Kindred (Book 1 The Kindred Series) (27 page)

   She swallowed heavily
, trying to regain control of herself but failing miserably. “I feel a lot better now.” It wasn’t entirely a lie; she did feel better than she had this morning.
“
Thank you.”

   He continued to stare at her, leaning slightly forward as he rested his hand on
t
he door
jam. “You look well.”

   Her face flared with heat as he perused her with a look that caused her toes to curl. “Who is it?” Melissa called as she pounded down the steps. She
froze
at t
he bottom of the sta
irs
. “Devon, how are
you
?” She
inquired
as
she
walked over to stand beside Cassie.

  
“Fine.
I just came to make sure Cassie was feeling better.”

   “
Oh
,
that’s really nice of you
.
W
hy don’t you come in out of the rain?”

   Cassie cast a sharp, panicked look
at
Melissa
that
she
chose to ignore. “Cassie?”

   She turned back to
Devon
,
knowing
h
er
fear and
distress
was written all over her face
, but
she
unable to keep her expression neutral
. He was staring at her expectantly, his green eyes troubled and intense.
She knew that she looked like an idiot, and a cold hearted jerk
for not inviting him in
, but her thoughts would not form a coherent sentence in her shaken brain.
She
did know one thing; she
could not leave him out there in the rain
.

  
“Yes
,
of course, come in,
”
she managed in a choked voice,
and
somehow get
ting
her feet to move out of his way.
  
H
er heart hammer
ed
as he
moved with easy grace into the house,
his shoulder briefly brushed
against hers. A tremor raced through her, causing her heart to lurch, and her body to hum with
e
lectricity
once more
. His powerful
frame
seem
ed
to take up the entire foyer, her entire world.
Fascination seized her as he ran an elegant hand through his damp hair, shaking the rain from
it.
Melissa nudged her
, her eyes wide as she nodded slightly toward the kitchen
in an attempt to make
Cassie
at least act somewhat normal
.

  
“Do you want something to eat,
or drink?” Cassie asked quickly, a little too quickly as she
realized she
sounded like a
complete
idiot
.
His close proximity was shaking her to the core though.

   “No
,
thank you.”
   She nodded
,
her gaze darted
to Melissa. She didn
’
t know what to say or do. “Hey
,
grab me a Coke!” Chris shouted down the steps, apparently on commercial break.

   “Please!” Melissa yelled back.

   “Please!”

   “I’ll get it
.” Melissa head
ed
for the kitchen, leaving the two of them painfully alone.

   Cassie shifted uncomfortably, fidgeting nervously with the edge of her shirt. “You won’t get in trouble for leaving school will you?” she asked softly.

   He shrugged absently. “It’s worth it to make sure that you’re ok.”

   Cassie hated the heat that flooded her face, but she could not stop the fire that burned over her skin
.
“We were uh just watching TV and hanging out,
” she managed to stammer out.
“
Do
you
want
to join us?”

  
He grinned at her,
his dimples flash
ed
as
his head cock
ed
slightly to the side.
“Sure.”

   His gaze roamed over the house as she led him up the stairs. Her heart pounded loudly in her ears, her throat
was
dry as excitement and terror tore through her in equal waves.
The heat of his body was fierce in the small confines of the stairwell. It burned through her clothes, heating her to the core of her being. 

   Chris did not look up as she pushed the door open, his attention
was
still
riveted on the TV.
“Who was it?” he muttered
, shoving a handful of chips into his mouth
.

   Cassie shook her head
at him
in disbelief
. H
e was like a zombie when
TV and food w
ere
involved
.
He didn’t even sense a new presence in the room.
“It’s Devon.”

   He
turned slowly
toward them
,
his eyes wide
ned
in startled disbelief. “Hey,” he greeted
dully
.

