Fenris: Good point. I better keep moving.
Me: Good luck. Hope your special someone finds you so you don’t have to spend all night running around.
After several minutes of no reply, I knew he was running around again and put my phone away. A huge yawn took me by surprise, and I looked at the bed.
“You’re almost hypothermic. Move over.”
The words barely penetrated my brain before a very warm body pressed against me. I shivered at the contact. How had I gotten so cold? And how was he so warm? I turned my head toward him. Why did he smell so good?
My eyes popped open at the wrongness of what I was doing, and I tried to scramble away from the wall of Fenris’s chest. He was too fast and wrapped his arms around me before I could flee. Defeated, I closed my eyes against the mouthwatering view.
“You better have clothes on,” I rasped, irritably.
“Nope. Naked as the day I was born.”
“Fenris, don’t. I’m too hungry for teasing.”
His hand rubbed over my arm.
“I’m sorry about that.”
“It’s not your fault. It’s mine. I should have fed more at dinner.”
The movement on my arm faltered for a second.
“You fed? Is that why you were crying last night?”
I sighed and tilted my head back to look at him.
“Yes and no.”
“I’m listening.”
“Could we talk about this in front of a nice roaring fire?”
“Fine, but I’m claiming my first hug of the day right here and right now. I just spent the whole night hiding my tail from a bunch of sex-crazed females, and I need comfort.”
I snorted as I wrapped my arms around him in return, careful to keep my hands high enough so I could pretend that he was wearing shorts.
“It doesn’t smell like you minded it. The lust coming off of you is enough to feed a family of succubi for a week.”
“Or maybe one really hungry one for a day?”
My hunger reared its ugly head, and I shook with my effort to control it.
“Fenris, go light the fire.”
He sighed and reached around to pry my hands from his back.
“Close your eyes,” he said just before slipping from the bed.
I wasn’t fast enough and caught a glimpse of his backside. My heartbeat pounded in my ears, and I stayed very, very still as I struggled to recall the last horror movie I’d watched. It’d been exceptionally violent. Lots and lots of gore and strewn intestines.
One cleansing breath expanded my lungs, then another. Some of the hunger eased. I continued thinking of the movie and my deep breathing until the crackle of flames grew louder.
“Are you dressed?” I asked when I could manage to speak again.
“I put on a pair of shorts. I like how you decorated, by the way.”
Giving in, I opened my eyes and sat up. Fenris was in the process of plucking a pair of my underwear from the bench beside the door. He already had every undergarment I’d packed in his other hand.
A scarlet flush painted my cheeks at the sight of the ball of lace he gripped.
“Something followed me again last night. I thought spreading my things around would hide your scent so whoever it was wouldn’t know this was your place.”
He continued to stare at the scrap of underwear he held.
“I didn’t think you’d show up until after I had a chance to clean up. I-I’m sorry, Fenris. I didn’t mean to—”
“Protect me?” He looked at me finally, gracing me with a huge smile that made me want to grin back. “You have no idea what this means to me.” He indicated the underwear he was holding, and I made a face. He chuckled, the sound dangerously melting my insides.
“So about my tears,” I said quickly changing the subject. “After my nap here yesterday, I drove home and asked myself how you would approach Adira’s dinner. You said that the more I fought against her, the more she would push. The few times she hadn’t pushed had been due to the assertive and irreverent way I’d responded to her authority.”
Fenris arched a brow. “That sounds promising, but out of character for you.”
“It was. But at the time of those incidents, I wasn’t thinking of what was right or wrong; I was only reacting. Truly being me.” I offered a small shrug.
“The suspense is killing me,” he said, sitting on the bench. “What happened?”
“I decided to be the version of me they said they wanted. The hungry succubus who fed without care. I fed on them all, Fenris. Well, not Adira. She disappeared before I could. But she was ready. I could sense it, and so could she.
“She knows I was proving a point that no one likes to be forced to do things they don’t want to do. I left the house while Mr. and Mrs. Quill were still making out. I have no idea what happened with the boys Adira brought for me. I left one kneeling on the floor and the other one touching himself.”
Some of Fenris’s humor faded.
“I’m sorry you had to be something you aren’t.”
Seeing the compassion in his gaze almost brought on a fresh wave of self-pity and tears. I barely held it back.
“But I am that. No matter how much I don’t want to be, I’m a succubus, and I need to eat if I want to live. I’m not human. I can’t afford to have human sentiments. I know all of that. I’m just having a hard time accepting it.”
He gave me a small smile.
“You don’t see it, but I do. You’ve come so far and accepted so much already, Eliana. Have faith in yourself. You’ll find who you’re meant to be and when you do—”
A sudden shiver ripped through him with such ferocity that I jumped from the bed, certain he’d sensed something.
Was it the thing that had stalked me last night?
“What?” I asked, my gaze going to the windows. “What is it?”
When I glanced at him, his eyes were on me, but they looked odd. Wolf eyes in a human face, pupils unnaturally large. He closed them and rubbed a hand over his face.
“I’m sorry, Eliana. I’m not myself. Long night.”
“It’s okay. Do you want to lie down? I was going to visit my parents today, so I’m not crowding your space.”
A humorless chuckle escaped him.
“I doubt I’ll be able to sleep.” He looked up at me hopefully. “Do you want company? I wouldn’t mind officially meeting your parents.”
The thought of Fenris in the same room as my mom while he was smelling like sex on a stick turned my eyes black.
“No. It’d be better if you went to class today.”
He tilted his head at me.
“What’s going through that head of yours that brought out the predator? That was an amazing selfie, by the way. You should consider building more photo evidence in case you ever need it. Are you worried I’d hurt your dad? Or are you worried your mom’s going to hurt me?”
The rapid subject changes confused me enough that my vision flickered.
“Your sleep deprivation is showing. Seriously, go to bed.”
He slowly shook his head.
“I’m wound too tight. I know I won’t sleep. Are you going to tell me why you don’t want my company today?”
Admitting the primary reason wouldn’t do any good. Rather than keep him away from my mom, he’d insist on going to prove that he would be fine. So, I settled for a secondary reason.