Chapter 13 #3
He shoved a hand through his hair. “I don’t have time for this.
And I damn sure don’t have time to work with someone I can’t trust to be honest with herself, let alone be honest with me.
So you can either walk out of here on your own two feet, or I can pick you up and toss you out. How do you want it?”
Her throat worked on a hard swallow. The yearning in her eyes almost broke him, but he held his ground.
He wasn’t going to be satisfied with her the way things were.
Last night had shown him that he was moving beyond the sexual attraction phase into something deeper.
He wasn’t going to wade into those waters alone.
Too many people were depending on him. He couldn’t afford to get all twisted up over a woman who didn’t feel the same pull he did. Or at least wouldn’t admit to it. Accept it.
Vashti moved toward the door slowly, all the anger she’d hit him with seeming to have drained away.
It no longer stiffened her spine or propelled her steps.
She paused on the threshold and looked over her shoulder at him.
“Elijah…don’t be like this. It was a tactical decision that was best for the mission. Let’s talk it through.”
“No need. Raze and I get along fine, things are moving forward, and I’ll get to Huntington before the end of next week. All’s right in your world, Vashti. Leave it be.”
She stepped outside.
“For what it’s worth,” he said as he swung the door closed, “I was crazy about you, too.”
Vash stared at Elijah’s closed door and didn’t know what to do with the vibrating anxiety that rattled through her. Everything inside her rebelled at the realization that she was on the outside, and he was locked away from her. Closed off in every possible way.
Christ, she’d come all this way with the thought that she would be with him tonight.
She’d been pushing toward that all day, and now she had nothing at all…
She’d never seen him so furious. He was livid.
And his anger was more terrifying for its quiet strength.
If he’d yelled or hit the wall…anything…
the passion of his response would’ve given her something to hang on to.
But his chilly fury had been emotionless. His parting comment had been made without any inflection at all. And spoken in the past tense.
Cursing, she ran both of her hands through her hair. “Fucked it up, didn’t you?”
She glanced at Raze, who sauntered toward her, flush with the healthy glow of a vampire who’d just fed.
His gaze darted over her face, and he sighed. Pity shadowed his eyes. “Ah, Vashti. Maybe it’s for the best.”
She nodded violently.
“You got a room?” he asked.
“I should head back.”
“Nah.” He tossed an arm around her shoulder. “We’ve got a big day tomorrow, and we can use you. Wanna stay with me? I have two beds.”
“What about the waitress?”
One thickly muscled shoulder lifted in an insolent shrug. “What about her?”
Vash leaned her head into him. “Still hung up on that med tech in Chicago?”
“Just not in the mood for anything complicated. You know what that’s like.”
“Sure.” Only she didn’t, not really.
She’d connected with Char and, to a certain extent, Elijah. Raze had only ever connected with one woman, a mortal who’d drifted through his life as quickly as all the others but somehow managed to leave an indelible impression behind.
Raze had been a manwhore as long as Vash had known him. But when he’d come back from Chicago not too long ago, he’d gone from barely keeping his pants on to never dropping them at all. Aside from his fangs, he kept his body parts to himself.
When she had the time, Vash intended to look up Kimberly McAdams in the Windy City and see if she could get a handle on what it was about the woman that had so drastically altered one of her best captains.
He changed the subject. “I have to head to the airport in a couple of hours to pick up the night shift and backup crews we have coming in. If you want to tag along, you still have time to feed. Plenty of selection in the restaurant—a couple of truckers, the bartender, a handful of locals. You’ll feel better. ”
No…she wouldn’t. Her head turned involuntarily toward Elijah’s door. He had to hear their conversation with his lycan hearing, yet he didn’t come storming out with his demand that she not feed on anyone but him. He’d really washed his hands of her.
Still, she couldn’t do it. Didn’t want to, even though she was now two days out from when she’d last drunk from Elijah.
“I’m good,” she said instead. “Why don’t you fill me in on what you picked up today and what you’ve got on the agenda for tomorrow?”
“Where’s your stuff?” His mouth curved. “You brought an overnight bag, didn’t you?”
“Yeah. I’ve got the Explorer over there.”
He handed her his keycard, and she tossed him her rental keys. As embarrassed as she was that she’d been kicked to the curb, at least no one knew she’d been hoping for some after-fight, make-up monkey sex when she’d hopped on a plane a few hours ago.
A girl had to have her pride.
Then she looked over her shoulder at the worn blackout curtains that blocked Elijah’s room from her gaze and wondered if maybe she had a bit too much of it.