I moved back across the bed, slowly withdrawing my hand from her chest. The top of my index finger was just brushing against the underside of her breast—God she was perfection. Just a little further—
She grumbled something in her sleep, grabbed my hand and pulled it back around her, clasping it to her.
My heart rose in my chest, a big expanding ball of warmth...and then it shrank down, tight and hard and cold. She felt protected by me. She thought I was some sort of fucking hero.
I went to extricate my hand...but the way she clasped it there felt so goddamn good. It was several seconds before I could bring myself to do it. Then I gently rolled off the bed and pulled on my jeans.
For her sake, I had to get her as far away from me as possible. And it started right now: I couldn’t stay in that room a second longer, or I was going to do something fucking stupid, like dive back into bed and kiss her awake.
I pulled on my t-shirt and boots, threw on my cut—then stopped. The Blood Spiders might still be looking for us. They might have even passed around a description.
I slowly took off my cut. It felt like chopping off an arm. I folded it carefully over the back of a chair and then headed out.
My plan was to get us something to eat—I was starved and I knew she probably was, too. Plus, she needed something to wear. She couldn’t ride around in her underwear in broad daylight. It felt weird walking instead of riding but when a couple of Blood Spiders roared past me I knew I’d made the right choice. I kept my head down, hands shoved in my jeans. Luckily, my t-shirt hid most of my ink.
There were only two stores in the village: a general store and a cafe. I tried the general store first, without much hope. Yep: everything from envelopes to saucepans but I couldn’t see any clothes. I stomped over to the shop assistant. “You got anything to wear?” I growled.
She flinched and backed up a step, eyes huge.
Shit. Wasn’t often I had to deal with people. I spent so much time being intimidating, I forgot to turn it off. These last few years, I’d almost forgotten how to turn it off. I tried to soften my voice. “It’s for a woman.”
The shop assistant swallowed and nodded. “We don’t really do clothes. But…” She led me to the back of the store, her voice growing more confident with each step. “A local woman makes these so we keep a few in stock. We don’t often sell one but they’re awesome.”#p#分页标题#e#
Three dresses hung on the wall. I ran my hand through my hair. I had no clue about fucking dresses. They looked nice enough, though sort of old-fashioned.
“Is it for someone special?” the shop assistant asked.
I nearly laughed. I wasn’t that guy: romance and dates and buying each other gifts. But the laugh died in my throat. With Annabelle, the idea didn’t seem like something I wanted to laugh at. Jesus, what’s wrong with me?
“Yeah,” I muttered. I pointed at the blue dress. “That one.”
I paid for it and then headed to the cafe. There I got two big takeout cups of coffee, a third of milk and a box of pastries. I took the whole lot back to the motel...and opened the door just as Annabelle came out of the shower.
12
Annabelle
I froze, my hair dripping down my back, the towel clutched around my naked body. The towel was small enough that keeping both my top half and bottom half decent required pinpoint positioning and absolutely no movement. For a second, Carrick and I just stared at one another as little drips of water pattered into the carpet.
“I bought breakfast,” he muttered at last. Then he held out a bag. “And a dress.”
“A dress?”
He put the bag down on the bed. He put the cups and cardboard carton he was carrying on the desk, next to where the Harley was parked. The entire time, his eyes didn’t leave my body. I swore I could feel the water evaporating from my skin as those blue eyes scorched me.
“I should dry off,” I said. “And get dressed.”
He nodded, still staring at me. “Yeah.”
“There’s not much room in the bathroom. And the floor’s wet. So I kinda need to do it in here.”
He still didn’t take the hint. He just kept staring, his eyes tracking an S-shaped path down my body, from the damp upper slope of one breast, down over the towel and back across my stomach to where the towel ended, dangerously close to my groin. “Mm-hmm.”
“So, uh...could you turn around?”
He looked me in the eye and I almost took a step back. I’d never in my life seen such a look of raw, hot need. I don’t know, his gaze said. Can I? As if he really might not be able to tear his eyes away, as if I drove him crazy.