Don't Hold Your Breath

Chapter 4

The feeling of hands on me, shifting me slightly, made me groan and the hands froze.

"Wha-" I muttered groggily, my eyes fluttering open slightly in my surprise.

"Shh." A voice hushed me.

I looked up through half-hooded eyelids and was able to see through the darkness the blue eyes looking down at me with an emotionless expression.

"I'm just pulling the covers over you." He explained quietly as he adjusted the blankets on my body.

I mumbled something incoherently at him without much thought as I cuddled deeper into the slightly uncomfortable mattress. It didn't take much effort before I quickly began to drift off again. Right before I fell asleep, though, I could feel a rough, calloused hand brushing hair from against my face and neck as he let his knuckles drag slightly against my skin.

"What do you MEAN they had "slight problems"? Do you want him to find out about this? Our necks are on the line!"

I blinked rapidly and sat up in bed as the sudden loud noise startled me from my sleep. I looked down at the ground next to me only to find Zeke's makeshift bed was empty. I quickly threw the covers off of me and crept to the door, opening it a bit to better hear the voice from down the hall.

"I get it." the voice greatly decreased in volume, sounding as if he just realized how loud he had been. Surprised at the sudden decrease in volume, I stepped out of the room, creeping down the hall and peering around the corner to see Dex arguing with someone on the phone.

"Just shut up for a second. I'll talk to him."

There was a slight break before his voice rose again. "I said shut up you moron! There are more important things at stake here, don't you think I've thought this through? Listen to what I am saying and don't speak. I am and always havebeen the brains of this operation."

A sudden creaking noise made me freeze and Dex whipped his head around, making sudden eye contact with me. His eyes widened slightly as he saw me and for a moment we just stood staring at each other. Finally, he broke away and kept talking into the phone.

"Yeah I told you I'll talk to him and get back to you. Bye."

Dex quickly ended the call and stuffed his phone in his pocket before turning to me.

"I really hope you didn't hear the part earlier where I was cussing that bastard out. Not that I'm not proud of my creative insults and all, I just wouldn't want to spoil your delicate ears." He grinned at me.

I smiled back, finding his smile infectious, and shook my head. "I didn't mean to sneak up on you." I told him in an unintentionally soft voice. "I just heard voices and walked into the room and then you saw me."

Dex shrugged. "Nah it's fine, you just scared the crap out of me. You move like a freaking ninja."

I grimaced slightly and did an awkward, jerky impersonation of his shrug.

"That was a friend of mine, by the way." He said, gesturing to the phone. "He was pawning off the jewels that Zeke stole the other day and had a bit of an accident with them." Dex rolled his eyes before looked at me with a pleading look. "Please, please, please don't tell Zeke? He'll kill me, he didn't trust my friend to begin with. I quite want to keep my head attached to my body."

"I'm not going to tell him." I shook my head, though I found his begging slightly amusing.

"Ah you're my savior!" he exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air. "Come darling, I shall cook my hero a feast for breakfast!"