B00AO57VOY EBOK (22 page)

“Well, what do you think?” 
I asked without looking up.

The sharply inhaled breath I
heard definitely didn’t belong to Kim, though.

Nathan was standing with his
gorgeous body leaned in the doorway.  He must have been talking to Kim, but at
that moment he was staring at me with so much blatant desire in his eyes that I
felt warm all over.  Kim looked between us and smiled gleefully.  Apparently
that was the reaction she’d been going for.

“Turn around so I can check
the fit,” she said, hiding her delight behind a businesslike tone.

I did as I was told, turning
slowly on purpose to give Nathan the full view, and by the time I was facing
them again he looked like he was ready to toss Kim bodily from the room so he
could have me and my dress all to himself.

“What do you think, Nate?”
Kim asked, smiling slyly.  Like she really had to ask.  Anyone who looked at
him right then could have told you
exactly
what he thought—and what he
was thinking
about
.

“I think it’s time for you
to go home,” he told her, his voice husky, and my cheeks began to heat up. 
That was fitting I guess, considering that my whole body felt hot as his eyes
raked me from head to toe again.

“Not a chance!” Kim cried,
laughing.  “We still have to go over hair and make-up.  That means
you
need
to go.  This is strictly girl time.”

Nathan gave her a look that
said he was seriously reconsidering tossing her out but then sighed and turned
his eyes back to me for one more look.  Suddenly, I didn’t hate the dress quite
as much.  If
he
liked it that much…

He actually backed out of
the room, his eyes lingering on the curves the dress revealed until Kim slammed
the door in his face.  Our eyes met and we started to laugh at the same time. 
After the stress I had been under, it felt good to laugh with her like we used
to.  Of course, remembering those better times reminded me of my list and
therefore reminded me why I hated the gown Nathan loved so much.

Using the excuse that I
didn’t want to wrinkle it or anything, I practically sprinted back into the
bathroom.  I looked in the mirror for one second before I reached for the
zipper and couldn’t help feeling a little burst of pride as I saw how great I
looked in it.  The color was slimming, making my waist look tiny while actually
making my overabundant curves look amazing.

If it hadn’t been the dress
I was destined to die in, I would have loved it. 

I took it off as quickly as
I could without ripping it and jerked my clothes back on.  I had to resist the
urge to ball the gown up and throw it in the corner as I blinked back the tears
burning my eyes.  Carefully, touching it as little as possible like it was
something contaminated, I hung it back on the hanger. 

I took a second to compose
myself and then took the offensive garment back into the bedroom and
immediately zipped it back up in the garment bag to keep it out of sight and
hung it in the closet.  It wasn’t until I closed the door of the closet with a
deep sigh of relief and turned back to face her that I realized Kim had gotten
very quiet.  She was watching me, a slight frown on her face, and I knew I
hadn’t fooled her.  In fact, my little display with the gown had actually been
a sure indication there was something very wrong.

“Don’t say you’re fine,” Kim
said, her voice almost a whisper to keep Nathan from hearing her.  He probably
could anyway, but I couldn’t blame her for trying.

“I wasn’t planning on it.” 

I hadn’t even known I was
going to say that until I heard the words leave my mouth.  How many times had I
told her I was fine in my life?  A million?  Two?  And how many times had she
let me think she believed me? 

This was my best friend, my
sister in every way that counted, and I realized suddenly that I had never
really been honest with her.  I had done everything in my power to keep her at
arm’s length.  I had hidden my fear that I was a total freak.  I had camouflaged
my pain behind fake smiles and forced laughter.  I had pretended to be happy
when it would have been obvious to a damn idiot that I wasn’t. 

I didn’t want to do that
anymore.  I wanted to lay my head on her shoulder and cry and tell her I was
terrified of dying.  I wanted to tell her I didn’t know what the hell I was
doing and that I probably never would.  I wanted to tell her everything I had
never told her and then some.

