She rolls back over, making all sorts of ruckus as she settles. I’ve never had much cause to hate my lustful heritage. I’ve always been able to sate the beast. But at this moment all I want is this mad need for her body to disappear. It’s more than just pain now. It feels as if a black cloud is consuming me, fogging my mind and vision. I attempt to blink it away.
I think about Anna’s last question, and suddenly my childhood mate Ginger’s face fills my mind. That awkward, terrible night when she hit on me in front of Blake comes rushing back. “I suppose I did refuse one, but she doesn’t count.” I’m babbling now, but talking seems to help. Will this feeling pass?
“Why not?” she asks.
“Because she was Neph.” My stomach tightens when I think of Ginger. She was my friend once. My closest friend.
Anna says nothing, and I’m left standing there with a rather large problem. The feeling is not passing. I desperately need to have sex or I may have to curl into the fetal position and howl. I adjust myself while she’s not looking. How do regular blokes deal with this torture when they’re turned down all the time?
“This must be the part where I take a cold shower?”
Can’t she sense my need? Doesn’t she care at all that it feels as if I’ve been racked by a giant?
Apparently not. “Good idea” is all she says.
Cold. Hearted.
I trudge stiffly to the bathroom and climb into the shower, but it does nothing for me. I cannot believe this is happening. I shouldn’t have lost control while we kissed. I should have taken my bloody time and gotten her so hot she was begging for more. How the hell did the little nun get the upper hand over me? I am reduced to showering with myself, which is an inadequate substitute for what I need. But then I remember the girl at the hotel desk who checked me in. Midtwenties. Bored out of her gourd. Completely hot for me.
Brilliant.
I dry myself and walk into our room stark naked, but she doesn’t even peek. The girl is infuriating. I quickly dress, find a room key, and open the door.
Anna perks up from her bed. “Where are you going?”
Look who suddenly cares. I frown at her, hoping she feels a bit of the pain and frustration I’m experiencing.
“I have to work,” I say.
“Have to? Or want to?”
Anger and indignation rip through me. This girl has no clue, and she has the nerve to try to make me feel bad? She’s never feared for her life. She’s never given in to her dark side and then experienced the physical impossibility of ignoring it ever again. I cannot stand here and listen to her.
“Why should that matter, Anna? I’m going now.”
“Where will you go?” she all but shouts. She sounds a bit desperate, which gives me some amount of satisfaction.
I’m glad to tell her, and I hope it makes her share a bit of my agony. “I’ll go visit the girl at the front desk, just as she suggested. So unless you’ve changed your mind . . . ?” I give her one last chance, and I watch as envy and sadness fight for space in her aura. But she only shakes her head.
“Didn’t think so,” I mutter. Then I flick off the light and shut the door, checking to be sure it locks behind me.
Her words ring in my ears, but I shake my head to rid myself of them. I enjoy my work most of the time. And tonight I definitely will.
I walk with purpose down the pavement to the front office, where I can see the girl through the glass window. She’s on her mobile. When she catches sight of me her eyes go wide and she quickly hangs up, smoothing her curls down. She greets me with a big smile and a heavy Southern accent.
“Hi there . . . Mr. Rowe, right? Everything okay?”
“Yes. Just Kaidan, please.” I swish damp hair from my eyes. I’m not really in the mood for a detailed seduction. I’d prefer to make this quick, so I delve into my bag of douchery. “I’m trying to give my sister some time to herself in the room. Our grandmother just passed, and she’s taking it hard.”
The girl puts a hand against her chest, and her aura fills with sadness. “Oh, bless her heart.