Kindred (Book 1 The Kindred Series) (21 page)

   Cassie
glanced at the redhead, giving her a brief nod before turning her full attention back to him.
“You got here quick.”

   He shrugged, unable to tear his gaze away from her. “I don’t really see the point of study hall.”

   She laughed softly, the sound beautiful and sweet
,
like the gentle ring of wind
chimes. It resonated through his body, shaking him to the marrow of his bones.
At that moment, h
e knew that
he would do everything
in his
power to make her laugh as often
as possible.
Her eyes twinkled merrily as the laughter broke off
,
but she continued to smile radiantly up at him.

   “Most people
look forward to study
hall; it’s their favorite time of day, other than lunch of course.”

   “I don’t see why, there’s nothing to do.”
   “That’s exactly why.”

   Devon shook his head, realizing that he would never understand humans
again
.
Though, he hadn’t really understood them when he
’
d been human.
There was no pleasure in doing nothing, it drove him crazy.
“I see,” he said, even though he didn’t.

   Her smile slid away as she frowned questioningly up at him. “Didn’t they have study hall at your
old
school?”

   “Of course,” he lied smoothly, sensing that to do anything else would seem odd. “I didn’t see the point of it then either.”

   She smiled again, shaking back a strand of golden hair that had slid into one of her exquisite eyes. Without thinking, he reached forward
and
brush
ed
the
hair
aside. She froze, her breath catching in her chest, her eyes wide upon him as his fingers lingered on her silken skin. He found he could not take his hand away
as he stroked
lightly over the delicate contours of her face.
He recalled touching her like this last night but it was nothing,
nothing
compared to this.

  
She
did not move, did not even breathe as
she
watched him in silent, fascinated wonder.
Her eyes searched his face in awe, her mouth parted slightly. In her gaze he could see her own recollection of the dream. Her heartbeat kicked up, her pulse pounded
loudly
through her
veins. He did not feel a surge of hunger this time, felt no desire to drain her dry as he was completely ensnared and entranced by her.

   “Cassie!”

  
She jumped
slightly;
his hand f
ell
away as Chris’s sharp voice broke through
the odd spell
encasing
them both
.
He took a step closer to her,
fierce possession tearing through him as Chris appeared at her side.
Chris’s
blue eyes
narrowed
as he met Devon’s gaze
, his shoulders stiffened
. “Hi Chris,” she greeted, her voice sounding slightly strained and confused.

   “Did you do the homework?”

   Cassie rolled her eyes
.
“Yes, but there’s not enough time for you to copy it.”
   “I know I just wanted to make sure you had done it also.”

   Cassie’s
forehead
furrowed in confusion as she frowned at
Chris
. Devon was nowhere near as confused as Chris shot him a
dark
,
warning look. Though Melissa felt that they were more like siblings, Devon was beginning to
believe
that Chris’s feelings were not so platonic, and he did not like the competition that Devon threw into the mix.

  
Devon didn’t particularly care what Chris thought, or wanted.
Cassie
was going
to belong to him no matter what
. He took another step closer, his sh
oulder brushing against hers, his hand tightening on hers. Chris’s narrowed eyes followed him
, his broad shoulders stiffened
slightly. “Are you going to English now?” he asked sharply.

   “Of course, I’ll see you there.” Though it had been a clear dismissal, Chris lingered for a few seconds more, his gaze
was
steady as he stared hard at Devon.
Chris
glanced briefly at Cassie before turning on his heel and disappearing into the thick throng of
students. She turned back to Devon
, confusion still evident in her features.
“Ready for class?”

   He fought back a groan, he wasn’t ready at all. He wanted to stay here
,
with her, but he was in her world now, and unfortunately he had to obey the rules that came along with it. Even if the
rules
suck
ed
.
The only good thing was that he knew
they had the same class now
.

  
He followed her down the hall,
taking note of the people surrounding him for the first time.
Or at least taking note of the boys.
M
any of the
m
didn
’
t acknowledge his presence as they gazed eagerly upon her. His temper bristled a
t
the
obvious
desire behind their stares. They did not care about his presence, would easily ignore him if they thought they ha
d
a chance to talk to her,
to
be near her.

