Rage and Ruin(41)

“Why not?” He walked a bit in front of me.

“Because we can’t date,” I told him, my hip bumping into the edge of the table. Cheeks flaming even more, I hastily apologized to the people whose table I’d jarred. “I’m so sorry.”

Zayne turned and quickly assessed the situation. Without saying a word, he placed his hands on my shoulders, guiding me so that I was front of him. We took a couple of steps before he spoke again. “You know I’m teasing you, right?”

I opened my mouth and then closed it. Of course he was joking. And of course I was an idiot. “I hate you.”

Chuckling, he squeezed my shoulders. “You wish.”

He had no idea how true that was.

I kept my mouth shut as he steered me out of the packed restaurant and into the balmy night air. I took a second to scan our surroundings. There was an old church across the street and several more restaurants and shops.

Staying close to the buildings as we walked, I glanced at Zayne. That stupid, sexy grin was plastered to his face. Nervous energy buzzed through me. “I can’t believe we were in there as long as we were. We should’ve been out here by now.”

“Possibly, but we’re allowed to have lives,” he replied, but my father would probably disagree with that. “Speaking of having a life, what are some places you want to see tomorrow?”

“Um... I don’t know.” I stepped around a guy on his phone and realized I hadn’t checked my own since I’d texted Jada. “I’d like to see the dinosaurs.”

“That’s in the natural history museum. Has a lot of cool stuff in it. Lots of fossils and artifacts. Even has a butterfly pavilion.”

That sounded pretty. “And I would like to check out the Holocaust museum. Is that near the other one?”

“Yeah, about a fifteen-minute walk. Any place else?”

I nodded. “The African American museum—oh, and the one with the rockets and stuff.”

“The Air and Space Museum.”

“Yeah, that. And I’d like to see some of the memorials,” I went on. “Probably the Washington Monument, too.”

“Sounds like we’ll make a day at the National Mall then.”

“Is that okay?” I glanced at him. “I mean, you’ve probably seen this stuff a million times.”

“It’s perfect, and actually, I’ve only been to some of them a couple of times and it’s been a while,” he explained as he scanned the streets. “It’s weird when you live here your whole life. You want to check the stuff out, but since you can go anytime, you put it off.”

I guessed that made sense. “How is the, um, the lighting in the museums?”

“Some of them are pretty bright, so they might be a little harsh on your eyes, and others are dark. If you have any problems in any of them, let me know.”

Relieved, I nodded. I hated wearing sunglasses inside because I worried, stupidly, what other people thought when they saw me. Like I was too cool or something. And while I knew I shouldn’t care what random strangers thought, it still made me uncomfortable. I also worried whether I’d be able to see some of the exhibits if I couldn’t get close, but I hoped I could. Even if I could see only half of them, it would still be amazing and—

Zayne cursed. That was the only warning. One second I was walking, and the next I was off my feet.





19


The street became a blur as Zayne moved alarmingly fast. I heard a shout as he turned and spun us away from an eruption of angry voices where the sound of screeching metal was followed by the smack of flesh into something solid. The streetlights dimmed as he stepped into an alley, and then my back was pressed against a wall as Zayne caged me in, blocking my body with his. Whoops of laughter and the tinny sound of metal wheels on cement drowned out the chaos of my pounding heart.

“What in the world?” I lifted my head and saw the outline of Zayne’s profile behind his hair. I felt the low buzz of a nearby demon, but that was normal for DC.

“Kids on skateboards and Rollerblades coming out of this alley like idiots with a death wish. One of them slammed into a guy getting out of a cab.”

Well, that explained the ongoing shouting.

Zayne’s tone was hard. “They’re going to either hurt themselves or really hurt someone else, hopefully the former. Assholes.”

“I didn’t even...” My gaze dropped from his profile to where my hands rested on his chest. “I didn’t see them.”

“I know. They were coming from the side, too fast for you to see.” He looked down at me. “It was like a gang of skateboarders.”

“Scary.”

