Oblivion

by Jennifer L. Armentrout

  Uncomfortable with the thanks, I shrugged. “Thanks aren’t necessary. You didn’t want to come over, which I understand, but you shouldn’t be alone.”

  Her gaze dropped, and I got hung up on staring at those freaking thick as hell lashes. Then she reached for the wineglass I’d filled, downing the drink in one gulp.

  Holy hell.

  “Lush,” I murmured.

  Her lovely lips tipped up at the corners. “Maybe—for today.”

  I nudged her with my knee under the table. “Dig in before it gets cold.”

  The food was divine.

  Dee was a damn good cook, which I was suddenly thrilled about, because watching Kat dig into the food with such gusto and enjoyment really made my mind wander into places that had nothing to do with roasted turkey or buttered rolls, but had everything to do with…well, with Kat.

  The second glass of wine flushed her cheeks, and things were cool while we cleaned up together after dinner. No. More than cool. Familiar. As if we’d done this every night, which was bizarre, because I was lucky to wash my own dishes at home, but this…yeah, this was good.

  She followed me into the foyer, her eyes bright as I moved the large box into the living room. Kat sat on the couch, clasping her hands together as she watched me with a curious expression. Cute. She was so freaking cute. Had no idea.

  Taking a deep breath, I opened up the box and pulled out the first green-needled branch. I poked her with it. “I think we have a Christmas tree to put up. I know it’s not during the parade, but I think Charlie Brown’s Thanksgiving special is on, and, well, that’s not too bad.”

  Her lips parted again, but this time she didn’t just stare at me. Her eyes suddenly took on a glossy sheen. Kat jumped from the couch and raced out of the room.

  I stared at the entryway and then dropped the branch. Moving faster than she could track, I darted into the hallway, appearing in front of her, blocking the stairway. She skidded back and tried to turn, but I grasped her arms. “I didn’t do this to make you cry, Kat.”

  “I know,” she sniffled. “It’s just…”

  Fuck. This was not how I planned this going. I wanted her to be happy, to smile. I wanted her to see that even without her father, she could still have tradition.

  “It’s just what?” I cupped her cheeks, thumbing away the tears. “Kitten?”

  Her shoulders rose and fell. “I don’t think you know how much…something like this means to me.” More tears tracked down her cheeks. “I haven’t done this since—since Dad was alive. And I’m sorry to cry, because I’m not sad. I just didn’t expect this.”

  Damn.

  Those words hit me in the chest like I’d been sucker punched.

  Maybe in the back of my head, I knew how much this could mean to her, but I wasn’t prepared. Tugging her toward me, I wrapped my arms around her, and I closed my eyes as she face-planted on my chest. “It’s okay. I get it. Good tears and all.”

  Kat didn’t respond, but she held me back, and in that moment, I felt the change in her. Her muscles relaxed as if she’d been holding herself away this whole time. And I relished those moments, basked in them as if I were feeling the warmth of sunlight after a frigid winter.

  Then she moved.

  Reaching up, she clasped my cheeks and started to guide my head down. My heart freaking stopped when she kissed me. It was quick and over well before I wanted it to be, but it hit me hard. Man, dug right into me.

  “Thank you,” she said, her voice breathy. “I really mean it. Thank you.”

  It took every ounce of control not to bring that mouth back to mine, but somehow I managed. I smoothed away the last of her tears. “Don’t let anyone know about my sweet side. I have a reputation to keep up.”

  Kat laughed. “All right, let’s do this.”

  Putting up Christmas decorations with Kat was nothing like I’d ever experienced. She was animated, lovely as she touched every bulb and strand of lights. Sometimes she laughed. Sometimes she would look away quickly, thinking I didn’t notice how her eyes would suddenly go unfocused and shiny. I didn’t point it out, not wanting to overwhelm her, and she’d always recover quickly.

  When she picked up a bright green bulb, she looked at me, looked at the bulb, and then smiled in a way that made me want to know what was going on in that head of hers. Once the tree was finished, I was tired, but the night was worth it. She stared at the end result with the biggest, most beautiful smile I’d ever seen.

  “I love it,” she declared.

  The tree was lopsided, but if she loved it, then I was down with it. “Yeah, it’s pretty good. Dee put up the tree this morning. She has to have everything the same color, but I think our tree looks better. It’s like a disco ball.”

  Her smile got even bigger.

  I bumped her shoulder with mine. “You know, I had fun doing this.”

