Lib Novel Page 40
“What for?” I ask.
“For bringing me here. I’ve never been to a farmers’ market before.”
“So, you like it?”
“It’s awful, cub.”
I laugh. “Well, you could have lied and said you like it.”
His breath tingles the skin on my neck as he dips his head, bringing his mouth to the level of my ear.
“I don’t want lies between us, tiger cub.” His hushed, raspy voice floods my senses, making my whole body buzz with an electric charge because of his deep resonance alone. “Just secrets.”
“Okay,” I whisper back.
A woman nudges her way to the booth’s counter on our left and starts chatting with the seller. Although she’s less than a foot away, aside from the high-pitched quality of her words and thefact that she’s there, nothing else in our immediate space seems real. The world dissolves, and both my body and mind attune solely to the man standing behind me, his chest plastered to my back. I close my eyes and tilt my head to the side until my cheek touches his.
“Will you tell me your secrets one day, demon?”
“One day. Maybe.”
“But not today,” I say under my breath but with conviction. “Just one tiny secret? Please.”
He cocks his head, lightly nuzzling the skin on my cheekbone with his nose. “I don’t dream. Ever. Even when I was a kid, I would go to sleep and just wake up in the morning, with only blackness and emptiness filling the gap in between. Up until recently, I believed that dreams are just a lie.”
A shiver runs down my spine. “But not anymore?”
“Not anymore,” he rasps. “Can you guess what I dream about, tiger cub?”
I bite the inside of my cheek and shake my head. The ringing of a nearby phone penetrates the haze I’m in. My devil takes my wrist, raising my hand.
“I dream about you, tiger cub.” Whispered words, just before he places a fleeting kiss on my fingertips. “But my every dream is interrupted by an alarm clock.”
He lets go of my hand, and then the warmth at my back disappears. I turn around and find him standing two steps away, his gaze glued to mine, even as he holds the phone to his ear.
“I’m on my way,” he barks into his device, then puts it away without moving his eyes off me for an instant.
People pass around and between us, hurrying to check out other vendors, their colorful clothes flash in front of my eyes, obscuring the view of my demon’s black-clad form every few seconds. Red. Yellow. Black. White. Black again.
“When will I see you again?” I ask.
Blue. Black.
“Soon,” he replies.
Pink. Orange. Black.
“I’m going to a club with some friends on Friday night. Not the safest place in town.”
White. Yellow.
The crowd dissipates for a moment, allowing me a clear view of him again.
His mouth quirks into a tiny smile. “I’ll be there.”
A family of four comes to a stop between us, obscuring my demon once more. I take a step to the left, looking around. Green. Red. Purple. Brown. But no black. Black is nowhere in sight.
Chapter 14