Good morning,” she said, her voice still rough with sleep.
Using my arm, I pushed up and even then, knowing that none of it had been a dream, I couldn’t look away from her, didn’t want to. An infinite need was there, in her, in me. Demanding that I kneel to it, and I wanted to — dammit, did I ever want to.
The only thing that got to me, that cleared the layers of lust and idealistic stupidity out of my head, was the trace shimmering around her. She looked like the brightest star.
She was in danger. She was a danger to us.
With one last look, I shot across the room with inhuman speed, slamming the door behind me. Every step away from that room, from that bed, was painful and stiff. Rounding the corner, I almost ran into my sister.
Dee studied me, eyes narrowed.
“Shut up,” I muttered, heading past her.
“I didn’t say anything, jerk-face.” Amusement betrayed her words.
