lost. I really don’t have the time for this shit.”
Sin’s eyes darkened until they were nothing but pitch-black pupils. “Sooner or later, you’re going to need to get back into the game, brother. And if anything or anyone is preventing you from making the right decision, I will personally, happily, remove that obstacle.”
“Are you threatening me or what is mine?” Whoa, wait. Did I just say
“Sin?”
My brother’s gaze slid beyond me to the cabin. “There are some obstacles I’ll have a hell of a lot more fun removing.”
After Sin slinked off, I had traveled the heavily wooded area around the community in my true form for hours, until night had fallen, making sure Sin had left the region.
He hadn’t left immediately. Oh fuck no, the bastard lingered, testing me. He’d kept circling back near the cabin, near
What in the fuckadeefuck had I meant by that? Mine? I stamped a claim on her after coming within seconds of killing her last night? Smooth. That wasn’t even the most fucked-up part. It was the fact that it felt right. Like not taking the shit back kind of right. Weird. I knew I needed to stay away from her, but I didn’t want to.
I also knew I wouldn’t.
Perhaps I just needed to get her out of my system. Scratch that itch and what not. I just needed to do it without killing her.
When I returned to the cabin, I found Serena waiting on the couch. She jumped to her feet when she spotted me in the doorway. “Okay. Before you start yelling at me, I just want to say that I thought you were dead. You’ve been gone all day.”
“I’m obviously not dead.” I stopped a few feet from her. “Are you incapable of listening to the simplest instructions? It makes me wonder how in the hell you’re still alive.”
Crossing her arms, her chin went up a notch. Cute. “I don’t like being bossed around.”
“You like it when I tell you to open your legs for me,” I pointed out, and was rewarded with a fierce stain that rushed across her cheeks. “Why can you listen then and not any other time?”
“Because I like to know what is going on, you giant dickhead,” she said.
“Dickhead?”
“You forget that my entire life has been uprooted and I’m here with you, waiting for the officers to come back. So I thought maybe that was who was at the door. You shouldn’t try to keep me in the dark.”
“Do you ever stop and think it was to protect you?” Stalking past her, I grabbed the remote and turned the TV off. “No. That would make too much sense.”
She twisted toward me. “I get that you’re trying to keep me safe, but this isn’t easy.”
“Really?” I liked her like this, I decided. All pissed off, fiery like the sun.
Unfolding her arms, her hands balled into little fists, she raged, “Have you ever had to rely on someone? Ever have to put your entire life in someone else’s hands and hope they come through?”
The question struck me as funny. “No. Of course not.”
“Exactly!” She threw up her hands. “You couldn’t do that. So why do you expect me to?”
I opened my mouth to respond, but then wisely closed it. None of my immediate responses would rectify the situation.
“I just don’t— Never mind.” Serena stared at me and then shook her head as she turned away, heading for the stairs.
“Don’t what?” I followed her around the couch, keeping a distance.
Serena stopped at the bottom of the steps and faced me. “I don’t get you.”
“Most people don’t.” I smiled. “We don’t have the same social norms that you do.
Probably because I’m—”
“Yeah, you’re an alien. I haven’t forgotten that. But you’ve been on Earth for how long? Since you were a kid? And yet you haven’t picked up on any social norm out there.”
I said nothing because, really, I’d rather stay quiet instead of lie.
She exhaled loudly. “I told you about my mom and you said your parents were dead. Why didn’t you mention that you had a brother?”
“Because I don’t count Sin as a brother.”
“That’s kind of harsh, don’t you think?” she said.
“You met him. What do you think?”
Placing her hand on the banister, she seemed to debate what she was going to say next. “What about the other brother?”
My smile grew tight. “I don’t talk to him about Lore. I won’t talk to you.”
“Forget it.” Spinning around, she headed up the stairs.
I knew I should let her go. Either it was my anger driving me forward or something much deeper, I wasn’t sure. Two seconds later, I joined her on the landing upstairs.
Startled, she took a step back. “Stop doing that!”
“Have you eaten yet?” I started toward her, and the dark part of me growled its appreciation when she took another step back from me. “Serena?”
“Yes. I’ve eaten. Thank you.”
“I haven’t,” I growled, my gaze dropping over her.
“Pervert,” she muttered as she kept walking backward until she hit the railing on the stairs to my loft. She started to head toward the hall that led to her room, but I blocked her. Her chest rose sharply. “What do you want, Hunter?”
Oh, that was a loaded question I couldn’t even begin to answer. I stared at her a long moment and the next shit that came out of my mouth even surprised me. “I had a sister.”
Serena blinked. “You…you
“Yes.” Might as well put it all out there. “She was killed four years ago.”
Almost immediately sympathy filled her gaze. She didn’t say anything right away.
“How?”
“Come with me.”
Her brows knitted and she didn’t move.
“Come with me and I’ll tell you how.” I extended a hand to her. She still didn’t move. “Come to my loft with me,” I added in a softer voice.
She glanced over her shoulder and then to me. An incredulous look marked her features. Her eyes met mine and then she put her hand in mine. My fingers immediately swallowed hers. I led her up the stairs. She came willingly, but she was also throwing off a nervous vibe.
I could relax her by saying something, reassure her, but I said nothing, because I couldn’t reassure her when I wasn’t sure she’d ever walk back down these stairs.
Chapter 16
My loft was spacious and, like most of the house, very minimalistic. Bed. Dressers. A couch and some chairs. There were a few other necessities, but nothing really personal.
I left her by the bed. “Make yourself comfortable.”
Looking around, Serena smoothed her hands down her thighs. “It’s a very nice room.”
“It is.” I kicked off my shoes and sat in the chair nearest the balcony doors. “Sit.”
She looked around and sighed as she sat on the edge of my bed. Her knees were pressed together, hands folded in her lap. Very prim. Very proper. Made me want to dirty her up.
I leaned into the chair and tipped my head back. Closing my eyes, I sighed. “My sister was different. Out of all of us, she adapted to the human world a lot better. So much so that she was basically human in all the ways
