Ghost Girl

Chapter 11

Quin became very still. "Those are two different questions. Answering aye to one does not mean answering nay to the other."

"Then answer them separately," I hissed.

In the darkness, I could just make out his head shaking. "Don't, Cara."

I threw up my hands. "Is that all you have to say?"

His dark eyes glistened like polished jet as he stared back at me. I began to cry. It was silly, but I couldn't help it. The combination of excitement and fear from our adventure, and my frustration with Quin, played havoc with my emotions. And at the back of my mind was the even more palpable fear that I would not be cured.

"Cara." The combination of his accent and leonine voice sent a thrill through me. He scooted down the bed and touched my cheek. His thumb wiped away tears I'd hoped he couldn't see. "Don't cry." He pressed his lips to my forehead and didn't draw them away for several beats of my heart.

"Stop it," I mumbled. "Stop being so nice."

He tucked my hair behind my ear and drew back. "I don't tell you everything because not knowing keeps you from being afraid. Do you understand?"

"No." I swiped at my tears with the back of my hand. "I want to trust you, Quin. Tell me I can."

He hesitated and my stomach plunged. "I told you," he finally said. "I have done bad things in my life. You're right not to trust me. But I won't allow any harm to come to you, Cara."

"How can you say that and then tell me I shouldn't trust you?"

"Because...I..." He muttered something under his breath in a language I didn't understand.

"Quin?"

"You must have faith in your own feelings, Cara. You know in your heart what the truth is. I know you do."

He was talking in riddles. "What does that mean?"

He shook his head and twisted away to lie down. A small grunt of pain escaped his lips.

"Your injuries," I said, reaching for him without thinking. I touched his chest and felt my way down to where the other fighter had bruised him. "Does it hurt?"

"More than I remember."

That almost encouraged a smile from me, despite my heavy heart. "You don't feel pain when you fight the demons?"

"I do while I'm here, but it vanishes as soon as I return to the other realm and heal. My visits here are usually too brief for me to feel pain for long." He sucked air between his teeth as my fingers pressed into the bruised area.

"Sorry," I said. "I'm checking for broken ribs."

"And punishing me for my secrecy."

"You're behaving like a child."

He huffed out a breath and remained silent as I continued my assessment. I gentled my touch and ran my hand over the ridges of hard muscle and warm flesh. My fingers roamed up his chest, through the scattered hairs, to his shoulders. I traced a strap of corded muscle and found a small moon-shaped scar. It reminded me of the larger scars on his back and I opened my mouth to ask him how he'd gotten them, but shut it again. He wouldn't tell me.

"Cara," he murmured thickly. "We must not."

But I wanted to. Despite his secrets and continued warnings that he couldn't be trusted, I wanted to explore his body further. I wanted to kiss him as we'd kissed outside Myer's house. I wanted to go on a scandalous adventure with him.