Dae didn’t budge so Iya turned to Koda and motioned for him to back off. He saw Iya’s expression and decided to head the warning. Not because of Iya but because of Dae; he’d seen starved animals with the same ferocity. He wouldn’t push Dae on this, for the moment, but the need to know what was going on in Dae’s head was beginning to drive him mad.
“Could I go wash up?” he lifted his hands and Iya grimaced.
“I should have asked you if you were ok. I’m sorry, as you can see, were not big on manners round here. I’ll get you some antiseptic and bandages.”
“No need, not my blood.” Dae was still eyeing him like he was a hyena in a wolf’s den.
“Still, let’s get you in the bathroom. Dae, wash up before you eat that pizza. Use the antibacterial soap.”
Iya pushed Koda along to the bathroom while Dae tried to get control. Dae knew it was the memories that made her so irrational. She wouldn’t have cared otherwise. Right? Maybe it was the hunger. She was just too hungry.
There was always more food. Here or in the store. This was not the last bit she would get to have. The cabinets had food in them. Just an arm’s reach away. Dae chanted that to herself until she felt as though she was a person again. She went to scrub her hands in the kitchen sink as she heard Iya turn on the faucet on in the bathroom.
Koda was surprised as Iya pulled his shoulder down to whisper in his ear. “It’s not her fault. Don’t be mad at her.” He pulled back and looked at her face. She pulled him back down again. “She’s not greedy or anything, she’s just really hungry.” Iya paused, “She didn’t eat breakfast this morning.”
He smelled the lie immediately but he wasn’t angry. Iya was trying to cover up for his mate.
He whispered back, “I’m not mad at her. Do you know why?” He asked the question not sure how he would feel with Iya’s answer.
Iya looked at him with a troubled face.
Iya shook her head and then grabbed the antiseptic and poured it over his hands. She doubted he had no damage with all the blood on him. She wanted him good and disinfected. “I’ll be right back.”
Iya left the bathroom and he began to scrub the blood from underneath and the sides of his nails. Blood had a tendency to get stuck there. Iya was back quickly and came with a sleeveless shirt that he didn’t see making it over his shoulders.
“I see the face already so before you protest, this is a man’s shirt. It’s one of Dae’s night shirts and it’s stretchy. Take that one off and, well, burn it. The blood is an improvement, trust me.”
He laughed and said, “You know you’re not the first person I heard that from.”
“A cape and a football helmet…” Iya muttered as she laid a towel and wash cloth on the shower door.
“What?”
“Nothing, nothing. I’ll leave you to it.” She closed the bathroom door behind her.
Dae was almost half done with the pie, her back to Iya. Dae turned and grinned. “I agree. All he was missing was the cape and the helmet.”
How did Dae hear that? Before Iya had a chance to say anything Dae spoke, “Sound travels and you were only 5 feet away.”
Iya felt a little foolish but shrugged it off. The dimensions of their apartment never entered her mind. Home came in all different sizes; it didn’t make it any less her home because it was small in comparison to other people’s homes. “So this means you’re in a better mood? Not planning on attacking the Sasquatch?”
Dae smiled. Little did Iya know that lately, Dae didn’t plan on doing anything. She just reacted. Her impulsiveness scared her. She was afraid a big change was coming and she was sure she wasn’t going to like it.
“Start already. I know you want to.” Dae said around a piece of crust.
“Start with what?”
“The questions I see about to burst from your mouth like water from a squirt gun.” Dae started on another slice knowing that she wouldn’t have much time to satisfy her burning stomach. As fast as she shoved it in, it digested and was empty looking for more again.
“Later. After your done eating. You’re safe now so it can wait a few.”
Dae looked up at Iya as she finished and Iya knew she hadn’t hid her emotions very well. Dae looked around the floor like there was something of importance she needed to analyze.
Before anyone could say something to make the awkwardness better –or worse– Koda walked out of the bathroom.
