Death and the Girl Next Door

With effort, I stopped my gaze from going any lower. “Jared?”

His grip tightened around the pipe as he pecked at me, and the emotion that poured off him, that glistened in his eyes, was none other than regret. “I shouldn’t be here,” he said, and I couldn’t help the guilt that washed over me. It was my fault. He wouldn’t be here if I could learn to walk and chew gum at the same time. Really? Falling in front of a delivery truck was the best I could do?

I plastered a hand over my eyes and felt blindly for the shower valves, trying desperately to avoid body parts. After turning off the water, I grabbed a towel off the shelf and handed it back without facing him. “Wrap this around your waist.”

He took it from me, and I heard the soft sway of material as he worked to fasten it around his nether region. The fresh scent of soap and shampoo filled the room.

“Okay,” he said.

I turned back and was struck speechless by the sight of him, devilish and handsome. Dark wet locks hung over his forehead, dripping water down his face and onto his chest. The bands around his biceps almost glistened, they were so inklike, so sharp. The width of his torso tapered to a lean, sculpted stomach. He’d managed to cover the most pertinent part of his maleness, which I was terribly thankful for. I took another towel, beckoned him to bow, then draped it over his head to dry his hair.

“I shouldn’t be here,” he repeated, his voice thick with sorrow as I massaged wetness from his hair, and a tightness cinched around my chest. He reached back and took hold of the pipe again, making me realize how low the plumbing was in the shower. I’d always thought it the perfect height. “I don’t know why I shifted and locked on to this plane.” He looked at me from underneath the towel. “I’m risking everything by being here.”

I couldn’t imagine what he must be going through. Was he afraid? I would have been. Absolutely terrified. Whatever he was feeling, he would not go through it alone.

“We can figure this out, Jared. I promise you.”

What did I expect? That he would want to stay here? That he would revel in his circumstances? Rejoice in the fact that fate had discarded him, like a kid abandoned at a truck stop in the middle of the night?

“At least while I was fighting Cameron of Jophiel,” he said, his voice rough with emotion, “everything stopped. I could think of nothing beyond survival.”

Fear lurched inside me. “Jared, you can’t fight anymore.” I leaned in to assess his expression under the towel. “Please, promise me.”

He looked at me through slitted eyes. “I would never have hurt you, Lorelei,” he said, his voice laced with a sadness that almost brought me to tears. “In the back of Cameron’s vehicle when I grabbed you, I would never really have done those things.”

I forced a smile past my doubt and continued to dry his hair. “I know.”

“Do you?” His long lashes were spiked with water. “You were so scared, it hurt.” He placed a hand on his chest. “Inside.”

His confession surprised me. “Well, you were pretty convincing.”

He lowered his head. “I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t be. You were scared too.” I rubbed his head with the towel. His body filled the room, made it seem small in comparison. “Can I ask you something?”

“Of course.”

The towel draped over his head gave me courage. I didn’t want him to see me when I asked my next question. “If you had wanted to, could you really have boiled the blood in my veins?”

He froze. After a moment, he straightened and looked down at me. “I don’t know. I had already shifted onto this plane. I don’t know what I can do now, if anything.”

I dropped my arms. “But if you hadn’t shifted, you could have?”

He didn’t want to answer. I could tell by his expression. He worked his jaw before answering. “Yes,” he said at last.

I waited before picking up the corners of the towel and dabbing at the bruises on his face. “Your job must be really interesting.”

“Interesting,” he said with curiousity. His white teeth flashed, the effect nuclear. “That’s a good word for it. Any thoughts on what I might wear?”

I was still wandering around ground zero, struggling to come back to the present. I shifted onto my other foot and cleared my throat. “I found some sweats and a T-shirt in the store,” I said, pointing over my shoulder. “They have our logo on it, but they should fit.”

His eyes slid down to my mouth, where they lingered like a caress. He leaned forward, and my breath caught as his scent stirred my senses to life. Just when his mouth was close enough to brush mine, he reached a long arm over my shoulder and pushed the door closed.

“Oh, right,” I said with a nervous giggle. “Guess you’ll want some privacy.”

He flashed another smile as he stepped from the tub.

With barely enough room to maneuver, I whirled and headed for the door. “I’ll get those clothes now.” I almost fell out of the room in my attempt to escape. That boy was just way too gorgeous for my sense of balance. My original assessment had pretty much nailed it.

Absolute supernova.

After I grabbed the clothes, I cracked the door and shoved them through the opening. He thanked me with a soft chuckle. Better that than me making a fool of myself, waiting for him to kiss me, for his mouth on mine. Maybe in an alternate reality.

With a groan, I fell forward onto my bed and buried my face in an overstuffed pillow. A strong mixture of excitement and fear rushed along my nerve endings. I took a deep, calming draught of air and turned over to stare at the ceiling, unable to wipe the grin from my face.