Bitten (Once Bitten, Twice Shy #1)(93)

As soon as Melanie’s tiny car was parked safely in the gravel lot outside her house, the front door smacked open. Luther stepped out, looking grim. Behind him, followed none other than the man who’d occupied her thoughts all night.

“He looks mad.”

And the award for understatement of the century goes to you, Melanie.

Agnes kicked the back of Katherine’s seat, snapping her out of her momentary stupor.

“You did get permission to go out with us, didn’t you?” she asked.

Steeling her resolve, Katherine shook her head. She wasn’t going to allow herself to be intimidated by Bastian – even if her friends were. “I don’t need his permission for anything,” she spat, wrenching open Melanie’s car door. She marched across the lawn, towards the two men, only vaguely aware of her friends scrambling to catch up to her.

The closer she got to Bastian, however, the more she realized that her wrath was no match for his.

He was the angriest she’d ever seen him. The air around him positively cackled, like a lightning storm. Both terrifying and beautiful.

Her proud march turned into a much more subdued shuffle.

That made no difference to Bastian, however, who was more than willing to meet her halfway across the yard, grabbing her by the crook of her elbow when he reached her.

“Hey!”

Ignoring her protests, he dragged her to his parked SUV, which had gone unnoticed by Katherine until then.

Still holding onto her arm with one hand, he yanked the passenger side door open with the other. Finally, he let go of her. “Get in,” he ordered.

“But what about my friends? I should say-”

“Get in,” he repeated slowly, stressing each word between clenched teeth.

Biting down hard on the soft tissue of her inner cheek, Katherine did as she was told. Bastian slammed the car door shut as soon as she’d pulled her seatbelt across her chest and was in the driver’s seat, starting the SUV, in the blink of an eye.

He hit the gas, and tires squealing, they were off. The sound of the engine purring softly beneath the hood made the edgy silence between them seem somehow more intense to Katherine.

When he finally parked the vehicle beside his house, she prepared herself for a fight. Instead of yelling, however, he remained frightfully silent, ducking out of the SUV as soon as he’d turned the ignition off. He pulled Katherine’s door open. “Out,” was all he said.

But Katherine had had enough of being ordered around. “No.”

A disbelieving – almost feral – grin transformed Bastian’s handsome face into something dangerous. “No?”

“I don’t have to listen to you,” Katherine once again denied him.

Grin abruptly wiped off his face, Bastian reached across her lap to unbuckle her and grabbing her by her hips, easily lifted her up and out of the car. Before she could react, he’d set her back down on her feet and slammed the door shut again.

“What’s wrong with you?” Katherine demanded, furious at the thought of being manhandled – treated like a doll.

“What’s wrong with me?” he repeated incredulously. “What’s wrong with me is that I have a reckless little girl under my care who takes great pleasure in worrying me to the point of insanity whenever she gets the chance!”

“I’m not a little girl-”

“No,” Bastian cut her off. “Be quiet and listen for once. I couldn’t find you!” His already bright eyes were blown wide, the blue and black nearly overwhelming the white. “All these scenarios were flying through my head,” he cut himself off, obviously not willing to share what exactly those scenarios were. “You’re always running – running away from me! Do you really hate it here that much?” He took a deep breath. “Do you really hate me that much?”

“No!”

“Then why?”

“I just wanted to prove to you that I’m responsible enough to make my own decisions – that only I know what is best for me and that I can take care of myself. That’s all.”

“That’s all, huh? Well, I have news for you, little girl. All you’ve managed to prove is how utterly irresponsible you are!”

Bastian’s continued use of that particular phrase – little girl – was getting on Katherine’s last nerve.

“Why is it irresponsible to go out with my friends? I had fun.” Sort of. “Nothing bad happened.”

“And you’re damned lucky,” Bastian spat. He ran an agitated hand through his hair and for the first time, Katherine noticed the man’s obvious preoccupation with her current outfit. “Dressed like that, you’re just asking for trouble. And I can smell the liquor on you from here.”

And that was it for Katherine.

She’d had enough.

The connotations of what Bastian had just said – the implication behind his words – finally pushed her over the edge. She wasn’t some drunk floozy!

And so she took the only action that made sense to her at that moment.

She threw herself at the man. And kissed him.

As soon as her lips made contact with his, Bastian froze. But that made no difference to Katherine. She pushed all of the emotions pulsing through her into that kiss – anger, frustration, her goddamn reluctant affection of the man. What she didn’t expect was for the softness of his lips, combined with the roughness of his stubble, to send a powerful tingle shooting down her spine.