Page 14 of A Touch Of Death

I give him a quick smile before looking away. I stand with the blanket wrapped around my shoulders and shuffle towards where I remember the hallway being, hoping it’ll lead me to the bedroom. Before I make a fool of myself and stumble into a bedroom, I ask Ezra which door houses the bathroom. He answers, “The first on the left,” and I dart to the room before my cheeks grow redder.

Once safely locked away in the bathroom, I heave out a breath. I rub my hands over my face before going about my business. As soon as I relieve my bladder, I wash my hands and thenmy face, wiping away the grime that still covers my skin.I need a shower. I'm nothing short of a hot mess. My hair is a ratty blonde mess, there's dirt in various places over my body, and I'm still wearing Nix's shirt.

Once I'm done, I head back into the living room. I open my mouth to ask to use the shower, but before I can get a word out, the heavenly smell of pancakes wafts through the air. Without turning away from the stove, Ezra says, "Go sit back down. I'll bring your breakfast over to you when it's done."

Who am I to turn down an offer like that?

Chapter 8

Ezra

Noviashuffles into the room, still wrapped in the fluffy grey blanket. Tentatively, she sits back down next to Nix, looking anywhere but in his direction. She still has a pink tint to her cheeks, but it's faded since being in the bathroom. Her face looks cleaner, too.

Ah shit, we haven't even offered the shower to her. She's been locked up for five years, ran through the bloody forest to further her escape, jumped off a cliff, and landed on the muddy banks of a river. And that was basically two days ago. I might as well welcome the guilt I'm starting to frequently feel with open arms at this point. I'll get the necessities ready for her while she eats the pancakes I promised her before she fell asleep.

My mind goes back to that moment while I flip an expertly-made pancake in the air before catching it. I remember the tingling current that sparked from under her fingertips and into my jaw. She surprised me when she reached out to touch me with her small, delicate hand. Her slim fingers were soft against my skin, though my stubble obstructed her touch a little. I've never been more annoyed with my facial hair, which leaves me annoyed at myself for being annoyed. Fucking hell, I sound like a girl. This woman has me all kinds of twisted right now, and I can't make up my mind if I like it or strongly despise it, so I seem to be flickering between the two like an idiot. She's a complete stranger, and yet here I am, making pancakes to make her happy while mentally listing all the items she'll need for the first shower she'll have since being taken and chastising myself all at the same time.

I shake my head and plate up Novia's food, adding the last pancake to the top of the pile I've made for her. Maybe it's too much, but she ate yesterday’s like they were going to disappear at any second.

Once I have her food dished up and ready to serve, I move around the island counter and walk towards her, plate in one hand and cutlery in the other. She's literally twiddling her thumbs and looking down at her lap when I reach her. Her head snaps up, and her eyes meet mine briefly before they fall to the food I'm holding. Her blue and green eyes light up like the fourth of July, and a warm tingle spreads through my chest at the grin she gives me, gleaming white teeth and all.

"As promised," I tell her while placing the plate on her blanket-covered lap. I hold out her cutlery for her, and when she reaches for them, her hand brushes mine, and a stronger jolt of warmth rushes through my chest. Fuck, if that isn't a mating bond like Zayn believes it to be, what the hell is it?

Novia's head flicks up when her skin touches mine, and our gaze meet. Confusion mars her features as her eyes glide down to where her hand is touching me. Does... does that mean she felt that, too? But she looks as baffled as the rest of us, so if she is feeling the same thing, then she doesn't understand it either.

I release the cutlery quickly, and she brings them to her chest. She shakes her head a little and then dives into her food.

"What the hell, man? Where's my pancakes?" Nix asks, throwing his arms in the air with a teasing smirk. Glad to see he's over his bumbling attempts at not making a total fool of himself.

"You can cook your own, you animal." I walk away, heading towards the bathroom, but not before I hear the shifter snort.

Inside the bathroom, I hunt down the essentials: towel, shampoo and body wash, a new toothbrush, and a comb for her hair. I set it all out beside the sink and head towards my room when I'm done. I go straight to my drawers and pull out loose-fitted grey sweatpants, a white shirt, boxer briefs, and a pair of socks. It hasn't escaped my attention that I'm finding things of mine for her to use and wear, but that's a problem for another time.

I make my way back to the bathroom, deposit the clothes onto the toilet seat, and walk back to the living room. I sit in the arm chair opposite her, the one Spencer normally occupies, and stretch to the coffee table for the remote to the television. I settle in my seat and flick the TV on, heading straight to Netflix. While I'm browsing through the movies, I tell Novia, "There's stuff in the bathroom ready for when you're done. Things for the shower and a change of clothes. Thought you might want to have a shower after... you know."

I don't face her when I'm talking, focusing my gaze solely on the movies I'm not even seeing the titles to. I can feel her eyes on me, though, and I work hard to repress a shiver.

"I was going to ask if I could use the shower, so thank you. I feel and look like I've been dragged through hell and back." Her voice is as soft as her skin, with a hint of the rasp that hasn't quite left her since yesterday. My eyes flick to her quickly before going back to the TV. She's wrong. She doesn't look like she's been dragged through hell. She looks a little roughed up, but she's stunning. It's easy to see despite the dirt and wild hair.

"You don't look that bad. You're beautiful. Just need to freshen you up a little, is all," Nix tells her with a grin. Great, he's definitely over his wake up mishap.

A blush rises to Novia's cheeks for a second time this morning, and I hide my smile behind my hand. Instead of commenting, she keeps eating her pancakes, making soft sighs and sweet moans with almost every bite. I have to work hard on staring at the screen and not her. No man should have to suffer those kinds of noises when he's trying to be a decent being. No damn incubus should have to suffer them when he's trying not to be attracted tothe fae. This is a clusterfuck of epic proportions, and we need to figure out what the hell is going on.

Novia finishes her food in record time without a morsel left on the plate. She thanks me again while standing and moving around me to put her plate in the sink. As she goes, her hand reaches out and squeezes my shoulder, but her touch disappears quickly. It's almost as though I imagined it entirely, yet my shoulder tingles from where her fingers had been.

I hear her puttering around the kitchen, and with a quick glance, I see her washing her plate and cutlery before shuffling to the bathroom. When my gaze goes back to the TV, I skim over Nix's face and double back when I catch the dick grinning at me.

"What?" I ask, raising my eyebrow at him.

He keeps grinning like he has a secret that he really wants to tell me but is trying to restrain.

"Stop staring at me, weirdo. I'll start thinking you have some sort of crush on me."

His grin gets bigger, and he slides to the edge of his seat, clapping his hands together and placing his elbows on his knees.

"Bloody hell, Nix. Spit it out already." I throw my hands in the air, almost losing grip of the remote I'm still holding.

"You like her," he says. Well, now I wish he'd keep grinning at me with his creepy smile. I don't bother with a response, deciding Netflix needs more of my attention. I pick a new action movie and turn the volume up, hoping to drown out Nix if he decides to keep talking as well as the sound of the shower that's just switched on. I do not need images of a naked Novia in my head right now. Maybe not ever. The woman has been through a great ordeal. I do not need to be thinking of her soapy and wet.Get your head out of the gutter, Ezra.

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