Page 42 of Thane's Demon
Then she moved. Slowly. Carefully. Like someone crossing a floor of fragile glass. She sank onto the edge of the sofa, curled her legs underneath her, and for the first time since entering the apartment, she let her shoulders drop. Her head tipped back against the cushions, eyes closed, lips parted around a breath I couldn’t hear but could feel. A quiet, exhausted exhale.
The urge to go to her hit me so hard I had to press my palm flat against the glass to steady myself.
‘You cannot stay away from her now.
No matter how hard you try.
She needs us.’
Satisfaction deepened as our thoughts mirrored each other. Because he was right, I couldn’t walk away now. I knew that. I had probably known it the moment she had sat across from me at that small café table and said that my name suited me. Like she didn’t realize she was speaking directly to the part of me I hated most. Every moment after that had only been proof. The way she had listened when I had given her more answers than I ever offered anyone else before. The way she had spoken about her mother with grief and love intertwined. The way her handhad felt in mine when I told her I was sorry for her loss and meant it.
I had spent so long believing distance was a choice I could always make. That I could simply walk away from anyone before it was too late. But there, on that ledge, watching her sit alone in a house filled with people who didn’t see her, I understood with a cold, sinking clarity that I had already lost that option.
There would be no going back from this.
I could try to lie to myself, pretend that I would see her once more, only to ensure she was safe. That I would answer if she called but not reach out first. That I would guard her from shadows and never let her know just how deep the darkness within me wanted her. It would be nothing but a lie. Because I had crossed an invisible line the first time I followed her home, and another when I took her hand in that cafe. Now I had stepped off a rooftop to watch her father speak to her like she was an inconvenience rather than a gift.
I was in this.
Completely.
I stayed there longer than I should have, long after she finally pushed herself off the sofa and disappeared down the hallway toward what I knew must have been her bedroom. I waited until her light flicked on in that smaller room, until I saw her silhouette pass by the window, and the faint shadow of her body curl up on the bed. Only then did I pull out my phone once more. Because I couldn’t leave without once again seeing her smile, hoping that I could be the cause.
So, I sent her another message and waited. Her phone pinged, and she ran to retrieve it from her bag. Then she tapped the screen, and in the glow of the technology in her palm, her face lit up. The smile was one of genuine happiness, and I swear my heart had never felt lighter. Even more so when I watchedas she held her phone to her chest as if my words had meant something dear to her. Yet all I had written was simply,
Tomorrow. I want to see you again.
I watched as she typed her reply, and it felt like an eternity waiting for it. But not only that, I experienced an entirely new feeling I had never had the opportunity to before…Excitement.
Another non-date? Or do you just want to know my whereabouts so you can stalk me more easily?
I couldn’t help it, I found myself laughing. A sound that was as foreign as the smile that joined it. Thankfully, I continued to mask both my presence and my reactions to her so that she wouldn’t detect me here watching her in plain sight. I knew I had stayed longer than I should, but I didn’t care. I also couldn’t hold back my eagerness to reply to her.
I don’t need you to make it easier for me to stalk you. I could find your sweet scent anywhere or follow your happy hum whilst daydreaming. I will always seek you out, little prey.
After I sent this, I didn’t know what I desired more, to read her reply or to witness her reaction to my own. And of course, she didn’t disappoint, as her smile was blinding once again. A grin that didn’t fade as she wrote out her own message in return.
Looks like I need new perfume and duct tape for my mouth.
I couldn’t help but laugh yet again, but more so watching the nervous bite of her lip as she waited to see how I would respond to her teasing reply.
Forget the perfume but the duct tape I could certainly use.
At this, she burst out laughing, a sound that must have startled her as she quickly covered her mouth, as if forgetting herself and not wanting anyone to hear her exhilaration.
So, is this next date at a hardware store then?
Was her witty reply, and to say that I was impressed was an understatement.
Come to think of it, I might need some chains and padlocks.
“Oh, really,” she commented, her voice muted through the window, but her eyes were bright and practically dancing.
Well, in that case, should we say lunch time? Same place as today? I’ve always wanted to see paint samples while drinking coffee.
I grinned down at my phone, amazed at not only the ease in her answers but mainly in my own.
Then this time it’s a date. But the paint samples will have to wait. I have something else in mind.
