Beside her, Dawson was a picture of ease. The easy half grin was plastered across his striking face, and he seemed oblivious to the stares he was getting as they headed down the middle of the cafeteria.
Dee and Daemon were at the table, sitting beside who she suspected was Andrew by the open-mouthed stare he was giving them. She assumed the rest of the students sitting at the table were human, because Dawson had said that most of the Luxen were younger or older.
“Hey, guys, mind if we join you today?” Dawson sat across from his brother before anyone could answer, tugging Bethany into the seat beside Dee. “Thanks.”
Bethany put her paper bag on the table, holding her breath.
“Bold move,” Daemon murmured, lips twisted into a smirk.
Dawson shrugged. “Nah, we just missed you guys.”
Daemon picked up a fork, and Bethany seriously hoped it wasn’t going to turn into a weapon. “I’m sure you did.” His familiar-yet-foreign green eyes slid to her. “How are you doing, Bethany?”
“I’m doing well.” She pulled out her sandwich, hating the fact that she could feel her cheeks blazing. “You?”
“Great.” He stabbed the meatloaf. “Don’t see you in here often. Are you skipping along with my
“I usually eat in the art room.” She paused, pulling her sandwich into chunks. An odd habit of hers that Dawson made fun of.
“In the art room?” Dee questioned.
She nodded, lifting her gaze. There wasn’t an outright look of scorn or anything on the beautiful girl’s face. Mostly curiosity. “I paint. So I’ll eat in there and work on projects.”
“She’s really good,” Dawson threw in. His lunch was half devoured. “My girl has skills.”
Andrew leaned forward and said in a low voice, “
“Finish that sentence and I will stab you in the eye with the spork Bethany’s about to pull out of her bag for her apple sauce.” He smiled gamely. “And she’d be very upset if I got her spork all messed up. She’s rather fond of the thing.”
Yeah, she would be upset over that…for many reasons.
Andrew sat back, his jaw tightening. On the other side, Daemon did the strangest thing. He laughed — really loudly. It was a nice sound, deeper than Dawson’s.
“A spork,” Dee said, grabbing her bag. “What is a spork?”
Bethany’s mouth dropped open. “You’ve never seen one?”
“Dee doesn’t get out much,” Dawson replied, grinning.
“Shut up.” Dee pulled out the fork and spoon in one and smiled. “I’ve never seen one of these! Ha. This is so handy.” She looked over at Daemon, eyes dancing. “We could get rid of over half of our silverware and get like ten of these and we’d be set for life.”
Daemon shook his head, but the look on his face was one of utter fondness. And Bethany got it then. That no matter how much the three of them were pissed off with one another, there was a deep, loving bond among them. Seeing that caused her to relax. As much as Daemon was upset with Dawson or Dee was worried, they would always stick together. It made her want to run home, hug Phillip, and be a better sister.
Lunch wasn’t that bad afterward. The only downside was Andrew, but he left after a while, and she was so grateful that Ash was a no-show. They left with a few minutes before class to spare.
Outside of the cafeteria, Bethany grinned up at Dawson, motivated by the experience. “That wasn’t too bad, was it?”
The smile he wore warmed her. “Yeah, it was okay. I think we should do it again.”
She laughed, and then he reached over and took her hand. He pulled her into an empty classroom full of computers. Without saying a word, he slipped the strap of her bag off her shoulder and placed it on the floor. Bethany shivered, unsure if it was because of the frigid air circulating or the determined look on his face.
She took a step back, wetting her lower lip nervously. His green eyes flared. “What…are you doing?”
“I’m going to kiss you again.”
Anticipation rose quickly, leaving her dizzy. “Uh, do you think this is a great place to test that out again?”
“I don’t know, but I can’t wait any longer.” He looked determined as he took a step toward her. So determined that she inched back and kept going until she was against the wall.
Reaching out slowly with both hands, he cupped her cheeks and tilted her chin up. On their own accord, her lashes fluttered closed. Like the first time they’d kissed, his lips were soft as a breath. There was a pause, as if he were waiting for something to happen, and then he kissed her more deeply.
Oh…oh, God, she melted into that kiss, into him, and her chest expanded, filled with air until she felt like she’d float right up to the ceiling. Sliding her arms around his neck, her fingers got tangled in the soft waves at the nape of his neck. His hands, well, they were on the move, too, slipping down her waist, over her hip to her thigh. Dawson made a sound in the back of his throat, a growl-like noise that sent her blood pressure into heart-attack territory. And there was this heat blowing off, strong enough to melt ice cream. It left her in a heady, pleasant fog as his hand moved back to gripping her hip.
Dawson pulled back slightly and his lips spread into a lazy grin against hers. “That…that was good. Great. Perfect.”
“Yeah,” she admitted, breathless. “All of those things and more.”
His thumbs moved over her cheeks, his hands strong yet tender as he held her right there, dipping his head to hers again. He kissed her deeply, holding her against him. When they broke apart the second time, his eyes were luminous and full of an emotion that sent her heart thundering against her ribs. Because she was sure she saw in his eyes what she felt.
Love.
Chapter 15
After school on Tuesday, Dawson headed home instead of going straight to Bethany’s house, where he wanted to be. Bethany had promised to get the groceries after dinner as a part of her chores that week, so she’d be pretty busy that evening.
It was that time of the month.
Once a month, he had to check in with the DOD. Every Luxen was required, even more so since he lived outside the colony. And it could be worse. Being summoned by the Elders usually consisted of one, if not both, of the brothers getting their rears chewed out for some reason or another, made to feel guilty for “being like a human,” and getting pestered about when they’d mate. In other words, would Daemon marry Ash at eighteen and would Dawson find another female Luxen of the same age?
The DOD would just ask the same old questions.
Yeah, fun would be had by all. He so didn’t need to do this right now.
A black Ford Expedition was already parked in front of his house when he pulled into the driveway. Counting the ways this was going to suck, he climbed out of his Jetta and headed inside.
The suits — two of them — were in the living room, sitting on the couch. Both were middle-age males and bore the same empty expression. Their postures were stiff, though, probably because Daemon leaned against the wall, glaring at them as if he wished to do something terrible to their bodies.
Dawson recognized one of them — he’d been coming to them since they’d moved to West Virginia, but the other was new.
Dee looked up from where she was perched on the edge of her chair. Relief flickered in her shining eyes. Usually that meant things were not going well between Daemon and the DOD, and Dawson would play peacemaker.
Crossing his arms, Dawson said, “Well, this looks like a happy meeting of the minds.”
Daemon’s pointed gaze slid toward him. “Sounds about right.”