   Devon nodded to him
as
his gaze r
an
over Cassie’s room. She glanced around, her eyes darting over her mahogany dresser with its assortment of jewelry boxes,
knickknacks, and hair care products. The
only thing decorating her
cream colored walls
was a
picture of her parents
. It hung
ab
ove
an
overstuffed armchair
next to
the window
that
Chris climbed through
.
On the other side of the window were two large bookcases
stuffed full of books
neatly
organized alphabetical
ly
. Th
e nightstand
,
beside her queen sized sleigh bed
,
held only an alarm clock
.

   For the first time she noticed how sparse it was, how much it did not look like a normal teen’s room with all the cluster, posters, and chaos that
were
usually present.
Then again, she was anything but a normal teen.
She looked back at him, not at all surprise
d to find his steady gaze focused
upon her
once more
. She couldn’t stop the blush burning into the roots of her hair.

   “Here you go.
” Melissa breezed
into the room;
she
toss
ed
a can of Coke to Chris
,
who was still staring at Devon in disbelief.

   Melissa
plopped onto the bed
and
dr
e
w her legs up beneath her. “Do you want to sit?” Cassie asked
Devon
softly.

   Melissa scooted over on the bed, making room for him as he sat on the ed
ge
of
it
. Cassie’s heart fluttered
,
a strange sensation t
ook
over. She had never had a boy in her room before, unless she counted Chris, which she didn’t
.
And
Devon
was
most certainly not a
boy,
or at least
not
like
any boy she
had ever
kn
o
w
n
.

   “You like this show?” Chris asked
Devon
.

   Devon turned slowly away from her, his
forehead
furrow
ed
slightly as he watched the
ship battl
ing the
fierce
weather
and
sea
.
“Never seen it.”
   “Oh, you’re in for a tr
eat then, this show is the best!
”
Chris said eagerly, thrusting the bag
of
chips at Devon which he politely waved away. Apparently watching TV was Chris’s favorite way to bond.
   “Looks interesting,” Devon replied.
“
Are you going to sit?”

   Cassie’s eyes widened as he patted the spot beside him on
t
he bed. She glanced wildly at Melissa, but her friend was watching TV, a
n annoyingly bright
smile
on
her f
ace
. There would be no hope from her
,
and Chris was already engrossed
in the program
again. Moving stiffly, she perched
gingerly
on the corner of the bed, unable to fully relax
with him
only
tantalizing
i
nches from her.

   Her hands clenched upon
her legs, her fingers d
u
g
into her jeans. She could feel
the strength of his aura. Unknowingly she leaned closer to him, a
current
sho
o
t
ing
through her as
t
he
y touched briefly
.
H
is fingers
intertwin
ed
with hers, locking tight as he pulled her hand into his lap.

   She glanced up at him, her mouth parting as she found his emerald eyes on her.
She knew that she
try and
slow her i
nvolve
ment
with him, but she could not bri
ng herself to move away
, could not bring herself to put any distance between them again. She was mesmerized by him, enchanted like
a
cobra under the snake charmer’s spell.

   Resting her head on his shoulder, she
fully
resigned herself to the fact that she was not going to be able to stay away from him.
She could not
stand
to part
with him for
more than
a few hours, never mind the rest of her short life. She would just have to m
ake sure that
she kept him safe.
That they
all
kept him
protected from the dangers and brutality of
their
world. She did not kid herself into thinking it would be easy.

CHAPTER
12

   Cassie
suck
ed on the end of her straw,
pull
ing the thick shake through it as she studied the group gathered
around the
picnic tables. The crowd
ed area was loud as kids shouted, laughed, and threw things at one another. The football team had won their game tonight and it seemed that the entire school had turned out to celebrate.

   Chris shifted slightly beside
her,
his large body
was
cram
m
ed in
to
the tiny corner
t
he
y had managed to snag
. “Freaking mad house,” he muttered.

   “It’s because you guys are so great, you should be happy,” Melissa told him.

   He rolled his eyes, but they gleamed with pride.
Though h
e tried to play it off
like
it was no big deal, he
loved being t
he star o
f
the team.
Cassie
’s
gaze scann
ed
the crowd as she waited impatiently for Devon to arrive. He hadn
’
t been able to make it to the football game, but he
’
d said he would be here.