Bitten (Once Bitten, Twice Shy #1)(36)

His words however, were as stoic as ever.

"Nice try. Now go to sleep. You’ve been keeping me up."

His indifference only added to her embarrassment of being caught. "I was just going to the bathroom," she managed to mumble angrily, denying the man's unspoken accusation.

Bastian raised an incredulous eyebrow, but didn't call her out on the obvious lie.

"Fine, so maybe I wasn't," she admitted.

Tearing her eyes away from his face, she peeled back the sheets and climbed under them. She usually wouldn't sleep under the covers, but despite her warm body temperature, the room was chilly. Under the sheets, however, was ...nice.

And the bed was actually pretty comfortable. The mattress was soft and nothing like the one she'd been forced to sleep on when she'd stayed at that Motel 8 with her family. Even the pillow was fluffy.

And the weight on the other side of the bed, the dip that Bastian's body caused and the warmth it created... well, it was cozy. Even the gaze she swore she could feel on the back of her head wasn't unpleasant. It was reassuring. And she felt warm. Safe.

And despite her best intentions not to, Katherine slowly drifted off into a dreamless sleep.





CHAPTER NINE


Katherine woke up cold. Even tangled in a thick blanket, she could feel the chill.

After a particularly violent shiver, she managed to force herself to sit up. Sluggishly rubbing the sleep from her eyes, she glanced at the other side of the bed. It was empty. She absentmindedly touched the pillow that he had been laying on last night. It was cool to the touch.

"He left."

Startling at the sound of Caleb's soft voice, Katherine jerked back her hand. She turned to see that the brown-eyed man was sitting on the bed that he and Sophie had shared the night before. Unlike the mess of sheets she was lounging on, the bed he sat on was neatly made – the blankets were tucked in and even the pillows looked as if they had been fluffed.

It couldn't have been more obvious that Caleb had been awake for a while.

And to Katherine's surprise – and not-so-secret delight – the others were nowhere in sight. She subtly peeked at the night stand between Caleb and herself.

And promptly felt her heart skip a beat.

The keys to the SUV were still there!

Where had everyone gone? Surely Bastian hadn't left her alone after meticulously babysitting her the night before.

Had he?

Was Caleb really the only person between her and the keys to a potential getaway car?

It wasn't as if Katherine had scruples against stealing it. She’d been kidnapped after all.

"Where is everyone?" Katherine asked, the question flying pass her lips before she could taper her excitement.

"Bastian and Sophie went to the supermarket we saw on the way into town," Caleb explained. "It’s only about a half mile from here and Bastian thought it'd be a good idea to get you a few things. You know, necessities – some clothes, a toothbrush, deodorant," he hesitated a moment, a light pink staining his cheeks, "...other feminine products. He wasn’t sure what you’d all need – that's why he brought Sophie with him."

"I see," Katherine said, working to hide her enthusiasm. She hoped Caleb assumed the red she could feel creeping up her neck was from embarrassment at the mention of “feminine products” and not the result of her suddenly racing heart.

"And the others? Markus and Zane? Are they gone too?" she asked, trying her best to sound nonchalant.

Caleb furrowed his brows, looking distinctly uncomfortable at the question. "Well, they weren't supposed to leave, but Markus wanted to get something to eat. Both he and Zane took off a few minutes ago."

“Why weren’t they supposed to leave? Babysitting duty?” Katherine couldn’t stop the knee-jerk anger from briefly clouding over her excitement.

Caleb cringed and Katherine almost felt bad about taking her irritation out on the man.

Almost.

"In a way," he admitted. "Bastian did say were all to wait here for him to return and," he hesitated, "he did say that we weren't supposed to let you out of our sight."

Katherine rolled her eyes, completely unsurprised by the revelation. Caleb seemed apologetic about his friend’s behavior, but she couldn't help but notice that the man's eyes were glued to her. He was clearly taking the order seriously – which left her in quite the predicament.

How could she get away with him watching her like this?

Despite his seemingly docile nature, Katherine knew she could never take Caleb in a fight. He may have been smaller than the other men in the so called pack, but he was still much larger than her. He'd win a physical battle every time and easily be able to restrain her.

Katherine tugged a hand through the knotted mess of hair on her head, anxiously trying to think of a solution to the situation she found herself in.

Why, oh why, did that infuriating man have to leave her with a babysitter?

She didn't even notice the frustrated growl building in the back of her throat until it had escaped.

"Are you okay?"

Katherine spared a glance at the blonde man who was still watching her.

"Why?" she demanded, the question exploding from her mouth before she'd even had the chance to form it in her head.