Crave - Teresa Mummert Page 0,41
about a guy?” My father was doing his best to get me to be forthcoming with information.
“I-I started seeing someone new,” I explained as Elijah rested against my kitchen counter and smiled as he bit into a pickled red beet egg, making a disgusted face at the taste. “Grayson is just jealous,” I continued, turning away from Elijah, who was incredibly distracting in his boxer briefs. I immediately felt guilty for blaming Grayson, but the guilt was short lived when I reminded myself that he was the reason I had to explain myself to my father.
“Tell me about this guy.”
Elijah smiled, obviously able to hear what my dad was saying on the phone.
“He’s tall, handsome and… he has a killer smile,” I said, unable to keep the grin from spreading across my face. Elijah raised an eyebrow. I shot him a wink and did my best to reassure my father that everything was okay. With a little more convincing and assurance that a few days away with Elijah would be a fun vacation, I was finally able to end the phone call. I glanced at the clock on my phone. We had about an hour before sunset.
“What’s the plan?” I asked as I headed to my bedroom to grab my bag Elijah had packed for me.
“The plan is to dispose of the dead body and leave town,” Elijah said with a wry smile, his voice dripping with sarcasm. I rolled my eyes at him but couldn’t help but let a small smirk creep across my face.
“Where and where?” I asked, probing him for more details. He shrugged his shoulders. It was evident that if he had a plan, he wasn’t going to share it with me. I zipped up my duffle bag and tried to walk around him to leave my room. He placed his hand on my stomach to stop me from getting by.
He leaned in and inhaled the scent of my hair as his fingers traced my abdomen. I closed my eyes and allowed myself to get lost in his touch for a moment. He pressed his forehead against mine as his hand ran over my hip.
“We have to go,” I whispered as I opened my eyes, searching his. He nodded and took the duffle bag from my hand before standing straight and allowing me to pass. He followed me into the hallway and went toward the bathroom.
He came out of the bathroom a moment later with my bag across his chest and the body wrapped in an old blanket over his shoulder. I peeked out of the window. The sun made its last glimmer of light as it set. I nodded to Elijah that it was time. I grabbed my purse and we headed casually outside. I stepped onto the sidewalk and looked around as I opened the trunk to my brother’s car and motioned for Elijah to come. He placed the body in the trunk and slid my bag into the back seat before snatching the keys from my hand with vampire speed. I shot him a frustrated look and he winked as he kissed me quickly on the cheek and made his way to the driver side of the car. One thing I have learned about vampires, they thrive on control.
I slid into the passenger seat and fumbled with the radio as we made our way through the hollow. We headed a few towns over to Spring Grove where Elijah pulled into a quarry set back in off the main roads and quickly disposed of our attacker. He disappeared into the waters as if he’d never existed. We got back on the road as quickly as possible and headed toward Chambersburg to get on the main highway to head south.
That was all the information Elijah had given me. I stared out the window trying to take mental photographs of everything we saw. I felt Elijah’s eyes on me, his hair blowing in the hot air.
“I’ve never been more than a few hours from Pennsylvania,” I said, smiling. He grinned back and rubbed my thigh. I stuck my arm out of the window and played with the breeze as the radio blared The Doors. We rode for hours in comfortable silence. The miles flew by like seconds.
***
“What?” Elijah asked as I grinned at him.
“Nothing,” I replied, biting my lip and stifling a laugh. He actually looked nervous. It was adorable.
“Well, if you’re going to be that way,” he said with a mischievous grin as he turned