“Well, I was sleeping,” he drawled. “And it was the first peaceful night’s sleep I’ve had since the kid disappeared, too. Hard to sleep soundly when I’m keeping one ear cocked for whatever harebrained scheme you’ve got cooked up, but since I figured you’d have a hard time getting out of the bed without waking me, I figured it was a good time to let my guard down.”
“Why in the hell are you in my bed?”
“Easy.” He sprawled on top of me, pressed far, far too close for comfort, seemingly completely content to do so. “It’s not your bed. The witches only had the one open room and I wasn’t about to sleep on the floor when there was a giant king-sized bed up here. You’re a little thing. How was I to know you’d end up on top of me?”
Blood crept up to my cheeks as I tried to wiggle away from him.
The arm he had around my waist was putting a damper on that, though.
And against my belly, I felt something else—
Oh, hell.
Asshole. He fell into asshole territory and he’s not getting out of it. You don’t sleep with assholes.
Something brushed against my neck. The pads of his fingers.
“Let go of me, damn it,” I whispered. Although I wasn’t exactly expecting him to listen.
It was something of a surprise when he rolled away and did just that.
Scrambling out of the bed, I all but fell on my ass in my hurry to get away from him. “Look, I don’t know what in the hell your problem is, but you need to get over it,” I snapped.
That cagey grin lit his face. “Oh, you know what it is. You just don’t want to think about it.”
I opened my mouth. Closed. Opened it again. Then, still not sure what to say, I decided to err on the side of caution and closed it. Stumbling to my feet, I looked around the room. It was simple, done in dark wood, a dresser by a window covered in heavy drapes. I caught sight of my reflection and then yelped as I realized I was only wearing a shirt.
And not one of mine.
One of his, if I was guessed right.
“What the hell…?”
A heavy sigh came from the bed. “Don’t go getting all riled up, baby girl. You needed to sleep in the worst way and you weren’t going to get it dressed in that combat gear you call clothing. I promise, I didn’t even look. Well…much.”
“You…” I shoved my hands through my hair. “You’re an asshole.”
He came up off the bed and prowled closer. “Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah…I know. I’m an asshole. An abusive one, and now you can even add a perverted one to the list of my sins.” He dipped his head and I stiffened.
Move—my brain screamed.
My legs wouldn’t cooperate.
Heat bloomed inside my belly.
“Here’s the funny thing, though, baby girl…you’re the one who all but climbed on top of me during the night. You had your arms wrapped around me, practically your legs.”
I swallowed, blood rushing to my face.
A big hand curled over the back of my neck, his fingers pushing to tangle in my hair. I felt the warm puff of his breath against my ear as he whispered, “I have to admit, it was one of the nicest handfuls I’ve had in quite a while. But don’t worry. I behaved myself completely.”
That heat curdling inside me threatened to explode. Slowly, I pulled away.
Without looking at him, I snagged my bag. There was a door a few feet away. I was praying it was a bathroom. But even if it was the hallway or a closet, I didn’t care. I needed to get away from him.
Before I did something really, really stupid.
Chapter Thirteen
The last witch hadn’t been able to shed much light on the subject, other than the fact that yes, she’d seen another witch. One who was missing, in this general area.
It hadn’t been a black car, though.
It had been a busted-up, steel blue van.
Something about that niggled the back edge of my memory, but I couldn’t figure out what.
“Now where, baby girl?” Damon asked as he tossed our bags into the back of the car.
I ignored him as I pulled a map out of the glove box. He came up behind me as I was unfolding it. The wind kept grabbing at it and he leaned over, pinned it down on one side, while I held the other.