Those eyes didn’t open.
Her hand fell to the side, slightly brushing my arm. It was like a jolt of electricity, lighting up every cell.
Wake up.
That order whispered in my thoughts. It was wrong, so very wrong, but if she opened her eyes and saw me, I . . . I couldn’t walk away.
I wanted to wake her up. I wanted to touch her—hold her. I wanted to curl my body around hers. I needed to feel her skin flush against mine. I needed to hear my name on her lips. My gaze flickered to the swell of her breasts, and the hunger raging inside me mixed with stark arousal. I needed everything about her.
Everything.
Fear punched through my gut—fear for her. I dropped the blanket. Struggling against instinct that was primal and raw, I forced myself to take a step back and then another. The back of my throat burned. My knuckles ached from how tightly I was now clenching my fists.
I could not be here.
Closing my eyes, I pictured the house on Andros and I felt the tugging. Within a second, I was back to the house, to the old bedroom.
“Gods,” I growled.
Shaken, I pivoted around and left the bedroom, slamming the door shut behind me. I passed the half in the hall and took the steps two at a time. On the main level, I headed for the study and straight for the liquor.
Fuck.
What I’d just done was leveling up on the whole stalker thing. And it had been so damn dangerous. The hunger for her, for what was inside her, was a monster clawing its way out of me. I couldn’t do it again. There was no way. I hadn’t even made it a full fucking day without searching Josie out.
The cabinet door opened before I reached it. With a trembling hand, I grabbed the first square-based crystal decanter. Popping the lid, I lifted it to my mouth and drank until my entire body burned. I drank until the decanter was empty, then I reached for another. Amber liquid swished, and I drank until there were no thoughts of Josie.
Until there were no thoughts of anything.
~
Josie
Opening my eyes, I found myself staring at the unfamiliar bedroom walls. My heart was pounding and as I inhaled deeply, I caught a woodsy scent. Jerking up, I threw the cover off and swung my bare legs off the bed.
“Seth?” I said his name before I could stop myself.
I turned around, scanning the darkened room. Of course there was no answer. He wasn’t here. My stomach hollowed as I backed up, plopping down on the edge of the bed. Running my hands through my hair, I tugged the strands back as I exhaled roughly. My head thumped and my eyes burned. I didn’t know how long I’d slept, but I knew it couldn’t have been more than a few hours. I hadn’t wanted to fall asleep. There was too much to do, but my body had given out to sorrow-tinged exhaustion the moment we arrived at Gable’s uncle’s house. Or was it his aunt? Grandmother? I had no idea. For all I knew it could’ve been a second home.
Rich people had those kinds of things.
After Alex and I had gone back inside, we’d discovered that the guys had everything packed up. It was obviously no longer safe at Gable’s home. Too weary to argue, I climbed into the back of the SUV and rode several miles down the coast to yet another sprawling mansion.
I’d expected there to be more damage from the Atlas-induced earthquake, but a block away from Gable’s home, the large palm leaves were swaying in the breeze and cars zoomed up and down the roads.
The mortals obviously believed it had been an earthquake and nothing more.
When we got to the house on yet another cliff overlooking the sea, I followed Gable to a guest room, stripped off my jeans, and climbed into the bed. I hadn’t wanted to sleep, but at the same time I did, because then I wouldn’t have to think about my mom or Seth or my father.
But now I was awake.
Swallowing down the bitter knot of emotions, I stood and walked over to where my jeans were lying on the arm of a dark brown chair. I dragged them on and then toed on my flip-flops.
I left the bedroom and made my way down a wide spiral staircase. The house was quiet, but as I entered what I guessed was a massive living room, I could see Luke and Deacon on a startling white couch. Luke was on his back, head resting on the arm. Deacon was curled on his side, his blond head on Luke’s chest. An arm and leg were thrown over Luke’s waist and legs as if he were ensuring that Luke was actually getting some rest. Both were asleep, and staring at them caused a twinge of hurt to spike my heart.
A soft-looking gray blanket was draped over the back of a chair. Picking it up, I carefully laid it over the guys. Neither stirred. I figured only another earthquake, hopefully one that didn’t include scorched daimons, would wake them.
Finding my way through the house, I opened French doors that led out onto a heavily shaded patio. It wasn’t empty. Alex was sitting in one of the outdoor chaise lounges. Of course, it was white. The people who lived here apparently had a thing for white furniture.
She tipped her head back and smiled up at me. “Hey.”
“Hey.” I stopped in the middle of the patio and crossed my arms. “What are you doing out here?”
“Can’t sleep,” Alex said, running her hands over her thighs. “I mean, I did for about an hour, but I woke up and couldn’t fall back. I came out here so I wouldn’t wake anyone else up.” She paused. “You should still be sleeping.”
“Yeah,” I murmured, spying a rocky path in the dirt and crabgrass. “Do you think that leads to cliffs or the beach?”
“Don’t know. Want to find out?”
A weary smile tugged at the corners of my lips. “Sure.”
Alex popped up faster than I would’ve expected, but then again, she was like the Terminator on crack. We hit the worn path in silence. A couple of minutes later, we discovered that it led to a cliff. Not a sheer one like back at Malibu. The path continued down the slope to a patch of sand and rock.
Eyeing the hill, I decided I really didn’t want to climb back up. So, I found a boulder and sat down. “It’s really beautiful here.”
“Yeah, it is.” Alex’s hair lifted off her shoulder as she stared out into the sea. “I think I could live somewhere like this. You know, Aiden and I have been talking about a place we’d like to settle down when we’re topside. Right now, it’s wherever Deacon is, but we’d like to have our own place eventually.”
“You’re thinking it might be in California?”
One shoulder rose. “Maybe. Aiden would love some place in the mountains, though.”
“And you?”
Her whiskey-colored eyes met mine. “I’d love wherever he’s at.”
My heart turned over heavily. She really meant that, and God, I . . . I would’ve felt the same way with Seth. Wherever he was, I would be happy. I still felt that way. I just needed to get to the islands and hopefully convince him to stop being so . . . so damn stupid.