“Is it because I kicked Nate
out?” Kim asked, immediately jumping to the wrong conclusion.  “I swear, it was
all part of the plan!”

“No, it’s not that.”  I
shook my head, staring down at my hands.  “Kim, that dress…that’s the dress I
was wearing in my premonition.  It’s the dress I’m going to die in.”

All the color leaked from
her face and she slowly looked from me to the closet where I had hung my death
shroud.  She swallowed, hard, just before crystalline tears dewed up on her
thick lashes.

“Oh, God, I’m so sorry,
Em,”   she whispered, miserably.  “I’ll get it out of here.  Hell, I’ll burn it
myself.”

“No, you won’t.  It’s
beautiful.  If I’m gonna die, I might as well go out in style, right?” 

I was stunned by how calm I suddenly
felt.  Two seconds before, I had been ready to run screaming from the room, but
I found I wasn’t so afraid anymore.  Maybe that old saying is true.  Maybe the
truth really
does
set you free.

Frowning again, she patted
the bed next to her and I walked over and sat down.  She studied me for a long
moment before she spoke, and I got the impression she thought I had finally
snapped under the pressure.

“You really think you’re
going to die, don’t you?” she asked softly, her eyes filling with understanding
and fear.

“Yeah,” I whispered.  “Yeah,
Kim, I do.”

We sat there for a long
time, neither of us saying a word, and then she took a deep breath and reached
for my hand.  I held on tight, afraid to let her go.  She must have sensed it,
because her grip on my hand got so tight I was pretty sure she was cutting off
the circulation to my fingers.

“We’ve been friends for a
long time, Em.  No, scratch that.  We’ve been like sisters since the moment we
met.”  A tear slipped down her cheek as she spoke, but she didn’t look away. 
There was a determined gleam in her eyes that not even the tears could hide that
let me know whatever she was about to say, she meant every word.  “I
will
not
let you die.  Do you hear me Ember Leigh?  I will do whatever I have to
do to make sure that doesn’t happen.  But, so help me, if you get blood on that
dress, I
will
kick your ass.”

I started to laugh but it
turned into a sob instead.  Kim wrapped her arms around me and cried with me,
because that’s what best friends do.  Not the kind who are your best friend
until someone better comes along, but the real kind who are there with you no
matter what.

I heard the door open and
the sound of quiet footsteps crossing the room.  The bed behind me sank a few
inches and then I felt Grams’ warm, soft, hand on my back, rubbing in soothing
circles.

“What happened?” she asked
Kim quietly, seeing as I was still sobbing uncontrollably.

“I-I messed up,” Kim
hiccupped through her tears.  “S-stupid d-d-dress.”

 “The dress from the
premonition?” Grams gasped softly, understanding immediately.  

“It’s beautiful, Grams,” I
defended Kim automatically, barely getting the words out through my sobs.

“I’m sure it is,
sweetheart,” Grams said, smiling gently, her voice low and soothing. 

“Ladies, could you excuse us
for a few minutes,” Nathan said, from the doorway.  “I think I would like a
little time alone to tell my gorgeous girlfriend exactly what
I
thought
of that dress.”

I closed my eyes as his
voice washed over me, through me, wanting to moan in relief as the silky sound
of it soothed some of the panic and misery making it feel like my chest was
collapsing in on itself.  I don’t remember making a conscious decision to move,
but I was suddenly across the room and throwing myself into his arms.  They
came around me in a crushing hold and I buried my face against his chest,
continuing to cry. 

When I thought I was calm
enough to speak again, I turned to look at Kim and Grams.  Kim gave me a watery
smile that said everything we would never have to say.  Grams was holding her
close, smoothing her hair as she tried to stop crying.  Kim’s gaze flickered to
Nathan and something passed between them and she nodded and smiled through her
tears before getting to her feet and hauling Grams up with her.