  “I did, too.”

  I lowered my gaze. “It’s late.”

  “I know.” She paused, her expression tense. “You want to stay?”

  Either I was hallucinating or she seriously just asked me that.

  “I don’t mean that,” she added immediately.

  “Not that I’d complain if you did.” My gaze dropped. “Not at all.”

  She rolled her eyes, but her face was such a pretty shade of red, and my pulse…my pulse was out of control. Outwardly, I was calm, but my mind was racing a mile a minute.

  “I’m going to get changed,” she said.

  “Need help?”

  “Wow. You’re so chivalrous, Daemon.”

  I smiled, unable to help myself. “Well, the experience would be mutually beneficial. I promise.”

  The flush deepened.

  “Stay.”

  I stayed in place for a whole minute, if that. And I knew I should’ve stayed there, but I’d always had a problem with impulse control. Actually, I only had a problem with impulse control when it came to Kat.

  Stealing quietly up the stairs, I went straight for her bedroom. I could hear her moving around in the bathroom as I drifted to the window. When she stepped out, she froze, and I immediately questioned the intelligence behind my decision to come up here, because I really liked how thin her shirt was.

  And I really loved those freaking little shorts.

  “I got bored.”

  She shook her head. “I wasn’t even gone five minutes.”

  “I have a short attention span.” My gaze dipped. “Nice shorts.”

  Her lips twitched into a grin. “What are you doing up here?”

  Good question. Guess “I was a glutton for torture” wasn’t the right answer. “You said I could stay.” I glanced at the bed. “I didn’t think you meant staying on the couch.”

  Uncertainty flickered across her face as her gaze followed mine. I didn’t want that. I didn’t want her to change her mind and kick me out. Not tonight.

  Not ever.

  Walking toward her slowly, I stopped in front of her. “I’m not going to bite.”

  “That’s good.”

  “Unless you want me to.”

  “Nice,” she muttered, stepping around me.

  Since she hadn’t told me to get my ass out of there, I decided it was a go. I kicked off my shoes and then tugged my shirt off, going for my jeans before she changed her mind.

  “What—what are you doing?” she asked, stuttering.

  I looked down at myself and then at her. “Getting ready for bed.”

  “But you’re getting naked!”

  I arched a brow. “I do have boxers on. What? Do you expect me to sleep in my jeans?”

  “You did last time.”

  A laugh burst out of me. “Actually, I had pajama bottoms on.”

  Kat opened her mouth like she was about to say something and then changed her mind. Turning away from me, she walked over to a book on her desk. I watched her for a moment, and then I took it there. I climbed into the bed, folding my arms behind my head so that I didn’t grab her the minute she decid
ed to get her butt to the bed.

  Finally, after about ten years, she turned around and whispered, “This was a bad idea.”

  “It was probably the smartest idea you’ve ever had.”

  Her hands moved along her hips, drawing my attention. “It’s going to take a lot more than Thanksgiving dinner and a Christmas tree to get laid.”

  Sometimes I wondered what in the hell she thought of me. “Damn. There goes my whole plan.”

  Her eyes narrowed, and then she finally moved. Stomping—yes, stomping—over to the other side of the bed, she yanked the covers back and all but threw herself into the bed.

  I grinned.

  “Can you turn off the light?” she asked.

  Without moving, I turned it off. Darkness enveloped us.

  “That’s a handy ability,” she muttered.

  “It is.”

  “Maybe one day I can be just as lazy as you and turn off lights without moving.”

  “That’s something to aspire to.”

  “God, you’re so modest,” she said, and I could hear the smile in her voice.

  “Modesty is for saints and losers. I’m neither.”

  “Wow, Daemon, just wow.”

  Rolling onto my side, facing her, I simply stared at her back for a moment. “I can’t believe you haven’t kicked me out yet.”

  “Same here,” she murmured.

  I shifted closer, stopping when my legs brushed against hers. The skin-on-skin contact was hard to ignore, but this needed to be said. “I really didn’t mean to make you cry earlier.”

  She moved onto her back and stared up at me as I rose up on one elbow. “I know,” she said. “The whole thing you did, it was sort of amazing.”

  “I just didn’t like the idea of you being alone,” I admitted quietly.

  Kat sucked in a sharp breath, and her gaze met mine. I couldn’t look away. Only she had that kind of power over me. How in the hell could she not see that?