His face was shadowed, but I saw a faint grin appear. “They’re probably going to cause more headaches and damage than a horde of Fiends.”

“Probably.” My heart had slowed, but it was still pounding, and that had nothing to do with the skateboard gang. There was only an inch or so separating us. I drew in a shallow breath. “Then again, humans probably do more damage than most demons.”

“True.” His chin dipped.

I took another breath, a bigger one, and my chest brushed his. An elicit shiver danced over my skin. Had he moved closer? It was probably time to put some distance between us. I didn’t say that, though. I also didn’t move away. My hands remained where they’d landed, and I could feel each breath he took, long and slow, and not all that steady.

“Thank you.” My voice sounded strange to my own ears. Thicker. Richer.

“For what?”

I let my head fall back against the wall as I searched his expression in the shadows. “For dinner. I didn’t thank you. So, thank you.”

“You having a good time was thanks enough.”

My heart gave a happy little skip. “You always say the right things.”

“I say what I’m thinking. I don’t know if it’s right or wrong.” Zayne had moved closer as he spoke. His thighs touched mine. His hips met my stomach, and I knew he was picking up on what I was feeling. Warmth blasted my cheeks, but a different type of heat infused my skin as a low rumble radiated from deep within Zayne’s chest. There wasn’t even a centimeter between our bodies, and I felt that sound in every part of my being. My fingers dug into his shirt as whatever air I managed to get into my lungs slowly leaked out.

“Trin,” he said, my name a raspy low growl of warning.

Of wanting.

I slid my fingers down his chest, stopping on his taut stomach. Why not? That was the question cycling through my thoughts. Why couldn’t I stretch up and take what I wanted, what I suspected he wanted, too? In a physical sense, I knew he did. There was no denying that we were attracted to one another. That didn’t mean Roth was right. That he looked at me differently or that...that I loved him. It just meant that I wanted him.

No one had explained why a relationship was forbidden between a Trueborn and their Protector. Maybe the rule had made sense when there were more Trueborns, but now there was only me, and I couldn’t fathom why it would be a big deal.

I’d finally found someone that I liked—a lot—someone I was interested in beyond the whole physical attraction, and I couldn’t have him.

Life was unfair and the heart was cruel, wasn’t it?

Zayne’s breath danced along my cheek, and all I would need to do was turn my head just the slightest bit to the left and our mouths would be lined up. He wasn’t letting me go or putting distance between us, and he knew the rules. Maybe he was thinking the same thing I was?

What harm could a kiss bring?

Just one?

I turned my head. Zayne’s lips grazed the line of my cheek, coming within an inch of the corner of my mouth. Every nerve in my body seemed to fire at once, and something heavier, spicier, invaded my senses, slipping from that warm ball of light in my chest.

Zayne.

He was the thick heaviness in my chest, next to my heart, and it was mixing with the same feeling that had settled low in my stomach.

God, it really was coming from him. He was feeling what I was feeling. There was something between us, more than just a bond between Protector and Trueborn, and whatever it was made me feel hot and dizzy, like I’d been sitting in the sun all day.

I didn’t see him move, but I didn’t flinch when his fingers brushed my cheek, his thumb on my jaw. He tilted my head back even farther. Anticipation danced along my skin. In that moment, I wanted a kiss as badly as I needed the air I breathed. Every part of me was in agreement. I wanted to feel his lips against mine once again. I wanted to taste his breath on the tip of my tongue. I wanted so very much.

There was a wicked little voice in the back of my head that dared me to provoke the frustration and need I felt swirling inside him, to push the line between us as far as I could.

“Whatever you’re thinking, stop.” Zayne’s voice sounded like it was full of gravel.

“Back off, then.”

He didn’t back off.

And I didn’t stop thinking about how kissing him felt like lightning or how it felt to be in his embrace, skin against skin. My muscles turned to liquid in a way that was as pleasant as it was painful.

Zayne’s forehead dropped to mine and I felt his chest expand with his next ragged breath. “Behave.”

The corners of my lips tugged up. “I’m trying to.”