Born at Midnight (Shadow Falls #1)(95)

"That said," Holiday motioned for the door, "it's very late and since tomorrow is parents day, we have to be up and at our best in the morning, even if we have to fake it."

* * *

Miranda, Del a, and Kylie walked out together. "Chan wasn't there," Del a said. "I would have smel ed him."

"I know," Kylie said.

"Who's Chan?" Miranda asked.

"I'l explain it later," Del a said, and then she looked back at Kylie. "When Sky said that she didn't put the lion in your room, she was tel ing the truth."

"I thought she was," Kylie said. But something about that whole incident stil didn't read true. Not that she'd ever real y find out. They started toward their cabin when Kylie saw Derek. "You two go," Kylie said. "I want to say good night to Derek."

"Do you smel those hormones?" Del a asked Miranda.

Kylie frowned at Del a as they walked away and then she turned to find Derek.

"Hey, wait up," Kylie cal ed to Derek.

He turned around and started moving toward her. When they met in the middle, he was smiling. "I liked how you stood up to Burnett and Holiday,"

he said.

Kylie shrugged, unsure where she'd gotten the courage to do it, but lately she found herself speaking her mind. She didn't think it was altogether a bad thing, either.

"And I liked how you stood up to the vampires earlier. What did you do? They kept dropping."

He grinned. "Apparently, I have the ability to shock their systems with emotional overload. It was pretty cool, wasn't it?"

"Yeah, it was," she said.

He studied her. "Your ghost was there, too. Wasn't he?"

"Yeah," Kylie said, not real y ready to share the whole out-of-body experience thing.

Their gazes met, held. "It worked didn't it?" Kylie said. "You communicated with the animals. That's how you knew about Sky, right?"

He nodded. "Yeah. You were right."

She thought she heard something in his voice-like regret. "Are you upset that it happened?" Like flies on a bad banana, guilt buzzed around her chest. He'd done it for her. "If you are ... I mean, I'm sorry that-"

He reached out to put a finger over her lips. "You don't need to apologize. I'm glad I did it. To be honest, it felt right. Tonight felt right." He pushed a strand of her hair behind her ear and left his hand there. "We did good. We make a good team."

"You've saved my life twice now. Three if you count the snake." She looked up at him, at his soft smile. His hand touching her neck felt so good. So right. Without thinking, she moved up on her tiptoes and pressed her lips to his.

He wasn't the one who started the kiss.

Nope. She did that.

He wasn't the one who deepened the kiss.

Nope. She did that, too.

He wasn't even the one who moved in closer.

Nope. That would be her.

Not that he seemed to mind.

But he was the one who moved his tongue inside her mouth. Deep inside her, she heard a little voice say, "Oops."

She pul ed back. They were both breathing hard. She wasn't sure either of them had breathed this hard when they'd been fighting rogue vampires.

He opened his eyes and looked at her. "Wow."

Kylie inhaled, stil trying to catch her breath, trying to clear her head. She stared down at her shoes, because looking him in the eyes right now seemed too much. She hadn't meant that to happen. Or had she?

He ran his finger under her chin and tilted her head up. Damn. He was going to make her look at him. Then he'd probably ask the question she couldn't answer.

"What was that, Kylie? Just a thank-you for saving your life ... or was it more?"

Yup, that was the question she was afraid he'd ask. "I don't know," she answered honestly. "Maybe just a weak moment."

He laughed. "Do me a favor." He leaned closer.

"What?"

"Whenever you're feeling weak, come see me."

She went to give him a thump in the chest, but he stopped her. He brought her hand up to his lips, his green gaze never shifting from her eyes, and he gently kissed the top of her hand. The moisture of his lips sent a shiver, a wonderful kind of shiver, al the way down her spine. For some unknown reason, that second kiss wreaked more emotional havoc than the first had. And that's when she noticed how beautiful the sky was. It appeared ... enchanted. The stars twinkled like something out of a Disney movie. Was Derek doing this? Was he using his gifts and making her see things differently? And did it matter if he was? She didn't have the answer. "I should ... should probably go. Tomorrow is parents day."

"I'l walk you to your cabin." He arched a brow.

"I'm not kissing you again," she blurted out, before she thought about it.

He laughed. "I bet you wil ."

She knew he was right, but ... "Not tonight."

"I figured that. Good thing I'm patient."

* * *

Derek's kiss and maybe everything that came before it had helped Kylie not think about seeing her mom-about what she would or wouldn't say about seeing her dad making out in the middle of town. Then there was the other question she had to ask. The question that made Kylie's entire insides twitch.