Holy shit the man was shirtless carrying a ball of white fabric. Dae’s imagination was a poor comparison to reality. His brown skin glistened faintly as if wet. His broad shoulders tapered down to his slim waist. His cut abs flexed as he moved closer. A light patch of hair spread from across his pecks centered and spread down to disappear behind the waistband on his jeans. Every inch of exposed skin was ensconced with muscles. On muscles.
Dae felt like she might overheat just from looking at him. Her eyes were guided up from his chest to his thick neck, then to his face that was covered with manly stubble. She remembered how good it had felt against her palm this morning and thought about where else it would feel good… and it was as if her bones were melting in her skin.
Was this what it was like to have a fever?
Koda’s gaze was centered on hers like a homing beacon. His nostrils flared and the look on his face changed from amused to thirsty. He made Dae ache in places she didn’t know existed and a few she was ignorant of.
Blissfully ignorant, she reminded herself as she turned to face her pie.
She spoke to her pizza. “So shirts went out of style? Should we all strip too?”
“Well you both seemed to have such a distaste for my shirt I figured this might be better.”
She heard the grin in his voice. He walked up to her as she steadily kept her head focused on her pizza. He was close enough to touch and Dae was fighting her crazy self’s demands. The her that was not her was screaming in her head.
Tackle him to the floor and have her dirty way with him. Drag him to her bed and have her dirty way with him. Let him stand while she has her dirty way with him.
But her pride kept her firmly locked in place; this was a game, just like before. There was no way she was going to let him play her. No way.
Dirty way. Not no. DIRTY. WAY. With. Him.
He handed the white ball to Dae. “Iya gave me one of your shirts, but it ripped. Guess we can’t trade clothes after all.”
Dae inhaled deeply hoping for some modicum of composer. “Iya? Oh Iya?”
Dae called, knowing Iya had used Dae’s ogling to slip away unnoticed into her room. Sneaky, sneaky, sneaky.
“Yes?” Iya came out of her room with the most innocent expression on her face.
“I see you gave him one of my shirts to wear. Was it one of the ones from the bottom drawer?”
“Hmm, I don’t remember. Why, did it not fit?” Iya asked feigning innocence. What a liar! Iya gave her a shameless wink.
Dae stepped past Koda to her room. She tossed the ball of white fabric in the trash on the way. There was no second incarnation of becoming a cleaning rag for that shirt. It was done.
In her bottom drawer were Dae’s super large –blank– white t-shirts which she liked to sleep in. Iya had sacrificed one of Dae’s everyday shirts in vain. Dae was going to mourn the loss… it was her ‘Suicide Watch’ t-shirt. It had two bathroom figures on it; one sitting eating popcorn watching while the other hung himself.
Iya hated her t-shirts. Dae swore she would not forget this attack on her wardrobe as she pulled one gigantic sized T out. This was a strategic double strike. There was going to be payback for this treachery…
Dae turned to leave her room and she walked into Koda’s chest. The man was like a brick wall of muscle. He righted her so she wasn’t falling from tripping all over her feet.
“You’re in my room.” Dae stammered out, stunned he would walk into her room without invitation.
“You’ve been in my room.” He shrugged. “This the shirt?”
&
nbsp; Dae could only nod; she was struggling not to listen to the crazy part of her that said to throw him down on the bed and get naked. Her damn crazy self was going to be the death of her.
He took the shirt she clutched in her hand and then ran his finger down the side of her arm. He had so much heat in that little touch she was surprised her skin didn’t burst into flames. It sure felt like it was going to. Dae shivered realizing how hungry she was for something besides food.
“Thanks.” He smiled seductively and his blue eyes dilated the tiniest bit. That was when Dae noticed she was still practically on top of him, her body leaning on him practically draped over his body while she stared into his eyes.
Damn him!
Dae stepped back and looked at her bed. Not a good spot, not a good spot! He seemed to be watching her every move. He was blocking her only exit out of the room unless she jumped on the bed to go around him or out the window to the fire escape. She thought that might seem a tad bit desperate, so she settled on another –more sane– course of action.
She straightened up and said, “My rooms the size of most closets, so you want to let me by?”
