Page 31 of Dark Embers

“You can use me anytime you want.” His voice was husky and sensual, making my core tighten with fresh desire. “Consider me your bodyguard with benefits.”

He moved his teasing fingers to my spine, sweeping them slowly up the way he had while I slept, then brushed his lips over the crest of my shoulder. My eyelids fluttered closed as I lost myself to the sensations.

I tilted my head backward to face him, looking up at him with our lips a breath apart. There was no denying that I wanted him, or that I felt safe with him. He didn’t thrill me the way Tobiasdid, and maybe that was a good thing. Maybe we could just be friends and still enjoy each other’s company—and bodies.

He leaned in to meet my waiting mouth with his, but suddenly his body froze beside me, his eyes going blank.

“Kendall?” I whispered, staring at his face in confusion.

Fear crept up inside me when he still didn’t speak, didn’t move. Did…did I do something?

The memory of the vampire going statue still at my command flashed before my eyes for a split second, and panic gripped my heart at the fear that I had done the same to Kendall. Without even trying!

“Kendall?” I asked more loudly, pulling away from him.

He still didn’t move, just remained stuck in that position with his hand raised where my back had been.

Just as I was about to run out into the hall naked screaming for help, his eyes blinked and he straightened his posture, looking at me with an almost dazed sort of look.

He shook his head at seeing the concern on my face. “Sorry about that.”

I stared at him for a moment, willing my pulse to slow down. “W-what just happened?”

He let out an awkward chuckle, rubbing the back of his neck and biting his lower lip. “I had a vision. Sometimes, they just kinda sneak up on me. Sorry, I hope that didn’t freak you out too bad.”

“Oh,” I said, relief melting my panic knowing it wasn’t my fault. “Nope, just confused the hell out of me.”

I offered a nervous laugh in hopes of dispelling the tension. “How often does that happen to you?”

He shrugged, blowing out a breath. “Hard to say. Sometimes, they happen in clusters, several times a day. Other times, I can go months without a vision. That’s why I’m training with Celeste. So that I can use the sight at will like she does.”

I cocked my head, fascination over the topic growing now that my anxiety was subsiding. “So, Celeste never has random visions like you did?”

“Oh, she definitely does,” he retorted. “But when she does, they’re usually important. Not some stupid shit like me where I see myself eating a bowl of cereal.”

I laughed. “Is that what you saw just now?”

His gaze lingered on mine for several seconds, like he was debating sharing. “Something like that.”

Before he looked away, I caught a cryptic glimmer in his beach-wave eyes, and I knew it was something more than that.

I opened my mouth to pry, but he interrupted me.

“As much as I would love to let you use me again this morning, you should get breakfast before you have to meet with Letti.”

Tension bunched the muscles across my back. “Wait, what?”

He grimaced. “Yeah, I never got a chance last night to tell you that your first session with her is at eleven. We got a little…distracted…”

I ignored the suggestive look on his face and whipped my head toward the clock on my nightstand.

It was already ten-fifteen.

“Fuck!” I hissed, flinging the sheets off me and propelling myself toward my closet to hastily shimmy into a uniform. “Why didn’t you wake me earlier?”

He leveled a flat glance at me. “You actually expect any guy to disturb a hot naked girl who’s sleeping on him?”

I scoffed and rolled my eyes, shoving my feet into a pair of pants.

---