Andre smiled from where he lay beneath me, and it crinkled the skin around his eyes. The hand that wasn’t playing with my hair encircled my waist.
Sometime while I’d been asleep, one of my own legs had slipped between his, and one of my arms was splayed possessively over his stomach.
… And judging from the damp spot on his chest, I might’ve been drooling on him.
Oh God, if the devil weren’t after me, I’d have gladly died from embarrassment.
I wiped my mouth—yep, I’d definitely slobbered on him—and began to push myself up.
Andre’s arm tightened. “Mmm, not so fast, soulmate.” His eyes closed. “Let me enjoy this for just a few moments more.”
Warmth pooled low in my stomach at his tone, reminding me of all those times we’d come so very close to getting intimate.
I lay back down against him, aware of the way our bodies lined up. He was all hard muscle against me, the body of a man raised on physical exertion.
Resting my chin on one of his pecs, I gazed up at his face, struck by the masculine beauty of his face. His strong, square jaw, high cheekbones, and those soft, sensual lips …
Andre’s eyes opened, and they had a mischievous twinkle in them.
“Penny for your thoughts,” I said.
He chuckled. “My thoughts aren’t nearly so cheap.” His thumb brushed against my lower lip. “I will, however, give one up for a kiss.”
My eyes moved to his mouth. Before I’d fully registered what I was doing, I’d already slid up his torso. Easiest tithe I’d ever paid.
I leaned down until my lips brushed his. The earth could’ve quaked and I wouldn’t have felt it over the electricity that passed through me where our mouths met. Never would I get over this. How a simple kiss could awaken me completely. It made me crave more.
His arms came up, encircling my waist. At first, he smiled into the kiss, smug that he got exactly what he’d wanted with so little persuasion. The smile soon fell away, however, and he groaned as my tongue teased his mouth, then found its way in.
Andre and I had been hurtling towards something for months, and lying in this bed, pressed so closely together and tasting one another, it seemed like it would happen today. This very moment.
Which is why I wrenched myself away from him. His arms released me reluctantly. Both of our fangs were out, and we were breathing hard—laughable when you really thought about it. Andre didn’t need air.
Andre’s eyes hungered for more, and I could almost see him considering dragging me back down into bed and resuming where we left off.
I stood, noticing how my skin glowed lightly, and walked to the window just to avoid looking at him. Otherwise I might just throw all care to the wind and resume our former activities.
A second later, Andre joined me. “It’s a rare and humbling moment when a teenage siren exerts more self-restraint than me.”
I smiled at that, though a bigger part of me regretted fleeing that bed.
He pulled back the curtain back so that we could stare out into the evening. Rain came down in torrents. Despite the storm, townspeople milled about, going about their normal lives. Right then I resented them for it. While they wondered what they’d eat for dinner, I was wondering if today would be the day I died.
“They haven’t found us yet.” I stated the obvious.
Andre dropped the curtain. All the affection he’d shared with me was now reined in. In it’s place, his eyes glittered with purpose … and a little malice.
“Let’s get going before we push our luck any more.”
Packing consisted of me shoving Cecilia’s note back into my pants and disabling our phones. I tried not to think of Caleb’s message as I did so. He’d warned me not trust him. I’d replayed the message over and over again, hearing every broken note to his voice, every poignant pause. And I’d relived his embarrassment over finding out that Andre and I were soulmates.
That particular vampire now studied me as I brushed my hands off and headed to the door.
“Penny for your thoughts?” Andre asked, throwing my earlier words back at me. I knew for a fact that if he could, he’d barge into my mind and pillage all my thoughts until he’d obtained every single one.
The punk.
“They’d cost you more than a penny—and more than a kiss.”
He raised a sculpted eyebrow at that and looked as though he didn’t mind paying whatever tithe I had in mind.
I snapped my fingers and pointed at him. “By the way, you never paid up.”
“Hmm?” he said, holding the door open for me.
I walked out into the hall. “This morning when you stared at me, what were you thinking about?”
“I stare at you a lot, love. You’re going to have to be more specific than that.”
I rolled my eyes. “I kissed you in return for your thoughts. What were they?”
“Ah.” Andre smirked like he was remembering something amusing. “Just how badly I wanted your lips on mine.”
And he’d gotten exactly that. Scoundrel.
Before we left I had to glamour the innkeeper to forget about us. For once I deeply appreciated the siren in me; her inclinations might fall on the wrong side of the law, but damn if she wasn’t helpful for getting out of a bind. She made being lawless easy.
Icy rain drizzled down on us as we left the small town on foot. I was chilled to the bone, and by the time we’d crossed the town, I was pretty sure I looked like Samara from The Ring.
So far no one had stopped us, which probably meant no one had figured out where we were. I shivered, and Andre tucked me against him. Unlike me, he didn’t seem cold. And rain soaked he looked like he could walk onto the cover of GQ or Men’s Health.
No fair.
Ahead of us a taxi that Andre had called for back at the B&B waited for us. Just as I stared at it, a shadow moved from my peripheral vision. My head snapped to the movement, but I saw nothing. Just rain and darkness and streetlights spilling what little light they gave off onto the street.
“What is it?” Andre asked, looking over my shoulder.