By the time we stopped for dinner (since we'd started our journey at late evening), Katie was up and reapplying lip gloss. I wondered why she had to, when her lips naturally looked pink and lush.
Oh, well.
I took in Derek's sleeping form as he leaned heavily against the door and snored like a bear.
"I have an idea," I whispered.
Jet and Kiel turned to me with matching gleams in heir eyes. Katie didn't care because she didn't feel the need to avenge herself since she'd been happily asleep while Derek assaulted our ears.
I slowly unlocked his side of the door, being very very careful as to not wake the beast up. Then, I nodded my head at Kiel and Jet who were standing on the outside waiting for my signal. Katie had her hands crossed and one heel tapped the ground like she didn't have time for this.
Well, screw her. She's not the with possible permanent ear damage.
Jet wretched the door open and Derek tumbled out with a loud snort-snore. He landed on his head, then rolled onto his butt and jerked awake.
All of us kept our mouths shut as we waited.
"What happened?" he asked, looking around, confused, his hair sticking up on one side and plastered to his face on the other side, from leaning on the door.
"Oh, you said you were hungry so we stopped for food." I said, sliding toward the open door and twisting to the side so that my legs hung free as I looked down at Derek.
"When?" he asked, confused.
"Before you fell asleep again, can we go now?" Katie grumbled, surprisingly playing along.
"Oh," Derek said, scratching his head and stood up unsteadily and dusted himself, looking supremely confused, "Okay."
He turned to head towards the general direction of the restaurant. Once he'd walked away and joined Will, Gin, Denzel and his mate I started snickering.
I hopped out of the car, shut the door behind me and slapped Jet's hand in a high five.
"Booyah!" I said as I turned to Kiel for a high five. Then I froze, because when it came to him I wasn't sure. I was never sure.
He slapped my hand gently and jerked his head, telling me to follow Derek. I turned and followed Derek, placing my hands on his back and pushing him ahead.
Who knew I'd end up liking this crazy cuckoo?
He threw me a grin over his shoulder and placed his hands on Gin's shoulder. She looked behind her and squealed "Oooh! The train!"
I beckoned Will and he dropped his hands on my shoulder, laughing. The four of us started making train noises and swerved paths like a snake as Gin led us into the restaurant. The occupants inside either laughed at us or rolled their eyes at our childishness.
We didn't care, we only stopped when we found a big enough table. This time I chose to sit near Denzel and his mate, realizing that they weren't really part of the group. I grabbed two lollipops from Derek's hand as he took it out of a bag that Kiel had brought from the Hummer.
How had I not sniffed out this sweet bag was beyond me. Because I was an effing hound when it came to sweets.
Derek protested but I ignored him. I offered one to Denzel's tall, pretty and shy mate.
She eyed the lollipop and gave me small smile. Denzel nudged her gently in what I assumed was a coaxing way and she took it from me, murmuring a thanks.
I grinned at her and looked around before realizing something.
"Hey, Will?" I called, confused.
He looked up at me, expectantly.
"Where's Greg?" I asked, because my very lame brain with its lamer observation skills had not realized till now that William's friend Greg has been missing since before Derek and I played our friendly catch-me-if-you-can game. Actually I don't even remember him entering the room.
Gin snorted, "I can't believe you actually noticed."
I scowled at her and shifted my eyes back to Will, who shrugged it off with a "He had stuff to do," and looked down at the menu. I looked at Gin with raised eyebrows and she looked equally clueless as she sucked on a lollipop.
I shrugged, removing the wrapping paper on my lollipop and popping it into my mouth.
"Oh, by the way," I said, around the lollipop, "Derek this is Gina, Gina the dumb butt here is Derek."
They grinned at each other and immediately struck up a conversation, yapping away to kingdom come.
Whew. The two talkative beasts were busy, that means I'd have my ear drums intact for this trip.
I turned to Denzel and his mate.
"What's your name?" I ask, softly.
Her lashes swept up and she replied, "Fiona."
I smiled, "Cool. I'm Kiera." I said then introduced everyone else to her. She smiled gratefully at me and Denzel relaxed as he realized his mate was comfortable.
Derek and I ordered pancakes while everyone else ordered...uh I don't know what they ordered but I was hungry enough to gnaw off my own hand. And yes, Vamps do eat food, it doesn't necessarily offer them nourishment but hell, why do we all eat ice cream and potato chips?
I was shaking my leg impatiently like some junkee for food when my eyes caught on a movement. Kiel, who was looking outside the glass behind us into the dark, was tapping his fingers onto his thigh. I've never seen him make any movement that was unnecessary. I stared at the almost inconspicuous tapping. It seemed like he needed to do something but was unable to.
As though he felt my eyes on him, his head tilted slightly to the side and his eyes slanted in my direction and he looked at me through black and red strands of his hair. His tapping stopped as if he'd forgotten about it. As I tilted my head at him and was going to ask him something, Derek dug his elbow into my ribs.
I coughed out a breath and stepped on Derek's toes with my heeled shoes, instinctively. His eyes watered before he looked in one direction meaningfully.
Katie was staring with narrowed eyed at Kiel and then she turned her head to look at me. Aw crap.
Derek had been warning at me. Oops. I threw him an apologetic look which he graciously accepted and rubbed his toe, inconspicuously.
"Ow." he mouthed at me, I scowled and rubbed my ribs, indicating I was hurt too.
