Chapter 12
Star
When we go back inside, panic whips through my body with the thought that we might run into Scott.
My eyes quickly scan across the room, praying I don’t see him.
Rizzo is passed out on the pool table with an empty whiskey bottle in his hand.
Tea is nodding off on the couch with a black and white wig tossed over his crotch.
The party came to an end while we were outside.
I don’t know how long we were out there together, but apparently, it’s later than I thought.
Nevermore leads the way around the corner, past the bar, and to a closed door. He fetches a key from his pocket, sticks it into the lock, and then pushes open his door.
“I’ll sleep on the floor,” he offers, closing the door behind him, tossing his mask on his dresser.
“And, sorry for the mess. I wasn’t expecting anyone.
” His room is pristine, and everything that can be black or red is.
Red curtains hang over a huge black bedspread that is pushed snuggly against black walls.
I try to find something out of place, coming up emptyhanded.
“You don’t have to do that. It’s a pretty big bed.
I think I’ll survive,” I tell him, not mentioning the fact that I’m nervous as hell to sleep beside him.
I don’t think he’s going to chop me up into little pieces and mail them to my grandma or anything.
It isn’t that I don’t trust him. I don’t trust myself. I like him.
“Suit yourself. I snore…or so I’m told.” He walks over to his dresser, grabs a pair of pajamas and a grey shirt, and hands them to me. “In case you want to change.” He offers a smile, gazing at me and letting his eyes linger on my face.
“Sure, that’d be good,” I barely say, and my voice quivers, giving me away.
I put my arms through the shirt and then poke my head through, putting it on over my costume.
This shirt is huge, hanging to my knees like a nightgown would.
I lift the wizard outfit, grab the bottom of the shirt, and secure it down, so it doesn’t show more of my body than. I’m ready to.
“Fuck,” he seethes, his hand flying up to cover his eyes.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to look. Ok. I did, but I shouldn’t have.
I didn’t know you were changing right here.
” He licks his lips and swallows. His eyes are hungry for me, and I’d be lying if I said I don’t love it.
This is the exact feeling I’ve always wanted, the way he made me feel watching me from behind the mask—like I’m the only person in the world and as if everyone else in the world bore him.
I know it’s lust, but damnit if it isn’t empowering.
I discard my costume on his dresser, slinging it beside his mask, and hop on his mattress. Keeping my back to him, I slide the pajamas over my legs and pull them up, using the shirt to keep most of my body covered.
“You’re gorgeous, do you know that, Star?
” he says, and I turn around, facing him.
He isn’t wearing a shirt, and I can’t help it.
I stare, wondering how anyone can look that good.
My mouth goes dry, and my skin burns with anticipation as he stalks toward me.
He’s pure man and predator, watching me, and on the brink of going in for the kill.
I’m the prey, not scared at all, but thrilled to find out what he has in store for me.
“Did you hear me?” he continues his prowl, his eyes never straying from me.
“Mmmhmm.” I purr, betwixt reminding myself to breathe and trying to still my racing heart.
He only stops when he’s between my legs, cupping my knees loosely.
“Then you were ignoring me?” His eyebrow arches as if he’s daring me to answer.
I almost intentionally lie to him to see his reaction, but I shake my head instead.
He trails his fingers from my knee and back to my crow tattoo, clutching my arm, and brings it to his mouth.
His lips press lightly onto the crow, kissing my arm, and then he runs the pad of his thumb over the area.
“Did you know a crow rarely travels alone, never straying too far without its flock?”
I silently nod, watching him. He looks up at me, his irises bursting with hope, and by the way he stares, it’s almost as if he expects me to say something.
“I did,” I profess out loud for his benefit only.
He lets out an exaggerated breath, bending at his waist, and kisses my cheek.
His arm stretches behind him, finding the light switch, and then he turns off the light.
In the dark, he releases me, and I miss his touch instantly. I’m not ready for him to stop what he started, but I also don’t want to be over the top right now. He climbs over my legs, thumping his hand on the pillow a couple of times, before he settles into the sheets.
I roll on my side to face him, ruminating on the night, and a thought pops into my mind. “Corbin?”
“Hmm?” he mumbles, snaking his arm under my neck and pulling me close.
His mouth finds mine, and I moan as soon as they connect.
His kisses are gentle and brief as his tongue explores my mouth.
He pulls back, resting his forehead on mine.
I’m not as patient as him. I kiss him hard and desperately, arching my back to reach him better.
I suck on his tongue and use every bit of strength I have to keep myself from moaning again.
I can’t remember ever being this turned on from kissing someone.
It’s like he knows where all of my buttons are and how to press them by just kissing me.
I catch his bottom lip with my teeth, and he groans using a deep, throaty tone.
“Star.” The way he says my name sounds like he’s in pain. I don’t think I bit him that hard, did I? “What did you want to tell me?”
“It’s not important.”
“Humor me?” he repeats the words I’ve heard him say before.
“Ok. Do you know what your name means in Latin?”
“Latin?” He says the short word with such power that I almost change my mind and tell him to kiss me instead.
“Yes.”
“No. What does it mean?”
“It’s funny. I thought you knew, since you called me crow.”
“I’m not following.”
“Corbin loosely translates to crow.”
“How do you know that?” I don’t answer because I don’t know.
I don’t speak Latin. I barely speak English some days, so taking on another language is out of the question.
My body stiffens and a feeling of déjà vu is suffocating.
I repeat the words to myself, “Corbin loosely translates to crow...A crow rarely travels alone, never straying too far without its flock…” I shot upward, gripping the blanket, digging my nails into its surface, and I gasp.
“Corbin?” I say his name in a panic.
“What’s wrong?” he reaches for me.
“I remember.”