Steel

Chapter 8

I was dumbfounded. First I dream about Grey, find a hickey on my neck, and now he's at my door saying we need to talk. Had he known I was dreaming about him? How did I get a hickey on my neck?

"Nice hickey," his lips slowly curled in a knowing smirk, his cerulean eyes twinkling even in the dim light. 

I hurriedly pulled my hair over my shoulder and scowled at him. Was this some kind of magic?

"What do we need to talk about?" I narrowed my eyes at him, folding my arms stiffly across my chest. 

"Please let me in, Greene," he huffed, eyes flicking back and forth between mine. 

A chill ran up my spine and I shivered, reluctantly nodding and opening the door wider for him to enter. I remained still as he walked past me, locking eyes with me as his shoulder brushed past me. He smelled just as addictive as he had in my dream, and my eyelids fought to flutter shut at his proximity. It's like Grey was heroin and I was an addict. My mind knew he was no good, but my body couldn't help but need him. I thought I heard a low chuckle resonate in his chest as he waltzed over to my bed and sat on the edge. 

"Well? Talk," I urged with a roll of my eyes, slowly walking over to stand in front of him. 

"Care to tell me why you invited me into your head?" He raised an eyebrow slowly, eyes boring deep into mine. 

"I'm sorry?" I asked in disbelief.

"Apology accepted," he smirked deeply, spreading his legs in a V shape and resting his hands on his knees. 

"I wasn't apologizing, you shit. What do you mean I invited you into my head?" I demanded icily. 

His eyes narrowed a little, as if he was confused what I didn't understand. After a moment, he inhaled deeply, then raised both of his eyebrows. 

"I liked that dress. Very revealing. You might've chosen something... with more fabric had some part of you not wanted me as well. Your lips tasted like whiskey. I enjoyed that," he murmured lowly. 

Holy. Fuck. 

"You were in my dream," I whispered more to myself than to him. 

"Very good, mea bellator. Care to tell me why? Was it about the whole 'being afraid to lose you' thing you pulled?" He raised an eyebrow slowly. 

"No-I- yes, I mean, I was going to come and talk to you tomorrow because I- I know why you're afraid to commit to me. I guess I was thinking about that before I fell asleep," I shrugged. 

"I'm connected to you because your soul is still tethered to me. Whenever your mind calls to me, I can hear it. You can only hear me if I'm using a path that you initiated. You called me into your dream, initiating that path, so you could hear me too. Hence the hickey," he grinned devilishly as he eyed my neck. 

"So, why are you here?" I narrowed my eyes at him, pushing my hair over the scandalous mark again. 

"To tell you not to do it again. The more you use that tether, the stronger it'll be. And we're trying to break it, remember?" He clenched his jaw slightly, eyes grazing over me. 

"You answered it," I retorted with a scowl. 

He sucked in a deep breath and stood up off my bed, taking a few slow strides until he stood half a foot in front of me. I could faintly feel his breath fanning my lips, see the little scar on his upper lip, the slight crookedness of his nose and the deep blue freckle in his left eye. He was too close to me. I could feel my body aching to move closer, my throat tightening as I inhaled his intoxicating scent, the hairs on my skin rising at the faint body heat I felt radiating off of him. I wanted to touch him. I wanted to touch him so badly.