Page 16 of Little Wing
Silas paused for a moment and took a final swig of his drink before nodding toward the door to the back patio. It was fenced in to separate the bar from the rest of the businesses in the area. “I’m going to get some air. Want to join me?”
He was harmless, I thought to myself. If he was going to stick a stake through my heart, Kait would see it all on her cameras. I was fine. This was fine.
“Sure.”
The noise from the bar accompanied us as we made our way through the crowd toward the back patio. When one too many tipsy humans nearly stumbled into me, Silas closed the distance between us quickly. He kept his hand on the small of my back the rest of the way to the patio, and when he moved his hand away, I swore I could feel its absence.
Once we made it, the heat from the bar was replaced with a crisp late winter breeze. Despite there being a handful of people enjoying their drinks and cigarettes, I felt like there was a spotlight on me. Any time Silas looked at me, spoke to me, I felt like I truly was the only one in his presence.
As I walked toward the edge of the small patio, I paused when I could no longer hear Silas’s footsteps behind me.
“You know,” he started with a smirk. “I’ve lived here long enough to have come across plenty of people. I’ve met just about every local, and yet… here you are.”
I turned to find him with one hand on his hip and the other pointing at me.
“I see you once on a random fucking night at a bar I set foot in maybe once or twice, and now I can’t get you out of my head.”
The sudden confession startled me.
“What are you talking about, Silas?” My brows furrowed as I took a step back, trying to move us further away from curious ears.
He turned and stuck his hands in his pockets, prowling closer to me. Again, not bothering to answer my question. It’s like I was there before him, but he was just flipping through questions on a notepad, not taking the time to hear my responses.
“Why do you do that?” he uttered, his voice a low grumble that bordered on a growl.
“Excuse me?”
“This,” he asked, reaching to touch my cheek, but I quickly turned to avoid him.
“What the hell?” I hissed. “Why are you showing up everywhere I am?”
“Why are you hiding what you are?” he countered. His voice grew more strained.
“I’m not hiding anything.”
That was the truth. I wasn’t hiding, I was simply gliding under the radar to stay as ordinary as possible.
Silas wasn’t letting up. He stepped closer while I moved back until I found I had no more room to evade him, and bumped into the fence. Each step he took, I felt his eyes darting around my body. He paused and shook his head. I felt no ill-intention in his presence despite how close he was to me now. I could feel how heavy his breath felt on my skin.
“Blue isn’t your color,” he hissed, his body getting dangerously close to mine, so close he could reach and press his hand to the wood fence I leaned back against.
“And what is?” I asked softly, my eyelids heavy, drinking in his presence.
“Whatever is under those lenses,” he finally answered.
“I like to change my eye color—is that a crime?” I managed to say.
“No, but why hide?” he asked again. This time I heard the wood creak under what I assumed was a tight fist.
“I’m not…” I huffed, pulling myself from the intensity of his stare. Why was he still interrogating me like this? “I’m not hiding. Why are you asking me all these questions? What have I done to you? Why are you following me?”
Silas leaned in a little closer, watching me intently to see if I would push him away. Whatever was happening, I couldn’t show an ounce of how uneasy he made me feel. Not out of fear, but something I didn’t dare put words to. What cover I had was shattered, because he knew very well that if I was human then my heart would be beating out of my chest at the scent he carried. Leather, pine, and a touch of crimson on his breath. My Gods, it was intoxicating. So infuriatingly intoxicating.
“So, nothing to hide?” His voice was low as he leaned in closer, until his full lips barely brushed the thin skin on my neck. I felt his nose twitch. He smelled me. He knew. Yet he said nothing before whispering against my skin. “In that case, you wouldn’t mind if I had a bite of you, right? I could go for an aftertaste of red… whatever it is you were drinking. What was it, Lotus? Wine, really?”
“What do you want me to say?” I uttered, remaining as still as I could. His lips continued to wander along my neck, stopping at my throat, and I didn’t want to admit how it sent a lightning bolt to my core.
That was enough. I squeezed my eyes shut to pull myself from whatever twisted game he was dragging me into. I pushed him off me by the shoulders and he moved with little effort, responding to my delicate touch. “What do you want from me?”
