Page 37 of Chaos & Carnage

Chapter Fifteen

“How long before Kinobi will be back at home?” Cade asked from where he sat on his haunches, scratching behind the dog’s ear.

“A day or two, I would say. She’s become so much stronger these last couple of days. How’s Demon?”

Cade turned, looking at me over his shoulder, hair falling over his forehead in that boy-next-door look. “He came out of hospital last night. But I dunno how he’s gonna look after himself. He’s still in a state.”

“How come they discharged him?”

“Don’t thinktheydid.”

“Oh. Is that wise?”

Cade scratched the dog behind the ear, and she turned to nuzzle his hand.

“Demon is a lot of things, Al. Wise, he is not.”

“Sometimes people do better once they get out of hospital. At least when they reach a certain point in their journey.”

Cade stood, turning to face me, smiling. But it wasn’t the wide beam, or the cheeky grin I was used to seeing. It was weak, forced, sad.

“Kinobi can go home in a few days. They both may recover more with each other’s company if they both take it easy.”

The unconvincing smile on Cade’s face melted away, a darkness washing over him like a sky in a storm.

“And we all need Demon better soon,” he muttered, his eyes searching for something behind me.

“Are you alright, Cade?” I touched his hand lightly, the warmth of his flesh instantly hitting my skin.

We hadn’t touched each other since the other night. He’d turned up, petted the dog, cuddled kittens and then we parted ways like the night in my flat hadn’t happened.

“Yeah,” he muttered. “Yeah. Just lots going on. At work, at the club.”

“I just thought…”

Cade moved closer, scooping an arm around me.

“You thought I’d got what I wanted and now I was done?”

“No…I…err…. maybe.”

He smiled and this time his face flooded with light, the corners of his eyes wrinkling. Amusement and happiness, and I liked this much better than dark and stormy Cade. Because when he looked like that, there was something frightening about him. Something that told me to back away slowly and run in the opposite direction, and that was not what my body wanted right now.

He pushed a finger under my chin, staring into my eyes, searching me for answers to questions not even asked.

“I enjoyed the other night, Al,” his voice was low, a deep purr of guttural vibration. “I’ve wanted to do that from the minute I set eyes on you.”

His words dusted over my neck, his nose brushing my cheek.

“Why?” I croaked.

“I dunno, Al. I can’t say these green things are all that sexy. But these…”

He pulled his face backwards, his hand sliding towards the back of my neck, his thumb swiping over my cheek.

“These freckles.” He moved his thumb. “These dimples,” he pressed gently into the indents of my face. “These…” he breathed, his thumb pressing against my lips, and slipping between them.

Deep in my stomach, something swirled, the start of a whirlpool slowly circling. Cade’s thumb pressed that little harder, and I opened my mouth. He hummed, deep and heavy in approval, his eyes boring into mine, the pressure never releasing. I let my tongue circle the end, his skin hinting at saltiness. And then suddenly he snatched it away.