Page 10 of Blood Magic (Ariel Kimber 3)

Chapter Four

“Thank you,” Quinton said on a sigh. I heard the relief clear as day in his voice.

I was glad he was relieved. Good for him. As for myself? Well, I was freaking out on the inside. No way could I love Quinton. Not even a little bit. He was bossy, domineering, scary and… kind of awesome?

Holy crap, I was in trouble here. I think I loved Scary Uncle Quint just a little bit.

He looked at me funny in the mirror, so I mumbled, “Mm hmm.” He had said something, right? In my panic and freak out, I couldn’t remember. I knew enough to keep my mouth shut though. If I opened my mouth, scary words would come pouring out and with Quint, there would never be the chance to shove them back in. And Quint would never let me forget it. Or anyone else for that matter.

“What are you doing in here?” I blurted out of self-preservation.

Close your mouth and stop talking, Ariel Kimber. Just shut your pie hole. Right now.

I probably should have asked him that question as soon as he’d inappropriately appeared in here with me, but I had been too preoccupied with my insecurities to care. Now I cared. And I was still standing here in his arms in nothing but a towel. I didn’t have on my underwear yet. He was right, I most certainly was a prude. He’d seen me naked before, I couldn’t really complain about being in a towel.

“Dash is in your room waiting on us,” he said, making my eyes bulge. That was the very last thing I had expected him to say.

“What’s Dash doing out there?” I sputtered. “Should he even be out of bed right now?”

“He’s not out of bed actually, he’s in yours. And it’s good for him to get up and move around.”

My mouth fell open to go with my bulging eyes and a look in the mirror told me just how ridiculous I looked.

“What do you mean Dash is in my bed?” I sputtered. I couldn’t have heard that right.

He moved away from my back and grabbed ahold of my hand.

“Come on,” he said as he tugged on my hand. “He’s out there waiting for us.”

I dug my feet in and pulled against his hold on me. “Quinton,” I sputtered. “I need to put my clothes on.” I needed my clothes on like a warrior needed armor before going into battle.

“You really don’t need clothes,” he said as he gave my arm another tug.

“Yeah, I do,” I gritted out through clenched teeth.

He sighed and let me go. “Fine,” he muttered unhappily. “Have it your way but hurry up.”

He stormed out of the bathroom, and I half expected him to slam the door, but he didn’t. Instead he closed it with a soft click behind him.

I rolled my eyes. Bossy, he was always so damn bossy. And annoying. And I couldn’t possibly feel what I thought I felt for him. Nope. Absolutely not. I was going to stick with that for my own peace of mind.

I dropped the towel to the floor and quickly put on underwear, tank top and sleep shorts. I picked the damp towel up off the floor, folded it in half and hung it up on a towel rack attached to the wall to dry. I picked a comb up off of the counter that was sitting beside the sink and headed for the bedroom.

I was in the process of running the comb through my hair as I entered the room and came up short. The sight that greeted me was… unbelievable.

“Wha… what…” I stammered. “What’s going on?”

Dash laid back in the giant’s bed with a whole mound of pillows propped behind his back. A black muscle shirt covered his chest, the dark color making his white, pale skin almost transparent. He had dark circles under his eyes and his bright red hair stood up every which way and was a duller color than usual. It looked as if it hadn’t been washed since he’d been released from the hospital. He looked comfortable, settled in and like he was planning on going absolutely nowhere any time soon.

Just what in the heck was he doing in my temporary bed? And with Quinton sprawled out beside him? The comforter had been pulled up to their stomachs, their eyes on the flat screen across the room and whatever was playing on it.

When Dash spotted me in the doorway with the comb in hand he waved the remote control in the direction of the television. “Hey, sugar,” he said in a tired voice, sounding for all the world that it wasn’t bizarre for him to be here, in my bed. “Damien went out and bought you a bunch of DVD’s. All of it first seasons of shows he thought you might enjoy.”

I’m sorry? Did he just say Damien went out of his way to do something nice for me? I couldn’t wrap my mind around it. Yeah, when I had spent the night at Dash’s house Damien had gone out of his way to include me and he had been very nice to me and had hinted at the possibility of spending more time with me and wanting that time to be one-on-one. So, in all honesty, I probably shouldn’t have been surprised by the fact he’d gone and done something kind for me. But I had trouble reconciling the dick that Damien had been when I’d first met him to this kind and generous person he was turning out to be.

“What tv shows did he get?” I asked in a quiet voice out of curiosity, dying to know what kind of tv shows Damien thought I might like. Maybe it would tell me a little bit about what he thought of me as a person.

Quinton tossed the blanket aside and climbed out of bed. He walked over to where the television was mounted to the wall and knelt down on the floor.

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