He looked like he was about to say something, when the food came and distracted us. All of us dug in with relish and when I was done with mine I was eyeing Derek's. He noticed the direction of my gaze and lifted his plate and turned it away from me.
"Oh, come on." I grumbled, trying to get past him to his plate.
"It's mine. Kieeeeeraaaa." he drew out my name is annoyance as I tried to make a grab for his plate.
"You shouldn't have sat next to me," I whined, as I continued to reach for his food around him.
How had I not realized how broad he was? I could barely see anything past him. I huffed.
"Fine," I said, holding my hands up on surrender.
He waited for a few minutes to see if I was kidding, then turned his food back to its original position.
Oh, yeah I was kidding.
I made a grab for his pancake and managed to grab a big chunk of it with my fork.
He threw a fit as I licked my fingers after devouring his delicious piece of pancake.
His tasted so much better. Not fair.
"Oh, shut up, Derek. You don't even need it to fill your tummy up." I grumbled as he continued to mutter curses at me under his breath.
"I need it to fill up my craving." he muttered.
"Hunger beats craving any day."
"What's the difference between the two?" Katie asked.
"The same difference between love and like." I said.
"So, Fiona," I turned to her.
She looked up at me and held her hands up, "All my food is over, sorry."
Derek snickered and I stepped on his toes again and he started to cough. I grinned at Fiona, "Yeah, but Denzel's isn't."
I turned to grin at Denzel, who had his spoon halfway in his mouth. I didn't know what he was eating but it had chocolate in it and I wanted it. He met my eyes, then they shifted to meet his mate's. She was looking at him, expectantly and he grumbled, dropping the spoon and pushing the plate towards me.
I started laughing.
"Soon to be Alpha and he's helpless in front of his mate. Girl power, sistah!" I said, holding my hand up for a high five.
She slapped my hand with hers and giggled prettily as Denzel muttered something under his breath, which she could hear because she had Were hearing.
"You can have it, I was kidding." I said, pushing the plate back to Denzel.
He pulled the plate back to him, throwing his mate a dark look. She looked absolutely delighted and I laughed and got up, handing Gin my purse.
"Pay for our food," I said as I slipped out of the booth.
"Where you going?" Will asked, his eyebrows scrunching. I watched Kiel's eyes shift to him then back to me.
"I saw a park on the other side and I'm sure I saw a swing there." I whooped and fled out in search of the small abandoned park.
I heard Gin explain to them about my childhood obsession.
When I hit the grass a few feet away from the swing, I slipped my heels off, dumped them aside and jumped onto the swing and pushed off with my legs.
I'd always wanted to fly, feel the wind in my hair and the air sting my eyes with its force. The swing was as close as I came to flying and I've loved it since I was a kid.
The hair from my ponytail whipped my face, before it was swept off my front and slapped my back softly. I could hear nothing but the whoosh of the air around my body. I swung my legs back and forth to keep the pace of the swing steady. I let my head fall back, as I looked up at the black inky sky dotted with stars spread over us like a blanket. I shut my eyes and imagined that I really was flying.
When shivers sped up my spine and I felt tingles at the back of my neck, I opened my eyes, slowly. Kiel was standing in front of me, his own hair lifting and dropping from his forehead because of the force I was swinging in. His hands were buried in his pockets as usual and his eyes were luminescent in the dark.
I slowed to a stop, drawing designs on the soft ground with my toes. I leaned my head sideways against the chain I was holding on to, meeting Kiel's eyes.
We didn't say anything as he stepped forward, towards me. Miniature elephants grew wings and flew around in my tummy and a shiver ran up my spine. I licked my dry lips as he dropped down in front of me slowly, balancing himself easily on his heels. His knees didn't touch the floor at all, no part of him touched the ground other than his feet. His eyes met mine and for the first time we were on the same level.
I took a deep breath in and my eyes widened slightly as I breathed in cinnamon and spice. I gritted my teeth against the almost mouthwatering scent that emanated from him. Something I'd never noticed before.
My observation skills need some serious training.
"I didn't know Derek knew." he said, in that quiet voice of his.
Swallowing the sigh that wanted to come out at both his closeness and his soft, intimate tone, I forced out a nod.
"Yeah," I whispered, "he told me."
Kiel nodded slowly and waited patiently.
I realized he wanted to know more.
"The beast snuck into my room at three in the morning and scared the living daylights out of me." I said, rolling my eyes.
Kiel's thick brows drew down in confusion.
"He was in your room?"
I nodded, "On my bed, utterly comfortable."
He tilted his head and his glossy red and black hair slid across his forehead. I clenched my hand on the chain at the familiar, sexy gesture. My heart seemed to want to beat out and go rest on his lap as it fought against the confines of my ribs. I swallowed. My breathing had shall owed. Not good.
Distraction, Kiera, is the key to surviving this.
"Where were you?" he asked.
I grinned as I remembered what I had been doing.
"I was eating Glinda's cake." I said with a smug smile.
"At three in the night." he said.
It wasn't even a question but I couldn't help blurting out, "I couldn't sleep."
He nodded, seeming to understand.
Did he? Could he not sleep either?
My hands itched to spear my fingers through his hair, to feel its texture and thickness. Just once. The chain dug into my fingers from the grip I had on it.
His eyes slipped to my right hand, the one that had been bruised while I'd been chasing Derek, before he continued.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------