“Not really.” That was truthful, but he meant not at the moment. That’s the thing with the truth; many things can be true if you’re smart enough to word it right.
“Ok, let me rephrase the question so you can understand clearly. Do you want to step aside and let me through before I cut you like a spiraled Christmas ham?”
He laughed as he stepped back and flourished his arm, “Now why didn’t you ask that nicely in the first place?”
Dae couldn’t help but notice that his arms were just as ripped as the rest of him. Before she had been complete sidetracked with his massive chest; now she was able to notice how the veins in his arms bulged against the skin like they were trying to escape. And the muscles –his arms were as big as her thighs. He had a tribal tattoo that resembled a wolf surrounding an eye looking out of five claw marks wrapped around his upper arm. It was odd… but something about that tattoo made sense to her.
Dae swiftly made her way out of her room before she noticed any other parts of his anatomy. She had to be crazy. There was no explanation for any of it. She knew she’d never be able to be in a room –that had a bed– with him for long without making good use of it. And that was so out of character for her it was sobering.
What was going on with her?
Dae sighed as she came back to her pizza. Nothing was going on. This was her body’s natural reaction to testosterone. It had to happen eventually. She just had to hang in there like that goofy cat poster said.
He would get bored and move on. People were untrustworthy. He only wanted to get busy because she was new.
New booty, Iya told her all about it. In the beginning its fun and interesting… then it gets old and then somebody’s hiding behind a dumpster next to Chow’s Chinese because they conveniently forgot to respond to the three hundred messages left on the machine. Dae hadn’t had Chinese food for two months after that. She made Iya promise to break it off with her beaus in a way they understood. That damn dumpster smelled like shit on fire and it took the rest of the day to get her nose back to snuff.
Sick stalker, or the stalked, that was not going to be Dae.
Iya was still making herself scarce. Iya probably sent the Sasquatch in her room. Iya was so evil sometimes she gave Satan a run for his money.
Damn agent of Satan sent to make her madder than she already was…
“Iya?” Dae had the feeling Iya was ignoring her so she called louder, “Iya!”
Ok, now Dae knew Iya was ignoring her. “IYA!!!!!!’”
Iya and Koda came out of the rooms at the same time. The shirt she gave Koda hugged him in all the right places and some of the wrong ones. Dae almost whimpered. Dammit, it was like she couldn’t catch a break. She swore she would maim the next person she saw eating a Kit Kat.
“This pizza’s going to be gone if you don’t take some.”
Dae had finished her first pie, and was working on the second. This one was half vegetable lovers and Iya’s preferred pie. Dae was eating it to send Iya a message. With the way Iya glared at her, it was a message she received: Payback is going to be a rabid bitch, agent of Satan shirt ruiner.
Koda was speaking to someone on his phone as he sat down. He looked at the vegetable pie like it had cooties. Iya couldn’t help but laugh.
“You’re actually eating that?” He said.
To tell the truth, it wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t good either. It was food, and Dae was in no way finished eating.
“I’d eat wood if it wouldn’t break my teeth. Hunger means no discrimination.”
“Yeah, I guess you’re right.” He tried to move the pie out of the way but Iya snatched it.
Dae was surprised as Iya looked at her pointedly, “These few slices are mine, the rest you guys can wage war over, but you leave my veggie’s alone.”
Dae and Koda laughed at how serious Iya’s face was.
“Don’t worry; I think Dae was serious when she compared it with the taste of wood.”
Dae nearly choked on an olive at the outraged expression on Iya’s face.
He continued, “And I’m way too chicken to try. I just ordered some more and made sure you got a whole veggie pie.”
“You need more than three pies between you?” Iya said incredulously.
Well maybe if Dae’s roommate ate like a human being Iya wouldn’t be so shocked. Her appetite resembled that of an anorexic bird most of the time. A slice and a half was all she needed and she didn’t sneak any later either. Iya would skip meals all the time and still be at 100%. Surely, she should be hypoglycemic, anemic or ischemic by now.
