Maneater

Chapter Seventeen

    "For instance, you say you want to leave, but the minute I encourage you to, you hesitate. Why?"

    But I don't want him though, Crystal thought. It was an easy thought to have, but not quite as easy to believe while staring up into his soulful baby browns. That thought was even more difficult to believe when factoring in how her body was responding to his. It felt like her entire body was blushing. He didn't have to say or do much to warrant a physical response from her. There was no doubt that his uncanny ability to read her mind and see through her bullshit added to his appeal. Not that I would admit that he appeals to me in any way anytime soon, she thought, staring back openly at him.

    A slow smile spread across his face, as if he knew what she was thinking. "You're not going to make this easy for me, are you?"

    Narrowing her eyes at him, she asked, "Aren't you the one who had the line about things being easy not being worth it?"

    He ducked his head down, his boyish grin threatening to kill her already dwindling resolve. "Touche," he said softly. 

    Ugh, stop being so damned cute, she thought angrily, looking away from him.

    He was still holding her hand and she prayed to God that he couldn't feel it shaking. Giving her hand a light tug, he started walking backwards.

    She followed him only because she didn't know what else to do.

    He slowly turned once he reached the staircase, and proceeded to lead her upstairs.

    Her heart pounded against her rib cage as hard as a jackhammer hits pavement. Stone cold fear set in, its icy tendrils starting at the palms of the hand Austin was holding. Those tendrils curled up her arm, down her torso and across her shoulders to the other arm. Chances were, he wasn't leading her upstairs so that they could play a game of Scrabble. Chances were, he was leading her upstairs because he wanted to get things cracking. Being a modern woman with carnal needs, she wasn't a stranger to sexual activity. But the time she'd spent with Austin was already so much different than the past experiences she'd had with other men. She hadn't even known him long, but he'd already left an impression on her life, a mark that could never be erased.

    There was no other man in her past that she could honestly say was anything like Austin. There definitely weren't any men in her past who could so easily get a rise out of her, or see right through her. He turned and looked down at her as he continued ascending the stairs. The intensity in his eyes was seriously enough to make her want to snatch her hand away and fly down the stairs and out of his house, but she didn't.

    She didn't...instead, she continued following him the way a sheep blindly follows a sheepherder, and why? If she asked him, then it was because she wanted to be there with him, wanted to follow him, no matter where he was leading her. And if I ask myself why? Then what would the answer be?

    They drew nearer to what could only be his bedroom door, a dark wooden door the color of mahogany. The closer they came to the door, the more Olympic-quality cartwheels her heart flipped in her chest. Every instinct that she had told her to run, but she couldn't deny her growing curiosity. If he could make her feel things without even speaking to her or touching her, imagine what he could do in the bedroom.

    Or...don't imagine. Her cheeks burned hot. She pulled her hand out of his grasp as they reached the closed door at the end of the hall.

    He turned a questioning look on her.

    She stared back at him, and wondered what he saw. Could he see how frightened she was, or was she doing a good job of covering it up?

    He tilted his head to the side, studying her. Searching her eyes. Trying to read them.

    She lowered her eyes so he couldn't read them.

    Placing a hand beneath her chin, he tilted her head up. "You don't have to hide from me. Ever."

    "I kind of feel like hiding now," she said, her voice tiny. Quiet and more high-pitched than she'd ever heard herself speak. It was a voice she didn't even recognize. Men feared her, not the other way around. Who was this petrified, vulnerably honest, shaking woman, and what had she done with Crystal?

    He took a step closer to her so that there was absolutely no space separating them. "No man has ever treated you the way you should be treated."

    She looked away from him, because it hurt too much to maintain eye contact. Memories from her past came flooding at her, memories that she'd spent a lifetime trying to forget. The schoolkids taunting her, the boys and eventually men using her...everyone wanting something for nothing, and everyone moving onto the next person who'd give them something for nothing when Crystal was sick and tired of the bullshit. Those were the times...back when she still cared, when she still dreamt of finding the right man and settling down.

    "You don't have to say anything," Austin said quietly. "I know that no man has treated you the way you should be treated. I can tell by the way you carry yourself, by how cynical you are." He paused, and boldly grabbed her hand again. His dark brown eyes challenged her to pull her hand away from him again. "While I'm not in the position to commit to anything or anyone right now, I can guarantee you that I will treat you better than any other man has."

    He wanted something casual, a fact that made her feel both relieved and disappointed. Casual, she could do. She was the queen of casual. But there was this nagging feeling she had. It was as if...as if she knew better, knew that this wouldn't end up being some casual fling. Austin may have already made a mark on her life, but something told her that he wasn't done yet...