She laughed. “Somehow I doubt that. That smile just has way too much confidence in it for you to not be good at everything.”
“Was that a compliment?” Somehow during the exchange he had unconsciously linked their hands. Glancing at their join fingers, he was jolted with heat, and he could feel his demon bubbling to the surface. Touching her was hypnotic. “When do I get to see you again?” he asked, drawing lazy circles with his thumb. He watched as her forest green eyes darkened.
Just his thumb was enough to drive her to crazy diversion. Her body was singing. “Tomorrow at school,” she said, her voice clouded with emotion.
His fingers fiddle with hers on the table, watching her eyes change. “That doesn’t seem soon enough.”
She let a whoosh of air. “You’re telling me.” The room was thick with the tension building between them. Her hormones were on total overdrive, and he hadn’t even kissed her. And boy did she want him to kiss her. She didn’t even care if it was in the middle of the diner with the whole town watching, she just wanted to lose herself in him.
“I’m really glad you bumped into me Em,” his tone was seductive.
If he only knew. “Me too.” She absolutely loved hearing her shortened name on his lips, intimate and exclusive to him.
She was far from ready to leave as he walked her to her car. It felt like it was ending before it really had a chance to begin. Leaning against her little red Eclipse, she struggled how to end whatever this was. A date?
Reaching around to open her door, he trapped her body against his. Instantaneously her mind when blank, but her body came alive. She had never been this hyperaware before.
And God, he smelled like sex on a stick. Yummy.
When he pulled back, their bodies were still touching, and she watched fascinated as his turquoise eyes flicked gold. She didn’t know how he did that, but it was hot, really hot.
Travis thought he could handle this. Boy was he wrong. Dead wrong.
Not only was every fiber in his being screaming for possession, he wasn’t certain he would be able to control it. Control had always been Lex’s thing.
He leaned into her close, unable to resist the temptation she offered. Her lips parted.
She swore her body shimmered with need. She never experienced need before, at least not this all-consuming and raw need.
“See you tomorrow Em.” He brushed a tendril behind her ear, when what he wanted to do was bury his face into the mass of silky strands, and dive his fingers through it. She was ripe and edible, and he was aching for a taste. Starving.
Without waiting for her to answer, he pealed himself away from her and bolted to his car using too much demon speed.
Shit.
He was never so careless or rude. Rude was all Chase.
Alone in her car, she waited a minute to steady herself. That had been exactly what she was missing, what she dreamt of as fairytale love.
Love.
She could easily fall in love with Travis. It would be utterly effortless. Already she was grieving his absence. That couldn’t possibly be normal, but when had anything in her life been normal?
Looking at the clock, she noticed that it was later than she thought. Her mom would be wondering where she was. Crap. Putting the idling car in gear, she headed home.
“How was practice?” her mom asked when she walked through the door.
Emma paused at the banister with her gym bag over her shoulder. “Exhausting.” She was far too good at lying. “I think I’ll go to bed early,” she informed. What she wanted was the privacy of her room. She couldn’t get Travis out of her head, or the gleeful feeling she was still riding on.
Her mom’s hazel eyes got the motherly glow. “You work yourself to hard Emma.”
I wonder why. Could it be because her dad pushed her to be the best? Get the best grades. Be the best dancer. Be the idea daughter.
“I’m fine,” she insisted, climbing the stairs. Actually for the first time, she was better than fine. She was ecstatic.
“I’ll bring you a snack later,” her mom called from the bottom of the staircase.
“Thanks mom,” she returned.
Behind her bedroom door, she plopped on the pink and lace bed. Emma was anything but tired, she was charged. Tossing in her earbuds, she pumped out a playlist on her iPod and daydreamed about Travis. His alluring eyes and the little things she was just remembering.
There was something different about Travis. And it wasn’t just his good looks.
Chapter 5
Outside Travis waited until he saw the low burning light in her window. He took a deep gulp of the frozen night air. She was safe. Making his way back to the car he parked on the side of the road, he kept a careful eye for anything demon related. It looked like a quiet night, just how he liked it.
The ride home was short and would have been quicker if he had run. But he tried to stay as humanly grounded as possible, not wanting to give any more power to his demon so to speak. It was bad enough he had to live with it. Constantly using those perks felt like losing parts of his human self and sort of cheating.