Page 15 of The Boy With The Sharp Teeth
Shewatched out of the corner of her eye as Zach stretched one of his long legs outcomfortably.
"It'sfine, no one will touch it," he answered.
Takingher foot off the brake, she pulled back out onto the road. "How can you beso sure?"
"BecauseI promise you that they don't want me to come hunt them down," he replied,his voice low and growling, emphasizing each word.
Silencebloomed between them as she let the threat of his words take meaning in hermind. He might not be young and reckless anymore, but that didn't mean hisblood didn’t course with the same violent capabilities. Not knowing what elseto say, Sana continued to drive with only the sounds of the radio filling thestilted silence.
"Howlong are we going to do this, Sana?" She could feel the pressure of hisgaze on the side of her face as she drove.
Sanatried to keep her voice light and nonchalant as she replied. "What do youmean?"
"Thisgame of you ignoring me," his voice was thick and rough.
Lettinghis words sink in for a moment, Sana realized there was no getting out of thisdirect question. Turning down the radio volume, she took a deep breath."At first, when I arrived at the house that day, I honestly thought youmight have forgotten me. I didn't want to embarrass you or myself by bringingit up," she confessed.
Shiftingin his seat, Zach laid his arm next to her along the center armrest. Sana hadto suppress a shiver at the feeling of his arm hair brushing against her skin.Heat from his skin pulsated from his arm against her in waves, reluctantlyreminding her of the moments shared between them in the past where she felt thefull searing strength of that heat.
Sittingforward in his seat, he turned to look at her until she risked a glance in hisdirection. His eyes seemed to glow with a low, warm golden light. "I havenever let you leave my mind, Sana, and I think you know that."
Shedidn't know what to say to that, but her pounding heart was not so conflicted.Just as it has always been between them, her body reacted to Zach without anyconsent from her stunned mind.
Desperatelyneeding to change the subject, Sana shifted uncomfortably in her seat."When I had dinner with your mother, she mentioned you had not long movedback to Tarki."
Thepassing comment from Sandra had stuck in Sana's mind ever since the night of thedinner. It made sense that he would leave. Realistically, Sana couldn't imaginesomeone as capable and determined as Zachariah spending his whole life in asmall, out-of-the-way coastal town like Tarki. Zach was too strong, toorazor-sharp to waste those gifts here. Feeling a pang of guilt in her chest,Sana tried to focus on the empty dark road ahead of them and not on the memoryof her mother's last argument with her, basically pointing out the same thingabout her. No, this town wasn't a waste, Sana thought defensively. There wassomething intrinsically more about Tarki, something thumping beneath thesurface that always called to Sana, something she could never quite put herfinger on. It may be small and out of the way, but Tarki had everything one couldneed. Instead of an oversized shopping mall, Tarki had Mrs. Clark's Boutique,which sold designer jeans, custom handmade dresses, and specially orderedclothes that kept every woman in town scrambling for the new catalog to quicklyorder the newly released designs. Diversity was easily accounted for in Tarki,with the large spiritual center located in the middle of town. After the oldchurch burned down in the early eighties, the people of Tarki took a page fromAntor Falls and built a huge theater-like building that had five high occupancyrooms and a handful of smaller rooms that allowed the three-thousand pluscitizens to each have a space for worship. Catholics, Baptists, a mosque, asynagogue, and a few other smaller sects, everyone was welcomed and comfortablyhoused. Though despite its progressive community, Sana had a hard timeimagining Zach staying put for seven years.
"Ijoined the military," he muttered, turning from her to look out thewindow.
"Oh,"she said softly, remembering Ardath mentioning something about that at dinner.
Shewould have never have guessed that about Zach. Whenever she thought of themilitary, she thought of rigid rules and stoic men marching into combat andtaking orders from shouting commanders. All of the things she would have neverimagined Zach willingly participating in. But the answer made sense, sherealized. Stealing a glance at his wide forearm next to hers and hisjean-covered thighs, she could recognize the changes in him from years ago.Changes that intense physical training would have brought about. Still tall andlean, Zach's body now had more of a swimmer's build with wide shoulders andmuscled thighs. Seemingly every pound of gained weight was transformed intosolid muscle.
"Whatbranch?" She asked. It was a question she always heard people say in thesetypes of conversations, but honestly, Sana didn't really have that much of aclue what the branches of the military even consisted of besides the obviousones like the Navy, the marines, and etc.
Hisarm next to hers shifted as he answered, brushing against hers. "A veryspecialized sector."
Takinganother glance at him, Sana's chest tightened to see that he was lookingdirectly at her. Naturally, her gaze followed the pale discolored line of thescar over his right eye. "Is...is that where you got your scar?" Sheasked with a wince of regret. She hoped it wasn't too rude of a question to askas it sounded.
"Youknow," Zach began thoughtfully, his deep voice filling the empty spacesaround them. "The moment I got this," he traced the pale jagged scarwith the tip of his finger. "The first thing I thought when I got thiswasn't about the possible damage to my eye or the pain. I immediately thoughtof you. I wondered what you would think when I saw you again."
Bynow, the tightening in her chest was borderline painful. Gripping the wheeltighter with both hands, Sana stared at the dark road ahead of them as hecontinued to speak, fearing and craving all at once for his next words."Because I knew we would see each other again. I just hoped it wouldn'tdisgust you."
Thesurety in that statement filled her with a sudden warning. Later, when she wasback in the safety of her house and far away from this man, she would thank Godfor giving her the clarity in this moment and resist being pulled back into oldhabits. Raising her chin, she cast him a piercing look, staring directly intothose dangerously hypnotic eyes of his before looking back to the road."Then you must not remember me very well, Zachariah, because if you did,you would know that I could care less about a scar."
Zachlet a deep pleased chuckle that only confused and irritated her.
"Tellme, why did you come back?" He asked.
Takenaback by the sudden shift in topic, she answered honestly. "I don't reallyknow, I felt…" How could she phrase it? A need and overwhelming want,would any of those justify or explain why she longed to come back here? "Ifelt a…"
"Apull," Zach offered softly.
Sana'sbreath caught in her throat at the uncanny accuracy, as if he could read herthoughts. How could he know?
"Yes,"she breathed, hating to admit it.
Shecould see the flash of his sharp smile in the dark, the satisfactionpractically rolled from him. "Yeah, I felt the same way."
