Verum (The Nocte Trilogy, #2)(33)

He nods. “Plenty of times.” I don’t want to ask who else he’s brought with him.

“And the owners have never caught you?”

He grins. “Oh, they’ve caught me. But I can’t be tamed.”

I giggle at that, at the matter-of-fact way he said it.

I start to grow accustomed to the cold temperature and my teeth stop chattering.

Dare swims back and forth a few times, then treads water while he observes me. Oddly enough, and probably because the water keeps my body hidden, I don’t feel self conscious.

“I think you’re a closet rebel,” Dare announces. I have to laugh at that.

“Not hardly,” I admit. “I’m terrified right now that the owners of this property are going to find us and call the police.”

“First, we call them coppers here,” Dare explains with a snicker. “And second, you don’t seem to understand the power of your name yet. Savages can do anything they like around here.”

“But you don’t consider yourself a Savage,” I remind him as I tread water. Something akin to warmth floods his eyes, and his mouth tilts up in the crooked grin that I am beginning to love. When he’s not smiling, I wait for it to appear, like an addict waiting for a fix.

“I fall under the same umbrella, though,” he tells me. “At least, for outsiders looking in.”

“Did you know that you speak in riddles?” I ask him in annoyance. He dives under water without answering, and within two seconds, he’s grabbed my ankle, pulling me under with him.

I struggle and twist, but he pulls me down, down, down, and then I’m against his wet hard body and suddenly, I don’t want to struggle anymore. I don’t want to push him away.

Not by a long shot.

His body is both strong and lean, cold and warm. It’s very hard, and I’m held against it, reveling in it, soaking it in. He’s angles and muscle, strength and grace.

He’s moving against me, his hips, his hands.

His fingers glide fluidly against my skin, creating friction even beneath the water.

I’m on fire.

The warmth spreads from my arms to my legs to my belly.

It’s a wild-fire, and suddenly I’m quite sure that he’s the only thing that can put me out.

Together, we float to the surface, still intertwined. We break through the top and I suck in a breath and Dare is staring into my eyes.

There’s tension here, but not the bad kind. It’s the kind that ignites you, the kind that intoxicates you, the kind that once you taste it, you’ll crave for the rest of your life.

I’ve forgotten that I was going to be careful, that I was going to reject him on every level.

All I can remember, all I can focus on, is how very alive Dare DuBray is making me feel in this moment, how alive he always makes me feel.

For a girl who has been surrounded by death her entire life, this is a very big deal.

“I’m a little afraid of you,” I blurt honestly, and Dare still has his arms around me. Our treading water motions keep our legs rubbing together, the friction still there.

Hot,

Hot,

Hotter.

Dare smiles, but there is no humor in it.

“Good.”

“Why?”

My honesty makes me seem innocent, but I don’t know how to play games. I have no experience with the opposite sex at all.

“Because that makes you feel something.”

But he’s hesitant now and he looks away. There’s something he wants to say, it’s balanced on the tip of his tongue, but he swallows it.

“What is it?” I ask softly. “Just tell me.”

He wants to, I can tell. His secrets are killing him. He just wants to be normal, he’s just acting out a role.

I don’t know why I feel like I know this. It’s just there, suddenly resting on my heart.

“You don’t have to be someone you’re not,” I murmur quietly. His dark eyes snap up to mine and he pulls his hands away. There’s something in his eyes now, something guarded, and our easy afternoon has come to an end.

“What makes you think I am?” he snaps. “Pretending to be something I’m not, I mean.”

I’ve somehow annoyed him, and I don’t answer because I don’t know what to say.

“I’m not being someone I’m not, Calla,” he says coolly as he strides from the water. “I’m being who you need me to be. We’ve both experienced loss. You just can’t handle yours.”

I’m stunned because he’s normally so patient, and I’m dripping wet.

“We don’t have towels,” is all he says when I follow him. My clothing soaks up the water and it is a very cold ride back home.

Dare doesn’t say another word and I leave him in the garage.

I don’t see him at dinner, and I don’t see him the rest of the night.

But as I lay in bed around midnight, I see his car leave the garage.

I don’t see him come home, and I’m awake for half the night waiting.

I have no idea where he goes when he slips away.

Somehow, I think he wants it that way.

There’s a fork in the road and even though I see it, I can’t avoid it.

One road goes left, one goes right, and neither of them ends well.