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.“Great.Just great.You’re a magnet, you know that? Damn.”He ran a hand over his face and the gesture, combined with those words, reminded me of Wes.For a moment, the emptiness I felt was more painful than the aching and stinging of my wounds, and I couldn’t even see Alex’s face in front of me.Only a mental image of Wes.Of the way he’d looked on our last day together before I’d come to school.He’d told me not to forget him.It made me feel guilty for standing in a motel room, with Alex, wearing nothing but a robe.But then the memory of the full moon came crashing back in, and I hardened myself against the guilt and pushed it away.“You never said how you found me,” I said, moving to a new topic to clear my head.“Cambria.”“She told you I left but not where I was going.”“Oh, that was easy.” His lips crept into a smirk.“I tracked you.”“But I made sure not to leave a trail,” I said.“You really need to work on that.”He was still smirking.And looking at me.And standing way too close.I stepped back and his smile faded, like he understood my reason for putting distance between us.“I found you some clothes,” he said, pointing at a pile of fabric he’d dumped on the bed.“I’m going to go find us a car and then we’re heading back.I trust you not to leave while I’m gone.”I blinked, totally giving away my intention with my lack of response.He doubled back and grabbed the clothes off the bed and tucked them under his arm.“Unless you want to go see Miles wearing nothing but a bathrobe.Bet that would make his day.”He sailed out the door like he couldn’t care less whether I stayed or went.I paced for a while before finally admitting the aches and pains of my body were getting to me and stretched out across the bed.I didn’t think I could sleep, after all the adrenaline that had pumped through me that morning but I guess the aftermath of panic tended to make one drowsy.I drifted off to the mental replay of me growling.*A hand on my arm woke me.Not the pressure of the touch but the pain it caused.“Ow,” I muttered, rolling away from whatever had pressed on my bruises.I eased onto my other side and came face to face with Alex.His eyes were closed and his breathing was even.He was curled on his side, still in the same clothes he’d worn earlier.There was a small smudge of dirt under his right eye that I hadn’t noticed earlier.Actually, there was a lot I hadn’t noticed earlier.Like the exact texture of his skin, or the smooth olive color of it.I’d never been close enough to take in the details.I held my breath as he shifted and brought his arm up to tuck under him.The arm that had fallen over me and woken me.I knew I should get up, move away, anything to put distance between us, but I couldn’t.Alex asleep was mesmerizing.The intensity he always wore when he was awake was gone.It made him more approachable.I wanted to enjoy being this close to him and not wanting to kill him.“You’re staring at me,” he said, his lips barely moving, his eyes still closed.I tensed.“You’re awake.” He didn’t answer and I felt awkward.I tried to think of something else to say.“Did you get a car?”“I did.” His eyes opened slowly, almost lazily, and met mine.Something in my stomach leaped into my throat.I couldn’t speak.“Your clothes are over there,” he said, nodding his head towards the bathroom counter.His voice was low and gruff from sleep.“Right.I’ll get dressed,” I said, scooting away and turning my head before he could see the redness creeping into my cheeks.I felt his hand close over my wrist and pull me back to the pillow.“I wasn’t telling you to get up,” he said.“What are you telling me?” I asked, hating that I’d even voiced the question at all; afraid of the answer.He didn’t respond with words, though.He leaned in and closed the gap, quick enough that neither of us had a chance to change our minds.Our lips met and held for a long moment and then his mouth moved against mine.This was bigger than the first time we’d kissed.That had been almost chaste, the way his lips had planted themselves on mine, unmoving and hard.This was different.Like a dance, starting slow and building into something heavier, something I wasn’t sure I could stop.Alex pulled away first.He stared back at me with a fierce expression, and for a second, I thought it wasn’t over.But then he sat back and blinked and the moment faded.I pushed myself up onto my elbows and tried to breathe normally.Alex seemed like he was trying to do the same.He cleared his throat and did a complete subject change.“You handled yourself pretty well on your own.I almost forgot to tell you that,” he said.“As for Miles, your plan wasn’t a bad one.But you need a team to help coordinate all of the possible what-ifs.We’ll go back to school and regroup and then try again, okay?”I was too shocked to argue [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]