Page 77 of Fanged Embrace
I closed the distance. I broke every rule I had set for myself in one tiny but monumental movement.
I kissed her.
37
River
The car ride home was… quiet.
I glanced over at Laurie, who kept her head firmly turned toward the window. Her expression in the reflection of the glass was conflicted, but I didn’t need to look at her to know that. I could feel it in her aura, a confused haze of emotion, thrumming with tension.
I turned my eyes to the road ahead and hit the gas, barely daring to breathe for fear of breaking the silence along with this fragile, unspokensomethingbetween us. The bridge that linked her and me felt like it was made of glass.
We sped down the street, city lights stretching to a blur on either side, and my thoughts ran wild.She kissed me. Laurie kissed me.One minute I’d been teasing her, entertained by her fiery temper, and the next she had her hands on my shoulders, lips pressing ever so gently to mine. For all my fancy future visions, I hadn’t even seen it coming.
I licked my lips and heard the click in my throat when I swallowed. I didn’t dare look at her again—didn’t dare speak asingle word—deathly afraid that anything I might say would scare her away for good.
Laurie herself hadn’t spoken at all.
After she’d kissed me, she had pulled away, breathing hard and fast and wild. I heard her heart beating like hummingbird wings. Her eyes had frantically searched mine, almost pleading in their intensity, in her search for understanding. I knew what she was looking for, but I wasn’t sure how to tell her that the answer she sought could only be found by looking inward.
So all I did was stare back, hands resting lightly on her hips, waiting for her to make the next move. Allshedid was look away, back up to put some distance between us, and slowly walk herself toward the car. We hadn’t spoken a word to each other since.
The silence continued all the way home, and so did the tension—until my nerves were frayed and my hands were shaking when I gripped the wheel. I couldn’t discern her next move. Her aura was going haywire and deciphering that muddle of emotion was practically impossible.
The phantom heat of her lips on mine lingered, the ghost of her fingers fluttering around my throat. It was pure torture wondering if this would be the end of our partnership, if Laurie would decide that this was a line that should never have been crossed. It was further torment to find myself hoping that maybe this would be the beginning of something more.
Laurie confirmed neither, not even when we rolled to a stop outside my house. She remained tight-lipped and distant all the way to the front door, and then offered a muttered, “G’night,” before disappearing down the guest-wing hall without a backward glance.
I watched her retreat, taking in the tension in her shoulders, apparent even under the layers she wore, and the aggressive way she shoved her hands into her jacket pockets. I listened toher sharp footsteps until they faded to an echo, and realized my pulse hadn’t dropped below a sprint since she’d kissed me.
I shut the door behind me and then stood there, floundering in the silence, adrift and alone in unchartered territory. My home and all my trinkets stared back at me, the usual comfort of clutter suddenly stifling. I had hordes and collections galore, but it didn’t mean anything if I had no one to share it with. I didn’t want to go back to wandering empty hallways by myself.
With a sigh that deepened dramatically with every step, I forced myself to walk to my bedroom. Kicking the door shut at my back, I leaned against it, staring blankly at the queen-sized bed. So much space for one person. So much space to share—if she’d only let me.
If Laurie would just let me in.
I stepped out of my shoes, stripped down to my underwear, and crawled into bed with a groan. I lay there for what felt like ages, stewing in unease, agitated and gripped by too many unanswered questions. Should I have stopped her? Should I have said something? Should I check on her now? What if she was already halfway out the window?
I cast my aura out through the house, feeling around for hers, but that chaotic clash of emotions she’d exuded earlier was gone. It had calmed to a simmer, pulsing like a heartbeat through the hallways.
I closed my eyes, tried to sleep. Failed dramatically.
I tried meditation, but that failed me too. I couldn’t force my mind blank, couldn’t summon that calm, collected serenity that usually came so easily. What was wrong with me? What was I doing? How had she managed to pull the rug out from under me with a simple, solitary kiss?
I gave up trying to relax and gave in to restlessness.
My bare feet hit the floor and I groped around for my robe, slipping into it and sliding out into the hallway to wander like aghost. The house was dark and silent, and Laurie was probably well on her way to dreamland if she wasn’t halfway down the street already. I trailed alongside the koi pond, listening to the trickle of water and letting it smooth over my flayed nerves.
I was so focused on the sound, so wrapped up in my own tumultuous thoughts, I didn’t hear her at all—not until I turned a corner and found Laurie standing stock still and staring at me from the opposite end of the hall.
I stopped short and stared back, both of us poised like deer in headlights, watching one another from a distance in the half-dark. Faint moonlight cast the scene in a faded blue, washing the both of us pale as porcelain.
Laurie’s eyes were wide as she inched forward a step, tentative like she was afraid to get too close. “I–uh. I couldn’t sleep.”
A nervous chuckle was out of my mouth before I could swallow it. “Yeah… me too.”
“I…” She folded her arms, then unfolded them, then fisted her hands at her sides and blurted, “I’ve never done that before.”
