She might’ve been talking to me, but she was looking at Daisy, and I think that was all meant for her. The second she got Daisy, the rest of us really ceased to exist for her. I watched her for a moment longer, fawning over the child, but I had somewhere to be.
When I went upstairs, Jack was already taking a hot shower. I was desperate for one myself, so I got undressed and climbed in with him. He smiled at me, but I just wrapped my arms around his waist and pressed my head against his chest. There was nothing sexual about it. I just loved being that close to him, his bare skin on mine, his heart beating in my ear.
He kissed the top of my head and held me to him. After everything the night had brought, I couldn’t help but cry. Out of sadness and exhaustion and relief. I had never seen anything as brutal as what I witnessed tonight, and I hoped to never see it again.
“It’s going to be okay, Alice,” Jack assured me, rubbing my back gently.
“How can you say that? After what happened tonight?” I looked up at him. His soft blue eyes were full of nothing but love and optimism, and he smiled at me.
“Because you’re here with me,” Jack said. “Any night that ends with that can’t be that bad.”
“I can’t argue with that logic,” I admitted, and he laughed, sending delighted tingles all through me. I held onto him tighter, pressing my head against his chest, and relished the feel of his arms around me. There was no place in the world I’d rather be.
# # #
Read an excerpt from the fourth installment in the My Blood Approves series:
Wisdom – available August 2010!
Terror ripped through me.
I had no idea where I was. I woke up expecting the familiarity and safety of my bedroom, and this wasn’t it. It was hot, almost unbearable. Sweat soaked my skin, but I shivered. Disoriented, I stumbled out of bed.
I tripped over my own foot and fell onto the floor with a heavy thud. Cursing myself, I rubbed my knee, even though the pain had stopped. I’d been training hard to work on my strength and grace, and I hated when my clumsiness returned.
The light flicked on in the room. I sat on the floor and squinted up in the brightness to see who turned it on Peter stood in the doorway, wearing only ripped jeans, and he stared down at me.
I finally remembered where I was, but I still couldn’t shake the panic. My heart pounded like crazy, and that’s what summoned Peter.
“What are you doing on the floor?” Peter asked.
“I tripped.”
“Are you okay?” He walked over to me and bent down so he could help me up.
I took his hand, and when he pulled me to my feet, I noticed the sweat gleaming all over his chest and his arms. If I hadn’t been so distracted by my own terror, I might have taken the time to hate how perfect and gorgeous Peter looked. Every time I saw him, I wished he would get less attractive.
“What’s going on?” His voice had taken on a protective edge that I was unaccustomed to hearing from him. He’d been working on showing me his gentler side, but it still surprised me.
“I don’t know.” I shook my head.
“Alice, you’re terrified.” He heard the panicked racing of my heart and no matter what I did, I couldn’t slow it. “What happened?”
I bit my lip and pushed my hair behind my ear. He put his hand on my arm, and his bright emerald eyes managed calmed me a bit. I wanted to tell him everything, but I couldn’t explain what freaked me out so much.
“It was like a bad dream,” I said. “But it wasn’t a dream. It was more of a … feeling.”
“What kind of feeling?” Peter asked
“Just fear, this really intense fear.”
“You were just sleeping, and then you were afraid?” He dropped his hand from my arm and studied my face. “No images that went along with it?”
“No.” I furrowed my brow, trying to remember what exactly woke me up. “There weren’t images, but I felt paralyzed. Right before I woke up, I felt really scared, and I couldn’t move.” I shook my head again, this time to clear it. “It’s over now, and I’m done talking about it.”
“As long as you’re okay.” Peter sounded reluctant to let the topic die.
“Yeah, I’m great.” I forced a smile. “Except I’m really hot. Why is it so hot in here?”
“The central air is broken. I’ve been out back trying to fix it, but the sun is really getting to me. And, as it turns out, I know nothing about air conditioning units,” he sighed. That explained the grease stains all over his jeans and the smudge that ran just above his naval, on the hard contours of his abdomen.
“That really sucks,” I said and looked away from him.
“I’ll call a repairman, but I don’t know how long it will take them to get here.” Peter ran a hand through his dark hair. He’d been wearing it shorter since he moved, probably because of the continuous heat. “It’s the drawback of living out in the middle of nowhere.”
“Yeah, I bet,” I said. “I think I’m gonna take a shower.”
“It’s only noon.”
“I doubt I can sleep anyway,” I shrugged.
“I’ll see if I can find a fan for you,” he offered and stepped towards the door.