Page 49 of Blood Magic (Ariel Kimber 3)

Oh man. I felt my face heating up. They’d heard the terrified shriek I’d made when I’d fallen out of bed. How embarrassing. I wondered who else was here to have heard me. I hoped there was only Dash in the house.

“What the hell was that?” Quinton demanded to know as he raced into the room.

Oh no.

This was worse than I’d thought it could be. I was sure my face now burned bright in mortification.

“Well?” Quinton barked at me. He stopped in the middle of the room. He braced his hands on his hips as he took stock of the room, probably looking for intruders.

I didn’t like his tone.

“Well,” I said as I gave a small shrug of my shoulders. “Well, nothing.”

When in doubt: deny, deny, deny. Look at me, I was just a simple girl standing here in her own bedroom wearing a fabulous silk robe and crazy bed head. I knew nothing.

Quinton wouldn’t believe that for a hot second.

“Nothing,” he repeated as he scowled at me.

It was a good look for him. Too bad it no longer worked on me. I was immune to his dirty looks. Yay for me. If I were alone, I could celebrate the knowledge by dancing a little jig.

I frowned to myself, feeling confused. Dance a little jig? I didn’t dance, and I really didn’t get so excited about such small, unimportant things.

What was going on with me?

I took stock of my body and, outside of the sting in my arm that was quickly disappearing, I felt great. I didn’t understand why. I had just woken up and I hadn’t even had my coffee yet.

“What’s the matter with you?” Quinton asked harshly.

Good Question.

A better one? Why did I feel so energized?

“I need coffee,” I blurted. And It wasn’t a lie, Ididneed coffee. An entire pot of it.

Quinton pursed his lips angrily and I imagined he was getting ready to yell at me. I didn’t want him to yell at me. It was too early in the day for it, not that I ever wanted to have to put up with it at any time.

“I have coffee for you,” a new voice called from the hallway. Dash strolled into the room with a steaming mug held in his hands. The mug was black with a mouth on it that wore bright red lipstick and had a pair of vampire fangs. I liked it instantly. I liked it more that he’d been thoughtful enough to bring me a cup of coffee and not a lecture like Quinton was gearing up to give me.

“Forget the coffee,” Quinton growled angrily. “Tell me why you were screaming. You scared us and we deserve to know what’s going on.”

“It’s not because she was having a nightmare,” Tyson stated as he strolled into the room.

This was it, I was going to cry.

“No way is she having nightmares that would make her scream,” Tyson said smugly. “That dreamcatcher isn’t going to let anything slip on by, I made damn sure of it. Maybe she saw a mouse run across the floor and it scared her.”

Tyson shrugged casually, like it didn’t matter either way to him. He pushed his way past the twins and marched over to my bed. He walked right up to me, getting in my space.

“Good morning,” he murmured sweetly.

He smiled a small, soft smile at me. It wasn’t as good as the full one, but I’d certainly take it because it was still a lovely one. Tyson moved into me, ignored the other people in the room, and pressed his lips softly to mine.

When he pulled back he wore his big, beautiful smile, the one that never failed to blind me.

I blinked slowly at him as I raised my fingers to my lips. I had morning breath and a bedroom full of guys. He needed to keep his lips to himself.

Without a word to me, he flopped down onto my bed. His head lay on my pillow and he crossed his legs at his ankles, getting comfortable.

---