   It was a fact he didn
’
t like, but would remedy very shortly.
F
ollow
ing
her into a classroom,
he
reluctantly releas
ed
her hand when he
slid into
the
desk
next to her
. He had been assigned a seat a few desks away from her, but he had no intention
s
of sitting there today. Though he could no
longer touch her, he wasn’t moving any further away from her than this. She watched him with wide eyes, her head tilted slightly to the side.

   Chris and Melissa entered the room,
their heads bent close together as they talked softly. Chris grew quiet
;
his eyes dart
ed
toward him and Cassie. Melissa quirked a dark eyebrow, a smile flitted across her mouth. She gave Devon a brief nod before sliding into
the
seat
in front of
Cassie. Chris sat next to
Melissa
. The boy who had been assigned Devon’s seat hesitated for a moment, looking as if he wanted to argue with the new arrangement. Instead, he wisely closed his mouth and
resigned himself
to Devon’s abandoned seat.

   Cassie’s grin widened as she chuckled softly.
Unable to resist her any longer, he leaned across the aisle
and took her hand
. He was acutely aware of the fact that she had stopped breathing and was watching him
in
wide eyed wonder.
Sh
e clung to him with a desperation that he recognized instantly
,
as it resided inside of him also.

   He never wanted to release her again; unfortunately he didn’t have a choice as the teacher breezed into the classroom. She dropped her books on her
desk,
and
turn
ed
swiftly toward the chalkboard. Though she had not noticed them yet, it was only a matter of time before she did. He released Cassie’s hand reluctantly.

 
Though they were separated
,
he
kept his hearing attuned to
every beat of
Cassie’s
heart
.
He was well aware of
the delicious scent that wafted from her skin and hair.
N
ow that they were no longer touching the hunger began to kick in again.
His mouth
started
to water, the burning in his veins intensif
i
ed
. For a moment it took
all
he had not to grab hold of her and
taste her. The temptation was almost more than he could handle.
Clenching his teeth, and his fists, he forced himself to relax, to
keep restrained
.
The last thing he wanted was
to
hurt her,
to take her against her will,
to have her know that he was a monster. H
e would rather kill himself first.

 
Fighting hard
against his baser instincts
,
and the raging demon inside him,
he e
ventually regained
control
and was simply able to enjoy her soothing presence
once more
.

   He was beside her
again
the moment the bell rang
. Her touch soothed
him
further
, easing the aching tension
and hunger
c
oiled tightly within
him. Her soft smile warmed him. “Would you like to show me all of the town hotspots tonight?” he asked,
unable to stop himself from
grinning at her
like a fool
as they made their way
slowly
outside.

   Her laugh was enchanting. “Well
you’ve already seen the number one spot, B’s and S’s.”

   “
Yes, and it was amazing.
”
   She laughed again, shaking back her golden hair
. “Well, their shakes definitely ar
e. But I’d be happy to
show you around
town if you w
ant
.”
   “
I do
.”

   Her
long
lashes lowered shyly over her eyes, a dull flush stain
ed
her cheeks. “Great, I’ll uh… oh crap.” The smile s
lid from her face, her
light brown
eye
brows dr
e
w
tightly together. “I forgot, I can’t tonight, there’s something
that I have to do.”

   He tried to contain his disappointment as she stopped walking
and
turn
ed
to face him. Students milled easily past them, eager to get to their cars and escape the crowded parking lot.
“Tomorrow night then?”

   Her smile returned, but her eyes remained oddly troubled
and distant
. He could sense a fierce tension swirling through her, an odd sense of regret and loss
seemed to
fill her. “I would like that
.”

   Though she said yes
, he sensed something behind the words,
disappointment
maybe?
Anguish?

   “Cassie come on, let’s go!”

   She glanced over her shoulder to where Chris stood, leaning out of his car
with
his arm re
st
ing
on the driver’s door
. Melissa was
by the passenger door, her dark eyes narrowed slightly as she studied them. “I hav
e to go.”
   S
adn
ess
still
envelop
ed
her as s
he met his gaze again. Her hand
tightened around his before she released him, her eyes searching his face with an intensity that left him shaken. Loss
seemed to
envelope her as she took a small step back.

   “I’ll see you tomorrow then,” he said softly,
knowing he would
see her
before then.

 
He didn
’
t understand what was going on with her,
but she seemed to be releasing him
,
for
good
. H
e had no intention of letting her go
though
.
Not now, not after he had finally broken through some of her barriers.
Especially n
ot now that he knew the reality of her was far better
than the dream version
.