you." My humor vanished. Jumping up, I threw an arm around Ash's waist. "Calm down. I mean it.
Calm down."
She pulled against me. "I swear to all the stars and suns, I will destroy you."
"What does that mean?" Kat balled her hands, glaring at the taller girl like she wasn't afraid of her one bit, and she should've been.
Ash's skin was scorching hot, vibrating just beneath the surface. At that moment, I really started to doubt she'd not do something stupid and reveal us in public. "Are you watching too many cartoons again?" Matthew stalked over to our table, his eyes connecting with mine for a moment. I'd hear about this later. "I believe that's enough," he said.
Knowing not to argue with Matthew, Ash sat down in her own seat and grabbed a fistful of napkins. She tried to clean up the mess, but it was pointless. I almost laughed again when she started stabbing at her shirt. Sitting down, I knocked a clump of noodles off my shoulder.
"I think you should find another place to eat," Matthew said to Katy, voice low enough that only the people at our table could hear. "Do so now."
Looking up, I watched Kat grab her book bag. She hesitated, and then she nodded as if in a daze. Turning stiffly, she stalked from the cafeteria. My eyes followed her the whole way out, and she kept her head held high.
Matthew turned from the table, probably off to do some damage control. I wiped the back of my hand down my sticky cheek, unable to stop myself from laughing softly.
Ash smacked me again. "It's not funny!" She stood, hands shaking. "I can't believe you think that was funny."
"It was." I shrugged, grabbing my water bottle. Not like we didn't deserve it. Looking down the table, I found my sister staring at me.
"Dee..."
Tears built in her eyes as she stood. "I can't believe you did that."
"What did you expect?" Andrew demanded She shot him a death glare and then turned those eyes on me. "You suck. You really freaking suck, Daemon."
I opened my mouth, but what could I say? I did suck. I'd acted like an ass, and it wasn't like I could defend that. Dee had to understand that it was for the best, but when I closed my eyes, I saw the hurt in Kat's eyes and I wasn't so sure I'd done the right thing...at least the right thing by her.
"The Morning After"
Daemon
I wasn't sure if I was dreaming, but if I was, I didn't want to wake up. The scent of peach and vanilla teased me, invaded me.
Kat.
Only she smelled that wonderful, of summer and all the things I could want and never have.
The length of her body was pressed against mine, with her hand resting on my stomach. The steady rise and fall of her chest became my entire world, and in this dream - because it had to be a dream - I felt my own chest matching her breaths.
Every cell in my body sparked and burned.
If I was awake, I'd surely take on my true form.
My body was on fire.
Just a dream, but it felt real.
I couldn't resist sliding my leg over hers, burrowing my head between her neck and shoulder, and inhaling deeply. Divine. Perfect.
Human. Breathing became more difficult than I'd ever imagined. Lust swirled through me, heady and consuming. I tasted her skin - a slight brush of my lips, a flick of my tongue. She felt perfect underneath me; soft in all the places I was hard.
Moving over her, against her, I loved the sound she made - a soft, wholly feminine murmur that scorched every piece of me.
"You're perfect for me," I whispered in my own language.
She stirred, and I dreamt her responding, wanting me instead of hating me.
I pressed down, sliding my hand under her shirt. Her skin felt like satin underneath my fingertips. Precious. Prized. If she was mine, I'd cherish every inch of her. And I wanted to. Now.
My hand crept up, up, up.
Kat gasped.
The dreamy cloud dissipated with the sound I felt all the way through me. Every muscle locked up. Very slowly, I pried my eyes opened.
Her slender, graceful neck sloped before me. A section of skin was pink from the stubble on my jaw...
The clock on the wall ticked.
Shit.
I'd felt her up, in my sleep.
I lifted my head and stared down at her. Kat watched me, her eyes a smoky, wonderful gray and questioning. Double shit.
"Good morning," she said, her voice still rough with sleep.
Using my arm, I pushed up and even then, knowing that none of it had been a dream, I couldn't look away from her, didn't want to. An infinite need was there, in her, in me.
Demanding that I kneel to it, and I wanted to - dammit, did I ever want to.
The only thing that got to me, that cleared the layers of lust and idealistic stupidity out of my head, was the trace shimmering around her.
She looked like the brightest star.
She was in danger. She was a danger to us.
With one last look, I shot across the room with inhuman speed, slamming the door behind me. Every step away from that room, from that bed, was painful and stiff. Rounding the corner, I almost ran into my sister.
Dee studied me, eyes narrowed.
"Shut up," I muttered, heading past her.
"I didn't say anything, jerk-face." Amusement betrayed her words.
Once inside my bedroom, I quickly changed into a pair of sweats and slipped on my sneakers.
Running into my sister cooled most of me down, but there was a raw edge to my nerves and I needed to be out of this house, away from her.
Not even bothering to change my shirt, I picked up speed, shooting through the house and out the front door. The moment my sneaks touched the porch, I took off and darted into the woods in a burst of speed. Overhead skies were gray and bleak. Drizzle pelted my face like a thousand tiny needles. I welcomed it, pushing and pushing until I was deep in the woods. Then I shed my human skin, taking my true form as I shot between the trees, moving until I was nothing more than a streak of light.
This was wrong. Think of Dawson. Look at what happened to him. Did I want to take the same risk? Leave Dee all alone? But even now I could feel her skin, taste it - sweet and sugary like candy. Hear that wonderful sound she made over and over again, haunting every mile I put between us.
An idea began to form - one that Dee would hate, but I didn't see any other option. I could go to the DOD and request a move to one of the other communities. We'd be giving up our home, leaving our friends behind and Matthew, but it would be for the best. It was the right thing to do. Dee would be safe.
It would keep Kat safe.
Because Dee couldn't stay away from her and neither could I. But no matter where I went, what I was running from would still be with me - Kat. She wasn't just back in the house, in that bed. She was with me now, inside me. And there was no outrunning that.