Page 23 of Creep (Vulture Hollow MC #2)

His skin has already soaked up all the cream I applied earlier, so I get some more and dab it over his face.

He has dark circles under his eyes, so I reach for the discreet concealer I sometimes use myself after particularly bad nights, but I end up stalling.

I don’t want to get my hand slapped away.

His eyes dart to the tiny bottle, then back to my face, and while he doesn’t ask the question, I know it’s there.

I clear my throat and unscrew the concealer, showing him the dense fluid. “Sorry… I was just thinking that maybe, if you had nothing against it, I could try to put this under your eyes, so you look refreshed?”

“Oh. That’s what it’s for?” His eyebrows raise and he looks at me expectantly. “Do what you think looks good. I… I’m not very stylish, but I could learn. It was also really nice when you washed my hair yesterday. I appreciate you doing this for me.”

The things he makes me feel… I don’t even know how to describe them, but I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone this earnest in my life. It’s refreshing.

Safe.

“I’m asking because it’s makeup, and a lot of guys… well, feel very strongly about it. I don’t want you to get annoyed with me.”

Creep shrugs with the kind of smile that appears on your face when taking the first bite out of a freshly baked croissant. “I don’t care what people think. Only what you think. There might be limits to what I’d want to do for you to consider me attractive, but we’ve definitely not found them yet.”

I’m glad he mentions limits, since I don’t actually want him to do things he finds unpleasant just to gain my affection. Things that challenge him? Sure, I’m flattered he’s willing to work on those for me.

After I dab the concealer under his eyes to blend it and leave him looking jaw-dropping, I get up, unable to stop grinning. I could see he was attractive from the start, but now he’s the ugly duckling turned swan, all sharp angles and dark eyes. I fan myself.

“You look absolutely stunning,” I say. His ego needs the boost, and I’m ready to provide him with as many compliments as he needs to believe he’s hot .

Creep glances into the small mirror hanging by the door and cocks his head as if he can’t really trust the reflection.

When he turns, he says, "would you like me to pay you?"

I still and we stare at each other. Is he suggesting… I'm an escort? Sure, my arrangements with the guys I've been juggling involved them supporting me, but that's not what I want with Creep and it's kinda hurtful to realize he might have considered me something he can buy.

Creep raises his eyebrows as I mull over the answer. "For the haircut. And nails."

My shoulders relax. “No. No, I wanted to do that for you. Because I like doing it. And because it seems you need a bit of pampering.”

I’m babbling, all hot on the inside, my stomach fizzing as if I drank far too much soda, so I segway to a different topic before things can get too awkward.

“You know what you need to complete the look? Some cool jewelry,” I tell him and take off my necklace, the one depicting the planets of the solar system and their orbits.

It’s made of brass, with tiny specks of crystals to play the roles of all the celestial bodies.

I want him to have it. Is this what Marina felt when she gave it to me two years back?

“This nice lady who owns the crystal store I often visit gave it to me. I was feeling sorry for myself that day, and she just put it around my neck, telling me it needs to be with the right person at the right time. Something tells me it should be yours now. So don’t lose it!

” I jokingly add and shove his shoulder.

I’ll miss its weight, but at this moment, it’s the right time to let its energy move on.

Creep grabs it and turns it in his fingers, as if getting to know each planet with care. “I won’t. I’ll protect it,” he says so seriously I just know it’s safe with him, and that puts me at ease.

I feel myself blushing and cough to put an end to the awkward moment. “Oh, it’s only natural that the necklace moves on to the next person who needs it. Good energy must flow freely. I can’t just hoard it. And you’re… nice. You deserve it.”

He’s making me feel so strange. Like that first time I realized I liked another boy.

He seems so innocent, despite everything he is, despite the odd fetish thing, and I want him to keep that innocence.

Maybe if I’m around, I can protect him from all the cruel things that could hurt him?

I might not have the muscles, but I can be the shield around his heart.

He frowns, and it only makes him more handsome. What have I done? He will be my ruin.

“I don’t think I’ve ever been called ‘nice’,” he says and licks his teeth, as if those long canines need to be wiped clean of blood.

“Well, that’s because you live with people who’ve never told you how handsome you are either. Clearly, everyone here’s blind,” I say, breathing in the scent of his hair, because we’re standing so close that if he was anyone else, I might be reaching out to touch him by now.

I know I should remain vigilant. After all, often people don’t show their true faces until much later. Someone smarter would have kept him at arm’s length and remained wary of the man who abducted me and tried to keep me inside his cave.

But I like him. And I trust him despite it being reckless.

I’ve been with so many walking red flags. Maybe it’s not such a crime to see the green shimmer on Creep’s?

“Do you think they’ll see the difference?” he asks when we walk out, and it’s just precious. I hesitate, unsure how my next gesture might be seen, but I make the final push and slot my fingers between his.

“We’ve already established they’re blind.”

He snorts and looks at me with the cutest blush on those sharp cheekbones when he squeezes my hand. I can hardly believe the same man who did all those filthy things with me last night is still shy, but here we are. My hand in his as though we’re fourteen and still too afraid to make out.