Dancing With the Devil

Chapter 18

Dedication goes to the girl in school who begs for hints even though she knows I won't give them to her. I love you too much to ruin it for ya, Amanda! Oh yeah, feel the burning agony of suspense! >:)

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 The band of warmth encasing my waist alerted me that I was not alone. I didn’t know what time it was, but the moon’s soft glow was the only kind of light illuminating the vast, dark room. My eyes were still crusty with sleep, making my eyesight limited through the squinted eyelids.

I didn’t k now what disturbance had woken me up. An ominous feeling in my gut churned, as if try8ing to warn me of an evil cloaked in the shadows. I shifted uncomfortably under the oppressing feeling of being watched, causing Xavier’s arm to tighten protectively in his sleep.

            I debated on waking him up too so he could investigate, but in the midst of my internal argument, I convinced myself that I was just being silly. I fed off of Xavier’s promise to keep me safe as I snuggled closer to him and uncertainly closed my eyes for the remainder of the night.

 ***

            You would think that after, arguably, the most important night of my life, I would be granted a little bit of leniency the next morning. My entire body felt sore and protested the very thought of moving from our very comfortable bed.

But does my amazing mate let me sleep in? No.

            “Time to get up, Princess,” he mumbled against my skin where he peppered kisses up and down my neck. “We have to get going.”

            “Go away,” I groaned tiredly, waving him off. He caught my hand that I suspected came close to hitting him. Darn his reflexes. Just because I had sex with the guy doesn’t mean he can disrupt my sleeping habits.

            “That’s not what you told me last night,” he responded cheekily. “Come on, our bags are already packed. Seth and Eva are waiting for us. Eva is especially eager to meet you, making Seth impatient as well.”

“Just let me sleep!” I begged. I dragged one eye open to peek out the window to estimate the time. The sky was barely lit, the sun’s beaming rays not even visible from behind the volcanoes in the background.

Just as I was about to complain about the break-of-dawn hour, a sudden thought occurred to him. “Are you hurt? Oh damn, did I hurt you, Princess?” He mumbled to himself in his own language, his tongue forming sounds and words I didn’t know possible to make. His angry tone was universal, though, so I could at least guess to what he was saying.

“I’m fine,” I assured him, experimentally stretching. “Nothing too bad.”

“But it is bad, isn’t it?” he hissed, more to himself than me. His hands found fistfuls of his hair, which was slowly igniting itself. He began mumbling in broken English, mixing it with his own tongue.

“…Terrible…not worth …hurt her…bad mate…bad mate…bad mate…”

With each fragment I caught, his fists got tighter and tighter until his knuckles were stark white. Not caring about my lack of cover, I scrambled out from beneath the sheets to wrap my arms around him. He stiffened in my hold.

“It’s okay,” I cooed in his ear, hugging him tightly. “It was inevitable. I’ll be alright. I love you, X.”

“I don’t deserve your love, Princess,” he growled softly, gently trying to untangle my arms from around his mountainous shoulders. I clung to him tighter. “Let go.”