  I reached out, catching a strand of her hair and brushing it back. An electric charge traveled up my hand. Her gaze dropped to my mouth, and I knew—dammit, I knew she was feeling exactly what I was feeling.

  “We should go to sleep,” she said, voice lower, thicker.

  “We should.” I palmed her cheek.

  She didn’t look away as she lifted her hand, brushing her fingers over my lips. The touch sent a jolt of lust straight through me. I shifted my hand closer, giving her more room to play as I slid my hand down to her neck. Her heart sped up, beating in tandem with mine. I dipped my head, pressing a quick kiss atop her nose.

  And then I kissed her.

  I took my time. It was slow and deep. It burned right through me, and I wanted more, so much more. I wanted her. I wanted her in any and every way I could have her.

  But she wasn’t mine.

  Reining it all in, calling on all the self-control I had, I lifted my head and shifted onto my back. I kept my arm around her. “Good night, Kitten.”

  She sighed loudly. “That’s all?”

  Damn. I laughed. “That’s all…for now.”

  Her heart hadn’t slowed. Neither had mine. After a couple of moments, she sighed again and then squirmed closer, quietly nudging me until I snaked my arm under her head, and rested her cheek there. I turned my head to her. Our eyes met. Her scent enveloped me, and even though I closed my eyes, I knew I wouldn’t be sleeping for a long, long time.

  And I also know that although she wasn’t mine now, she would be one day.

  Chapter 17

  I was slow to wake up, and it had everything to do with the girl in my arms, curled against me. The warmth of Kat’s body seeped into mine, and as I blinked my eyes open, I didn’t want to leave this bed.

  I knew I had to. Soon. Faint light from the window cut across the bed. Her mom would be home soon, and I seriously doubted she would be thrilled to find me in her daughter’s bedroom despite the fact that nothing, other than a kiss, had gone down between us.

  My chin dipped and I swallowed a groan.

  Damn, I wanted more than a kiss right now. A lot more.

  My hips were cradling her body. She was tucked into me, and man, if she woke up right now, things would get real awkward.

  It didn’t help that in her sleep, she had kicked off most of the covers, and the curve of her thighs looked incredibly soft. Her shirt had ridden up, and my forearm was resting against the bare skin of her stomach.

  Seriously, it didn’t take much to turn me on when it came to Kat. She could just look at me. Talk to me. Insult me. I was pretty much in a constant state of being turned on, but this was pure torture. To have her this close, to be holding her, and not do a damn thing about it.

  I lifted my head slightly and stared down at her. Her lips were parted, and thick lashes fanned the rise of her cheeks. Her hair was half on me, half on the pillow. It was everywhere.

  Kat had definitely wanted more last night, but I wasn’t going there, not then and not now, until Douche Bag was completely out of the picture. I had a feeling he would be. He had to be. I saw it—everything—shift in Kat’s eyes last night.

  She’d seen only me, and there was no room for anyone else.

  I needed to get up.

  I didn’t move for another five minutes, sort of caught up in staring at her, but the light slicing over the bed was growing stronger by the minute.

  It was time for me to go.

  Kissing her cheek, I gently slid my arm out from underneath her and rolled out of bed. Quietly pulling on my clothes, I moved soundlessly through her bedroom, noting the stacks of books everywhere. I grinned. Stopping at the door, I glanced back at her. She hadn’t moved one inch. Closing the door, I left the bedroom and ghosted down the steps. I was out the front door and in mine just as I saw her mom’s Prius come up the driveway.

  I turned around.

  Dee stood in the stairwell, her brows arched and arms crossed. “Well. Well. Well…”

  “What?” I scratched my fingers through my hair and realized the strands were sticking up everywhere.

  She blinked out and appeared at the bottom of the steps. “I don’t have time to question you on why you’re now just getting home from my best friend’s house, because the Walmart in Cumberland is having a huge early bird sale and I need to get there, but you better believe I want answers.”

  I shot her a bland look. “There’s nothing going on.”

  Dee snatched her purse and keys off the recliner. “Just like there’s nothing happening when Adam spends the ni—”

  “Oh, come on,” I groaned. “I don’t want to hear that.”

  “Whatever.” She walked to the door, pointing at me. “You and I will be talking later.”

  I was going to be avoiding “later” like nobody’s business.

  Lucky for me, Dee was out most of the day and into the early evening. It was my turn to patrol, and I decided to get an early start before dinner. I could always grab something from Smoke Hole