Obsession

For a moment, the sleepy look in her eyes gave way to anger, and I readied myself for a fight. At least there was really nothing she could throw at me, but she was within kicking range.

Serena yawned…right in my face.

My brows shot up.

Then a disgruntled look crossed her features, reminding me of a small, pissed-off creature that really had no way of defending itself other than raising its hair and baring tiny teeth. Something about the imagery poked at me. Serena was a feisty little thing, but she could’ve easily been a dead,little thing if I hadn’t gone looking for her.

“You’re hurting me,” she said finally, nodding at where my entire hand wrapped around her arm.

“No. I’m not.”

Her face scrunched up. “Okay. You’re annoying me.”

“Want to know a secret?”

Serena looked wary. “What?”

I leaned in and whispered, “I don’t care.”

She rolled her eyes. “Real funny.”

I chuckled. I thought it was pretty damn funny, but what wasn’t funny was the fact we’d only passed the first bend in the road and Serena had slowed to the point that a one-legged baby would’ve outpaced her.

I was out of patience.

It took some time to recover from the kind of feeding I had done on her, and she shouldn’t have been up, running around.

Fuck it.

Letting go of her arm, I picked her up and tossed her over my shoulder.

Serena squealed hoarsely. “What are you doing?”

“Snails with broken shells move faster than you.”

Her small fists bounced off my back. “What is it with you?”

Smiling to myself, I put a little bounce in my step and was rewarded with an oomph, and then a much harder stab to the back. Ah, it truly was the little things in life….

“Put me down,” she said. “Or so help me, I’ll kick your ass!”

With one arm secure around her waist, I gave her ass a friendly pat with my free hand. “You should really watch your language. It’s not very ladylike.”

“Don’t you dare smack my—” A yawn cut her off, totally ruining the level of threat.

“You high-handed, arrogant son of a—” Whamp! This smack was a little harder. “Language, Serena.”

What came out of her mouth next almost made me drop her. She got her ass smacked again for that and after the third time, she quieted down. The rest of the trip was pretty uneventful, if I didn’t count what was going on between my legs. Maybe it was the whole carrying her thing. Maybe it was the spanking her ass. Or perhaps it was the fact I was in a permanent state of hardness since she threw a cast-iron pioneer at me. If that was the case, then my attraction was pretty dark.

It was probably the ass-spanking part.

Serena tried to wiggle free when I reached the deck, but I didn’t let go of her until I deposited her troublemaking ass on the couch.

Glaring up at me, Serena grabbed for a pillow.

I intercepted, yanking it away from her. “I really hope you weren’t thinking about hitting me with that.”

“No. I like holding pillows when I’m sitting down.”

“Really?” I placed the pillow on the other side of the couch. Standing over her, I knew I was looming, and I also knew it made her uncomfortable by the amount of squirming she was doing. I stayed right where I was. “What am I going to do with you?”

She stopped moving. “I don’t know. How about do whatever job you’re supposed to be doing?”

My cock twitched. Damn, I did like her snappy mouth. “I thought I was doing my job up until the moment you ran off.”

Irritation flushed her cheeks. “And I’ve apologized for that.”

I watched her as I mentally tallied up everything that was fucked up about this situation. There was a chance that the Luxen would find her—a small one, but there.

They were the damn glowworm mafia of the universe. Couldn’t forget about Raz and his merry band of assholes, and thanks to her little field trip today and my refusal to let them play with their food source, they were going to be as problematic as reoccurring jock itch. There was also the fact that I knew I would have to tie Serena up to keep her inside, and while that made certain parts of me very interested, it wasn’t feasible.

What to do…what to do…

“What are you glowering about?” Serena asked as she reached for a pillow. Her eyes narrowed on me as she hugged it to her chest.

“You.”

She made a face, then squeezed the pillow tighter.

Close to the end of my patience, I prowled around, caged like a wild animal. When I stopped in front of her again, I saw that her lashes had fluttered shut. They’d been doing that since she sat down, each time taking a little bit longer to sweep back up.

This time she let go of her pillow and let her arms go to her sides.

“Serena?” I placed a hand on her shoulder before I really thought about it, gently rousing her. “Are you asleep?”

Prying one eye open, she frowned at me. “Obviously not.”

“How tired are you?”

“Tired enough not to argue with you.”

That would be a nice change of pace, but… “Do you feel dizzy?”

“Earlier, but I’m just tired now. Why? Did you permanently damage me?”

A long moment passed. “Maybe.”

Serena watched me for a moment and then settled back into the cushion. I remained there and then backed off, heading into the kitchen. Finding what I needed, I returned. She’d already dozed off again.

“Serena, open your eyes.”

It took a couple of seconds for her response.

I held out a chocolate bar. “Eat this.”

“I’m not hungry.”

Here we go again . “You have two options: feed yourself or I will feed you.”

“Jesus,” she snapped, swiping for the bar. She missed by a mile the first time, but managed to snag it the second time around. “You aren’t going to open it for me?”

My lips twitched as I sat beside her. “Do I need to?”

“No.” She tore open one end and took a huge bite. “Yum.”

I arched a brow. She was apparently very grumpy when tired. “Are you pouting?”

“No.” She took another messy bite and when she pulled the bar away, tiny pieces of chocolate clung to her full bottom lip. My gaze zeroed right in on them like they were some kind of fucking mecca.

I didn’t stop to think.

Cupping her chin, I turned her head toward mine. Her sleepy eyes widened a split second before I struck, catching the pieces of chocolate with my tongue. One quick flick and her lip was clear and the chocolate was melting on my tongue, but the soft gasp that teased my lips undid me.

I trailed my tongue over her lip again as I slid my hand down the front of her throat.

I expected her to pull back, maybe even hit me, but she remained perfectly still. If I had any sense of conscience, I would’ve stopped. Serena knew exactly what I was, but her defenses were most definitely down.

But a conscience wasn’t something I really believed in.

Taking it one step forward, I brushed my lips over hers. A sharp pang of need deafened me for a moment