Patting my shoulder, she
slid past us, taking Grams with her.  Grams gave Nathan a pointed look, but
didn’t protest.  Nathan moved us just enough to close the door behind them and
then leaned back against it to insure we wouldn’t be interrupted and just
continued to hold me.  After another couple of minutes, I was finally able to
pull myself together enough to look at him.

It was like getting hit by a
speeding train.  His eyes were so full of fire and love that it took my breath
away.  My body started to tingle with that electrical sensation only he had
ever made me feel, and my heart alternated between skipping and pounding so
hard that I was sure he could hear it.  He leaned down and captured my lips in
a kiss that seared every single thought I had from my mind, leaving behind a
warm, exhilarated feeling.

“I’m sorry, Nathan,” I
whispered when I could finally talk again.  “I didn’t mean what I said.  I
didn’t.”

“No, baby, I’m the one who
should be sorry,” he said, cupping my face in his hands.  “You were right,
trust is earned.  I haven’t given you many reasons to trust me, have I?  But I
plan to change that.  Nothing is more important to me than your trust, Ember. 
I’ll do whatever I have to do to deserve it.”

“So are we friends again
now?” I asked, wrapping my arms around his neck.

“No,” he murmured.

His hand slid beneath my
hair to cradle my skull and my entire body hummed in anticipation of what I
knew was coming.  I couldn’t look away from his eyes. His voice was barely a
breath against my lips when he spoke, but it couldn’t have had a more powerful
impact on me if he had shouted.

 “We have always been so
much more than that.”

He kissed me then and it was
so sweet, so gentle, that it brought tears to my eyes again. When he finally
drew away, I felt like I had lost something. For a second he just looked at me.
The heat behind his eyes had my insides melting in no time flat.  I didn’t look
away to distract him.  I wanted it.  I wanted another taste of him.  I wanted
to hold on to him any way I could.

I don’t know if he saw it in
my eyes when he looked up or read it in my thoughts, but he moaned and pulled
me closer, his lips crushing mine again and sending searing heat through me
from head to toe.  It was like he had never kissed me before.  He wasn’t
holding back even a little.  His hands gripped my hips and pulled me even
closer, something I didn’t even think was possible.  We were so close now that
we were practically melded together.

His lips left mine to trail
a line of kisses along my jaw to my neck and I had to bite my lip to hold in my
own moan.  He followed the column of my neck to where my pulse was pounding wildly. 
The moan won the battle when his tongue flicked out to taste my skin.

“Ember, now would be a good
time to stop me,” he groaned against my neck.

“Mmm hmmm,” I breathed.  “In
just a minute.  Please continue.”

He leaned slightly away from
me, his eyes heavy lidded and wicked sexy, and I realized I wasn’t the only one
having a hard time breathing. He held my gaze as his thumb feathered back and
forth across my bottom lip.

 “So beautiful.”  He leaned
down to place a kiss on my collarbone, his hands sliding beneath my fleece and
t-shirt in search of bare skin.

 “So passionate.”  Another
kiss, this one lower than the first, following the neckline of my sweater,
which was still unzipped.

“So strong.”  His hands slid
around to my back, his fingers trailing up and down my spine sending a shaft of
blazing hot desire shooting through me.

His lips had gone as far as
they could down one side and they started their way back up the other.  With
each touch of his skin on mine, a series of miniature explosions went off all
over my body so that by the time he made it back to my neck, I was gasping for
air.

I lost myself in him, in the
feel and taste and scent of him, because that was the only way I felt safe
anymore.  If I lost myself in Nathan, I didn’t have to feel the fear that had
been slowly eating me alive for the last week.  If I lost myself in Nathan, I
could forget what was coming for us.

When we walked out of the
room a short while—and a lot of hot, drugging kisses—later, it was to find that
the rest of our elite demon research team had been busy.  The living room had
become a cardboard box obstacle course that overflowed into the kitchen and
halfway down the hall.