Eve of Darkness - By S. J. Day Page 0,35
brought me into the area indefinitely,” Alec replied, setting both ice-filled glasses in front of Eve, and taking the empty one from her hand.
“Oh?” Wariness crept into Miyoko’s tone. “What do you do?”
“I’m a headhunter.”
“For what company?”
Alec smiled. “For Meggido Industries. We specialize in disaster avoidance.”
“How interesting.” Her mom’s eyes lit up.
As her mother reassessed Alec, Eve could practically see the wheels turning in her head. It wouldn’t go well if Miyoko researched Alec’s company and found it to be a fraud.
“How did you meet Evangeline?”
“It was years ago, when she was in—”
“—college,” Eve interjected, before gulping down her soda.
Miyoko paused in the act of scooping up vegetables. She frowned. Alec rested his hip against the counter and smiled.
“I need a shower.” Eve set her empty glass on the counter.
“Don’t leave that there,” her mother scolded.
“It’s my house, Mom.” But she picked up the cup and carried it to the sink.
“Can I help with anything?” Alec asked as Eve left the room.
“Would you mind cutting the onions?” Miyoko asked. “They make me cry.”
As she traversed the length of the hallway, Eve forced herself to shake off the feeling of being invaded. Her mother had obviously been in her house for a while. The washing machine was running and the air smelled like floor cleaner, which made her wonder how long Alec had been out looking for her.
You’re lucky you’re not dead, he’d said when she finished telling him about the Nix.
She couldn’t imagine living a life where a walk on the beach was a death wish waiting to be fulfilled. Even church wasn’t sacred. Nothing was safe. A shiver moved through her.
After a very hot, very long shower, Eve felt slightly better. She pulled on a merlot velour jogging suit and left her hair down to dry naturally. When she exited to the hallway, she ran into Alec as he was stepping out of the guest bedroom. He had changed into a button-down shirt and loose slacks. He looked respectable and edible. She stared.
The corner of his mouth lifted. “I have many sides that you haven’t yet seen, angel.”
“Not my fault.”
“No.” He stepped closer. “It isn’t.”
The scent of his skin intoxicated her. “I’m becoming a nymphomanic.”
“I’m available.”
“For how long?” she challenged. “I keep wondering when I’m going to look around and find you gone.”
“I’ll be with you until we find a way to free you.”
“So you’re temporary.”
“Do you want permanent?” His gaze was hot.
Eve debated that question for a long moment, then offered a weak shrug. She didn’t know what the hell she wanted. A week ago she would have said a successful career, a loving husband, two kids, and a dog. Normal. Comfortable.
“My mom is planning on staying the night,” she said instead.
He nodded, but his intensity didn’t diminish. “I noticed. I offered to find a hotel, but she absolutely refused the guest room. She says the futon in your office is fine.”
Eve sighed. “She doesn’t like sleeping in a big bed without my dad. She doesn’t even pull out the futon, she sleeps on it like a couch.”
“A wife after my own heart.”
“I can’t see you ever getting married.”
“Just because it didn’t work the first time, doesn’t mean it won’t ever work.”
She stilled.
“I told you,” he murmured, watching her with heavylidded eyes. “There’s a lot you don’t know about me.”
“I never got the chance to learn.”
“You have one now.”
Eve leaned back against the wall. Alec moved in, stepping closer and caging her with one hand beside her head. Memories of their recent night together flooded her mind. The desperate consuming lust. The gnawing hunger. The skill and passion with which he slaked both.
With only centimeters between them, she could feel the heat of his skin and if she listened with her new hearing, she could make out the steadily increasing beat of his heart.
“Your heart is starting to race,” she whispered.
“Because I’m with you. Sex is one of the rare times when we’re capable of experiencing the full force of our physical responses.”
“We’re not having sex.”
“In my head we are.”
Eve’s lower lip quivered. It would be so easy to turn to him for comfort and support, but that was what had landed her in trouble in the first place. And when she managed to shed the mark, he would leave along with it.
That didn’t stop her from wanting him. Badly.
Her stomach growled, breaking the moment.
“I cannot believe I’m hungry already,” she whispered, grateful for the intrusion, however embarrassing. “Those taco plates usually fill me up all day.”
“Your body