The Wicked Kiss (Alexa O'Brien, Huntress #2)(63)

He raised an eyebrow, a sexy grin spreading across his face. “Why are you staring at me, beautiful lady?” His tongue darted out to capture a drop of blood at the corner of my mouth.

My lips quirked in a half smile. “No reason. Just enjoying the view.” I reached to run a hand through his hair, reveling in every part of touching him.

Arys rolled off me and curved his body alongside mine. It was somewhat strange to be lying naked on Raoul’s living room floor. It also felt incredibly free and liberating.

And anyway, this was my house now, and I needed to start treating it as such.

“Speaking of the view,” Arys pointed lazily toward the window where the darkness was thinning fast now. “I’m not going to make it home. That means you have to stay here with me all day.”

That sounded like a great way to spend the day to me. I wasn’t ready to leave him yet. “Ok, we can take some blankets downstairs to the basement. It’s furnished.” A thought struck me, and I added, “I have to give Shaz a call though. He’s going to be looking for me.”

I expected a grimace or dirty look of some kind from Arys then, but his expression remained neutral. That raised my suspicions, and I was suddenly dying to ask him about his little hunting excursion with Shaz.

“Alright, you go call him. I’ll get us set up downstairs.” He trailed a hand over my back and down my behind as I got up, sending a shiver through me. I was glad to see that I had escaped without a rug burn.

As Arys rummaged in a hall closet for blankets and pillows, I went to my purse for my cell phone. It wasn’t quite dawn yet, and I got Shaz’ voicemail, as I’d expected. I left a quick message telling him where I was and not to worry about me. I was almost relieved that I could prolong having to face Kylarai in the light of day. I dreaded that conversation.

Against my better judgment, I went to the kitchen and opened the fridge. It was pretty bare. I had little selection so I chose a can of Pepsi and headed back down the stairs. Arys had already vacated to the lowest level of the house as the sun beams started to creep in.

I gathered myself, prepared to take on Arys and, hopefully, get more out of him than I had from Shaz. Was my curiosity unnatural? Maybe, but it was driving me nuts to know they had shared an intimate moment, hunted and killed together, and I didn’t know any of the details. Arys was more likely to share things that Shaz would gloss over. And, I had all day to get it out of him.

Chapter Thirteen

I stared uncertainly at my reflection in the full-length mirror on my closet door. The Little Red Riding Hood costume did wonders for my physique. Unfortunately, it also nagged at my insecurities. I didn’t mind showing a little skin, but I usually had a higher clothing-to-skin ratio than this.

My cle**age was more than impressive in the black, strapless corset dress. The red lace trim grazed the top of my thigh high fishnet stockings in a barely there way. I decided to pair the costume up with leather knee-high boots that had killer five-inch heels, sharp enough to take out an eye.

My few accessories included silver bracelets that jingled when I moved and a black ribbon tied like a choker around my neck. The little red hooded cape was my final accessory. Kylarai assured me that it wasn’t too short from where she sat on my bed, watching me do my makeup. I’d gone a little heavier than usual on the dark eyeliner and, after hesitating, had even added the red lipstick Jez had insisted on when I bought the outfit.

Things hadn’t been as awkward with Kylarai as I’d expected. I had said a prayer of thanks when I arrived home to find that she was there alone. We hadn’t said much about the fight between Julian and Shaz. Shaz was Alpha, and there wasn’t much more to be said about that.

I was dying to see him. After getting virtually nothing out of Arys, I was frustrated and ready for an evening out. All Arys had been willing to share was that he and Shaz had formed an unspoken understanding and that I would be wise to stop picking at it.

Well … fine then.

I so rarely got the chance to enjoy some cheap entertainment. I had also come home with a ton of ideas and plans for redecorating Raoul’s house. It was still hard to think of it as mine. That would come with time.

I’d enjoyed being there, more than I’d thought I would. I had expected to feel out of place in the house filled with both good and bad memories. Instead I had felt calm and at peace. Strange but true.

I turned to face Kylarai, loving my height in the high-heeled boots. She was dressed as the green fairy, better known to some as the absinthe fairy. Clad in a long, forest green cocktail dress with a slit from floor to hip and the cutest sparkly green wings, she looked like she’d just stepped out of a fantasy novel. Green eyeliner would never have looked so perfect on me. Her grey eyes were dazzling.

“Should I leave my hair down or put it up?” I asked, ignoring the part of me that felt guilty as soon as I met her eyes. Some combination of Julian’s loss and the kiss I’d shared with Kale nagged at me.

“Leave it down but use some mousse and blow dry it upside down to give it that wild look with lots of volume,” she said. “That would look sexy.”

“Are you sure you don’t mean trashy?” I laughed and scrutinized my appearance one last time before ransacking the bathroom for mousse.

“You look amazing. Now stop fussing. The trick-or-treaters will be coming soon.”

She slid off my bed and smoothed her skirt down. “They’re going to be so cute, all dressed up.”