Page 5 of Confused AF
I clenched my teeth and choked back a growl as a current of electricity traveled along the appendage and up my spine. Still,I must not have hidden my reaction well enough because Otto pulled his fingers away and popped his head up again.
“Does it hurt?”
I took a deep breath and shook my head. “It actually feels nice.” I searched for a way to explain that didn’t sound creepy. “It’s kind of like getting your hair washed.”
Intimate, but not inherently sexual in nature.
His smile returned, and he resumed combing his fingers through the locks. “I love getting my hair washed. It’s so relaxing.” He pinched his fingers around a group of strands and dragged them to the ends. “Does it grow continuously? Do you have to trim it?”
“It does, and I do.” Sometimes, my barber took care of it during a regular haircut. Most of the time, however, I just used kitchen scissors and hoped for the best.
Otto hummed that he’d heard, but we fell quiet after that, both of us content to sit in silence. He still tensed or gasped every time the plane bounced or shook, but his fingers never stopped moving.
Even when we had moved past the turbulence and the seatbelt light blinked out, he continued to idly stroke the soft strands.
After a while, the petting slowed, then stopped altogether, but he didn’t release my tail. He simply held the end in a gentle grasp as his head lolled to the side, resting on the seatback. His long lashes fluttered against the tops of his cheeks, and his mouth hung open, his lips just slightly parted.
He looked peaceful, though not exactly comfortable. When his head bobbed, falling to the side, then jerking back up like it had been spring-loaded, I slouched down in my seat and leaned to the side.
Careful not to wake him, I urged him closer, applying gentle pressure until he gave in and rested his head on my shoulder.That should have been the end of it, but when he turned, snuggling closer, something inside me shifted…stilled.
My mind quieted, my pulse slowed, and the tension in my muscles melted away. I still didn’t know what the hell this human was doing to me, but I simply didn’t care anymore. Moreover, I had no desire to fight it.
Resting my cheek against his hair, I nuzzled the dark strands, breathing in his addicting scent, and sighed. I hadn’t crossed the line, but boundaries had definitely been blurred. Whether that would end up being a bad thing or not remained to be seen.
Either way, I had a feeling it was going to be a very long week.
three
~ Otto ~
Fromthemomentwehad touched down in Las Vegas, nothing had gone to plan.
My checked bag had ended up on another flight. Probably. The airline had been vague about it and annoyingly unhelpful. Basically, it might or might not end up in Vegas eventually.
While an unbudgeted shopping excursion for clothes added another layer of stress, it could have been worse.
Rather than pack the things I needed for the expo, I had shipped them ahead to the hotel. The fees to send enchanted makeup palettes across state lines had been exorbitant, but I had justified the cost with the peace of mind that they would be waiting for me when I arrived.
Only, that hadn’t happened either.
Again, no one could tell me why or exactly what had gone wrong. The tracking information clearly showed that the boxes had arrived. Someone had signed for them. After that, they had apparently vanished into the fucking ether.
As a rotten cherry on the whole hot-garbage sundae, the hotel had been overbooked. Obviously not my fault, but that hadn’t stopped them from penalizing me for their mistake. Instead of the suite I had reserved, Vaden and I would now be sharing a standard room with a single king-sized bed.
I hadn’t even been in the city for an hour, and I already wanted to go home.
When the woman behind the counter quoted me a price nearly identical to what I had paid online for the suite, I nearly choked. What choice did I have, though? Gritting my teeth against the injustice, I reached into my back pocket for my wallet.
Before I could fish out my credit card, however, Vaden’s hand came to rest on my wrist, and he quietly ushered me to the side. Though his lips curved into a benign smile, those startling, catlike eyes flashed with thinly veiled menace.
“I think we can do better than that,” he said, his voice even, almost bored. “Check again.”
The brunette didn’t even glance at her computer. “That is the current rate for a standard room.”
“But we didn’t reserve the room today.”
Clearly well-versed in dealing with difficult customers, she didn’t flinch, and she didn’t back down. “The original reservation has been canceled, and the new—”
