Crave - Teresa Mummert Page 0,25

and tossed it on the table and wiped my cheeks to rid them of any fallen tears. I decided to run through the shower quickly, wanting to scour my skin of any trace of Elijah’s touch. I was rinsing my hair when I heard the door.

“Eva?” Grayson called from the hallway.

“Be right out,” I yelled over the sound of the water. I turned it off and reached beside the tub for my towel as Grayson appeared in the doorway.

“You okay?”

“I’ve been better,” I said with a nervous grin. “We need to talk,” I added, realizing I needed to tell someone else about Elijah.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, tilting his head.

“It’s nothing. I just…” I let my voice trail off not knowing what to say. He brushed the hair back from my neck. We stood in silence for a moment as he examined the two tiny puncture wounds at the nape.

“He… bit you?” he asked quietly unable to hide the fear in his tone. A lump developed in my throat and I struggled to choke out a response. I didn’t know how he would react. His eyes searched mine for a moment then he pulled me in tightly against him, squeezing me. “I’m so sorry, Eva. I should have been there to protect you.”

“It’s okay. I'm okay. You’re here now,” I said squeezing him, trying to reassure him it wasn’t his fault. I knew exactly where to lay the blame. I should have known better. I should have seen the warning signs.

“I guess it is a good thing Elijah was here to protect you when I wasn’t.”

I scrunched up my face. Grayson thought the intruder is the one who’d bit me. Swallowing hard I struggled to find the words to tell him otherwise.

He pulled his face back slightly and wiped my tears with his fingers. He slowly leaned in and kissed me softly on the lips. I gave in for a moment but suddenly realized that no matter what had happened between Elijah and me, it didn’t change things with Grayson. I pulled back reluctantly. He looked at me with sadness and nodded his head.

“Right.” He couldn’t hide his agitation, still thinking I was pushing him away because of Elijah, when in reality, we had been over a long time ago. “I’ll… just wait out here for you.” He headed to the living room to let me finish getting ready. I wandered into my bedroom and grabbed a pair of shorts and a tank top from my drawers and threw them onto the bed behind me. I heard a floorboard squeak and whipped around, startled. Elijah stood behind and all I could do was gasp.

“Shh,” he said as he stepped closer. I was frozen in absolute terror. “I’m not going to hurt you.”

“You mean again? You’re not going to hurt me again.” My mind searched for where I had left my gun and I glanced around the room. It was in the bathroom and the bullets still sat on the table in the bag.

“Looking for this?” he asked pulling my gun from the back of his jeans. I reached out, but he wagged his finger at me to stop, “Guns are dangerous,” he cautioned as he slipped it back into his jeans. He inhaled deeply, closing his eyes. I stood silently watching him, unsure of what move I could make. His eyes opened slowly and he licked his lips. “I’m so sorry, Eva. I never wanted any of this to happen,” He whispered, placing his hands on either side of my face. I shuttered and pulled back slightly as my knees threatened to give out from under me.

“Hurry up, Eva! It’s already dark out,” Grayson called from the living room. I turned my gaze back to Elijah. He placed his finger on my lips to warn me not to give him away.

“Just a minute,” I called back trying to hide the shakiness in my voice.

“Thank you,” Elijah whispered and kissed me softly on the forehead. I froze, torn between wanting to scream and wishing the Elijah I’d known the last few days would wrap me in his arms and keep me safe. My head swirled as the emotions battled inside of me. I was paralyzed, like the prey of a shrew.

“Have you missed me?” he asked and even though I knew he was a monster, it felt like he genuinely wanted to know. A blush crept over me as I thought of the dream I’d following his attack. Do I tell him