Gods & Monsters(30)

“Ah, Duke Knight said two bad words. I didn’t know you cursed. Sky did though.”

“Sky.” He sighs, long and sort of lonely. “I wonder what she’s up to tonight.”

“Hey, don’t you mess with her. She doesn’t need your crap.”

He chuckles like the devil he is and completely ignores what I just said. “Tick tock, Cinderella. Get going. Time’s running out.”

I don’t remember getting out of Duke’s car or climbing up the rickety stairs that lead up to my boyfriend’s apartment, but I’m standing in front of his door.

It’s white but has patches of yellow on it. The paint is peeling and the brass knob is scratched and scraped. This is the very first time I’m seeing it; I have been so careful to never sneak out to his place lest someone sees me, but tonight I don’t care. By all means, this is a door I wouldn’t look twice at. This is a door that’s shabby, falling apart like these white, discolored walls.

But my Abel lives on the other side.

That’s all that matters to me. I put my hand on the faded, ill-painted wood about to knock, but it wrenches open before I can, making me stumble back a bit.

Abel stands at the threshold with a frown, his chest punching his black t-shirt with every breath he takes. His hair’s all messy, like he’s been sleeping for a decade, but his eyes are bloodshot, suggesting he hasn’t slept at all.

“Pixie?” His voice is rumbly and it’s so good to hear it in person that my entire body sighs. I can’t remember the last time we talked face to face. I’d forgotten the shape of his lips, how they mold around my name, Pixie. As if it’s the most important name he’s ever said or he’ll ever say.

“Abel,” I whisper, smiling even as my eyes feel heavy with all the pent-up emotions.

He’s looking me up and down, flicking his gaze all over my body, and for the first time, I feel like a girl, maybe even a woman. For days at a time, I don’t think about the clothes I’m wearing or the braid that my mom has me do. I don’t feel anything. Not a single thing. The time that I truly feel alive is when his eyes are on me, or when he’s whispering in my ear, at night.

I feel alive now. My heart’s racing in my chest, banging against my ribcage. Every breath I take makes me realize that I’m wearing a dress with a low neckline, not crazy low but lower than what I usually wear, with a tiny hint of cleavage. The sleeves and bodice of my dress are pure lace with flowers and it fits me like a second skin up until my hips. And then, it flares into shiny waves of fabric and reaches a little over my knees.

Does he like it? It’s his favorite color: black. Though I know he likes pink on me more than anything.

Why isn’t he saying anything? I look down at my feet and wiggle my toes inside my low-heeled black pumps. Then I look up, feeling more unsure than ever. Usually, he’s the one yanking me inside closets and classrooms, gathering me in his arms, touching me one way or another. But he isn’t doing any of that right now.

“Can I come in?” My voice breaks as I ask the question.

He blinks, waking up from some sort of sleep, and then, he does what he always does, pulls me inside and shuts the door with a thud, his gestures loud and sure.

“What… I thought I was dreaming.” He swallows, his palms flat on the wood, on either side of me, making a cage of tanned muscles and bones. “I’ve been going out of my mind all day, thinking about you with that fucker. Been kicking myself for being an asshole to you all week.” He leans down, his wildly heaving chest pressing into me. “I was going to take you.”

Something in his tone makes me shiver. “T-take me from where?”

“From him. From your school. I knew you’d be arriving right about now so I was going to get you. Going to tell the whole world you’re mine.”

I know he isn’t lying. I know he would’ve done it, whatever he was thinking of doing before I got here.

It shouldn’t make me all melty and slippery. It shouldn’t make me clench my thighs because honest to God, this is scary. Borderline criminal and crazy. And I know that if he had decided to take me, I wouldn’t have resisted. I would’ve gone with him, with a savagely beating heart and a healthy dose of fear and excitement in my stomach.

I grab the hem of his t-shirt. “You don’t have to take me. I’m here.”

“How the fuck are you here?”

“Duke dropped me off. He said he’d be back to take me home later.” His jaw clenches and his eyes shoot fire at Duke’s name. I cup his hard, stubbled jaw and get up on my tip-toes. “Shh. Don’t. He’s not worth it.”

“The only reason he’s walking on two legs right now is because you keep saving him from me.”

I have to chuckle at this because he is an idiot. I kiss his chin. “I’m not saving him. I’m saving you. It’s always you, Abel. I don’t want my mom to have more fuel against you. We’ve come so far. We’ve been smart, as you said. I can’t let anyone ruin that for us. Not even you, you animal.”

His lips quirk up and at last his eyes smile, losing their heat. “I’m an animal, am I?”

I nod, smiling slightly, studying the lighter shade of brown in his gaze, encased with darker eyelashes. “Yes, but you’ve got beautiful eyes.”