Page 114 of The Wicked
“Do you not have normal clothing?” he asked.
“No.” I curved my lips. “It’s all silk and satin in my wardrobe,” I lied. “I think it’s sexy.”
“Of course.” His gaze lingered on my exposed thighs for a second too long before he looked away.
I chuckled, leaning away from the railing as I walked towards the stone chair, eyeing the space beside him and debating whether to sit on the chair or settle beside him on the ground. The ground seemed a better option, and I settled down next to him, leaving just a few inches between our bodies, but I was still close enough to feel how his posture grew tense with me sitting close.
I waited for him to complain, but he didn’t, so I relaxed further and broke the uncomfortable silence.
“This is actually a nightgown, by the way. The other one was a normal dress.”
“I didn’t ask.”
I rested my back against the stone chair, looking up at the dark sky filled with stars. The moon was bright and welcoming, and I couldn’t fight the urge to soak it all in as I closed my eyesand took a lungful of air before releasing it in a calm breath and opening my eyes.
I felt Elio’s stare, and I turned my head to catch his gaze on me, unwavering. He did not attempt to pretend he hadn’t been staring at me, and I did not attempt to look away either.
The gray of his eyes was darker yet softer, like he was in his most relaxed state and had no thought in his mind. The haunted glint I’d found in his eyes the night before was missing, and I secretly wondered if it was the beer that made him seem so approachable.
His eyes… they showed a lot when he allowed it.
I hated that I liked it so much. That the allure of his gaze could suck you in without even intending to do so, and that’s where I was, sucked in.
He didn’t look away.
I couldn’t look away.
I hated that my heart rate had spiked again.
I hated that the silence had somehow become a comfortable one. I hated this. Whatever this was.
His gaze roamed from my eyes to my cheeks, over to my nose, then to my lips. “You have an impressive face.”
I frowned in confusion. “Um, wh—”
“I like your hair.”
I blinked at him. “Are those compliments?”
He looked away. “Observations.”
“Oh…” I shifted. “Thanks for the… observations?”
He nodded, taking another swig of the beer, the remaining contents inside the bottle a drink away from being empty.
“Why are you here?” I asked him, wondering if he would—
“Couldn’t sleep,” he answered.
Devil’s voice filtered through my head from the time he told me Elio looked like someone who never slept. I was curious to know more about it… about him.
“And you don’t have sleeping pills to aid?”
“I do.”
“Why don’t you just take them?”
He was silent, and I watched his brows draw down in a debating frown like he was unsure if he should continue talking or ignore me.