Dae sometimes wondered how Iya survived.
“I didn’t eat breakfast.” He said with a wink back to Iya. Dae froze, wanting to apologize for getting so crazy before but she knew he wouldn’t understand. He didn’t look like he ever went without eating.
“It sure looks like it. Don’t you need to breath? Either of you?” Iya asked.
To tell the truth, breathing wasn’t high on Dae’s list of priorities at the moment. Dae was eating the pizza like she had been wanting to for the past 9 months. And Koda was going slice for slice right along with her. She couldn’t explain how that made her feel.
Happy that she wasn’t eating as she hid in her closet? Hmm. Maybe that’s what that strange sensation was that she had as she ate with the Sasquatch…
It had been getting crazy trying to hide how much Dae needed to eat. She only ate a little in front of Iya all the time. Then she snuck as much food as she could when Iya wasn’t looking or sleeping. Most times, the hunger burns got so bad that she had to leave the house and stuff herself in the early morning hours.
Pappy’s Pie House was open 24 hours a day and knew her well. So did Charlie’s Chickaree, the Boars Hog, and every local fast food joint in a 5-mile radius. For the first time in a long time, Dae felt… comfortable, like she didn’t have to hide anymore. Hmm.
Dae had been hiding little parts of herself since she was a kid. She hid them so well and so often that they seemed to have evaporated. She couldn’t even remember what she’d lost. She didn’t have a choice then… Dae mentally shook herself. She did not need to revisit bad childhood lane. That was then, this was now.
“High metabolism.” Koda said between bites. He smiled at Dae. “Just happy I found someone with an appetite as healthy as mine. I was starting to wonder if there was anyone who could relate to me.”
Koda looked at Dae with a hunger that couldn’t be satisfied with pizza. Koda and Dae went to grab the last slice of the last pie at the same time.
Koda pulled his hand back. “Go ahead. It’s yours.”
He was smiling at her like it made him freakishly happy she wanted to eat that slice of pie. That was plain weird by so many standards.
“No, I had more than you already. You eat it. We’ll go halfsies on whatever you ordered.”
&nb
sp; Dae felt like she was in the spotlight, so she withdrew her hand even though the hunger was still present but merely a discomfort. Dae only liked the spotlight when she was starting shit. Regardless, she could always sneak into her closet and eat those disgusting protein bars she had left. They tasted like crap but as long as they fed the hunger, they were good enough.
His eyes narrowed. “You don’t need to do that. Dae, take the slice. More is coming to replace Iya’s pie, so I’m sure she’ll share with us. Right, Iya?”
Iya was leaning against the counter, already stuffed with her single slice as she watched them devour everything in front of them.
“No problem. I’m not messing with ya’ll or I might be next on the menu.”
Koda laughed his deep hearty laugh and Dae felt herself smile. Why did she enjoy hearing him laugh so much? She didn’t know. But as Iya placed the remaining pie between them, it was the least of her concerns. Her stomach was already growling.
Dammit. Dae knew he heard it too. It had been too long since she last ate. Koda tried to hand Dae the meat lover’s slice but she still refused. Koda was still growling at her with that sexy scowl when there was a knock at the door.
Koda got up to answer but Dae was already on her feet. “I got it, sit down and eat.”
“Do you think it’s a good idea for you, who people are trying to kidnap, to answer the door?” he growled out.
“Good point. I’m here on pins and needles waiting for you two to get full. So stop trying to argue and let the Sasquatch get the food.” Iya said exasperated.
Dae sat down with a frown. She should have told Iya what happened before she ate but she was so hungry she couldn’t protest when Iya gave her that sad sympathetic face. The hunger had abated but it was still bothering her. She decided to take Iya’s advice and ignore the alarm in her that told Dae somehow Iya knew things she didn’t ever want her to know. She had already dug into the cheese half of Iya’s pie when she heard a familiar chuckle and scented a familiar scent from the door that made her pause.
“Should have known it was you man. Frat houses order less food.”
Lost & Found (A Lost Ones Novel Book 1) Page 16
