Page 69 of Stone Cold Touch

He tilted his head to the side and the look of innocence on his face made me want to spit fire like a dragon of doom. “How else were you supposed to get home?”

“Oh, I don’t know, Roth, maybe a freaking taxi?” My heart pounded in my chest. Oh God, Zayne was going to flip. He was going to flip so epically that it would break the sound barrier. “What were you thinking?”

“I was thinking that we needed to let the Wardens know about the Nightcrawlers in the school,” he replied reasonably. I wanted to smack him. “Because that was your idea and you were right. I can’t possibly take all of them out all by myself.”

My fingers dug into the blanket. I wasn’t falling for what he was saying. The real reason behind calling Zayne wasn’t to alert them to the creatures in the school. Like Roth actually cared about that. He’d done it to piss Zayne off.

The little curve of his lips gave that away.

“I bet you’re so proud of yourself, aren’t you?”

He stared at me and then rolled his eyes. “It’s not like Stony is going to run and tell Daddy that you’re with me.”

That part didn’t matter. Not that Abbot would be anything like okay with me being in Roth’s apartment, but I was more concerned about what this would do to Zayne.

Somehow I resisted the urge to go psychotic tree monkey on him. “I need my sweater. Where is it?”

“In the garbage.”

Closing my eyes, I counted to ten. “I need a shirt to wear.” I started toward his closet, but he appeared in front of me, blocking my path. “Come on.”

His grin grew. “Sorry. I’m all out of girls’ clothing at the moment.”

“I need a shirt,” I insisted. “Don’t be a jerk, Roth.”

Considering me for a moment, a spark lit up his eyes and warning bells went off. With a sly smile, he reached down and whipped off the long-sleeve shirt he was wearing.

My eyes widened.

Whoa.

I’d... I’d forgotten what Roth looked like shirtless.

Okay. Maybe not completely forgotten, but my memory didn’t do him justice. At all. Roth was all lean muscle. From his chest to those indents on either side of his hips, he was hard, cut muscle.

The dragon tattoo was where it always was, curled up along the side of his abs, with its tail disappearing under his jeans. My question about the kittens’ presence was answered. One was under his right pec, appearing more like a tiger crouching, and another one looked as if it was snuggling into his side.

“Where’s the third kitten?” I asked before I could stop myself.

His thick lashes lowered. “I’d have to take off my pants to show you that.”

I squeezed my eyes shut.

There was a deep chuckle. “Clock is ticking. And, more importantly, the longer you’re standing there in just your bra, the more I’m tempted to be a very, very bad boy.”

My eyes snapped open. His stare snared mine, and I took a step back from the intensity in his gaze. There was no doubt in my mind he was telling the truth there. He may not want to be with me, but he wanted me.

“Give me the shirt,” I said between clenched teeth.

He tossed it at me, but I was a little slow on the uptake. The material that smelled like him, like something wild and sinful, smacked me in the chest and landed on the floor. “You better hurry. He’ll be here any second.”

“You’re an ass,” I spat, picking up the shirt.

He chuckled. “And it’s a fine ass, I’m told.”

I ignored that as I turned around, giving him my back as I dropped the blanket. Maybe it was my imagination, but my spine burned under his consuming stare. “Why did you even have him come here, to a building full of demons? Isn’t that dangerous?”

“He’ll park down the street and come in via the roof,” Roth replied, voice suddenly tight. “Don’t worry. Stony is completely safe.”

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