Derek took in Elena’s features as she rested her head against the upholstered headboard of Reese’s queen-sized bed, her soft, wavy hair fanning around her face. If her mother was Fae, no wonder she was so pretty. Physical flaws didn’t seem to be a part of the Fae gene pool. Though even if Derek didn’t know what Elena looked like and had only heard her talk or banter with him, he would have been drawn to her.
Elena was smart, which he’d always appreciated in a girl, but she was also funny and feisty—not characteristics he often found in women. Then again, most girls were intimidated by him, which he’d never quite understood.
Elena had never been intimidated by him, not even when they first met and she’d appeared anxious to find a lab.
“Okay, well, it looks like we have time until Reese breaks down Keen’s man barriers,” she said. “My schoolbooks are in the other room, so studying is out. I don’t want to disturb the lovebirds. We could get some sleep…or we could talk?”
“Talk,” Derek said dryly. That sounded about as much fun as waiting for Keen to make a move.
She rolled her eyes. “Don’t be such a guy. Tell me about your family. That’s a safe subject.”
For some people it might be, but not for Derek. “What do you want to know?” he asked reluctantly.
“Where are you from?”
“Columbus, Ohio.”
“What’s your family like?”
“My mom’s a housewife. I already told you about my dad—cardiovascular surgeon. No siblings.”
She blinked in irritation. “Very factual and to the point. Thank you. Now give me something good. Do you have a girlfriend? What’s your biggest fear? What do you want to do with your life?”
He studied her for a moment. “Why do chicks always want to know that stuff?” A faint blush pinkened her cheeks. Yeah, he’d caught the girlfriend reference.
“Because it’s interesting. Don’t be such a wuss. Just answer the questions you’re comfortable with.”
“No girlfriend, my parents discovering my ability, and…I’m not sure. About the future. I wanted to take after my dad and go into cardiovascular health, but it’s not safe for me to be around my parents anymore.”
Her brow furrowed. “You can’t be worried about both of your parents finding out what you are. One of them is Fae. Chances are, they both know about alternate realms.”
“I was adopted. My real parents gave me up. Considering how enamored Fae are of Halven, I’m not surprised.”
Her expression turned serious. “I’m sorry… I shouldn’t have brought it up.”
“Don’t be. I’ve never had a problem with my adoptive parents.” That didn’t sound right. His parents stressed him out, but he loved them. “They’re good to me.”
The space between her brows pinched. She wasn’t buying it, and neither did he. “It sounds like your adoptive parents care about you. Why don’t you trust them with who you are?”
Derek thumbed the footboard. “They come from perfect families and have lived perfect lives.”
Elena sighed loudly and her hazel eyes flared a deep green. “Screw what Portia said about acceptance and being different. She was trying to scare you. If your parents love you, they’ll support you.”
“How would you know?” he said gently. “Your family didn’t give you up. They adore you. You’re their shining star.”
“Yeah, no pressure there.”
There was the feisty. Girls never talked to him like this. And why Elena’s never giving him an inch drew him, he couldn’t explain. “I know you mean well, but you know nothing about what I’ve gone through the past two years—”
“Well, I think I know a little.” She smiled her pretty smile, the one that made his heart trip. “I’m in the same situation, remember?”
“And have you told your family who you really are?”
“Well, no, but that’s different. I haven’t seen my family since I discovered my ability. There hasn’t been time for a family sit-down. You know, saving Fae and all.”
He jerked his head toward the door. “Your cousin’s in the other room. Why don’t you talk to him? At the rate Reese is getting things done, we have the time.”
Elena sat straighter. “Reese doesn’t need to do any of this. She’s making a sacrifice for us.”
“First of all, nice way to change the subject. Second, yeah right, your roommate is making a sacrifice.” He snorted.
Elena’s jaw dropped. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Nothing. Just that she enjoys dating around. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.”
“Reese has never even had a boyfriend.”
“Maybe not a boyfriend, but…”
Her face contorted in anger. “You don’t know what Reese has or hasn’t done.”
He was being an ass, but he was well aware of all the guys who visited Reese. He’d seen them come and go plenty of times. Of course, Elena didn’t know that, and maybe it was time he confessed.
“I do know, Elena. I’ve kept tabs on the people in our neighborhood.”
She blinked several times. “How… You.” She reached across the bed and poked him in the chest. Hard. It didn’t hurt, but he found himself inching into the footboard anyway. “I saw the shimmer earlier when you left the room. I’ve seen it before, when Keen brought me home for the first time. Have you been spying on us?”
Shit. She can see me while I’m Blended?
Elena couldn’t believe what she was hearing. How long had Derek been watching them?
“You’re nothing but a peeping Tom!”
“That’s an exaggeration,” he said. “I’ve been inside the dorm when you and Reese were talking outside your apartment, but I don’t enter people’s homes. Well, I did once, but it was because I needed to make sure some guy wasn’t up to something. He seemed suspicious.”
She opened her mouth to respond, but he cut her off.
“What did you mean when you said you could see me? No one sees me when I’m Blended.”
She shrugged one shoulder impatiently. Who cared? The fact was, he’d kept his sneaking around from her. “The air wavers like refraction—a sidewalk on a hot day, that sort of thing. Let’s get back to the point. Why were you spying on us?”
“Scouting. I don’t spy.”
She folded her arms over her chest. Did he really think she was buying that?
Derek ran his fingers through his messy hair and sighed. “When I first Blended, a lot of things ran through my mind, but mostly I became paranoid. I worried someone had done this to me. I started looking over my shoulder and keeping tabs on the people around me. I’ve checked out all our neighbors, not just you and your roommate.”
“If you don’t routinely go inside people’s homes and you’re such a paragon of morality, how do you know what Reese does with guys?”
“I don’t, but I assume when she brings guys home—”
“Well, don’t assume. You don’t know Reese the way I do. She’s not like that.”
His expression fell and he let out a resigned sigh. “You’re right. I don’t know her. I wouldn’t want to be judged.”
Derek sat forward and reached for her wrist, forcing her to loosen her arms folded across her chest. “I shouldn’t have said that, Elena. I’m sorry. Reese seems like a great girl. I made a snap judgment before I knew her, and it was wrong.”
He tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear, and this time the curly lock stayed put, but all she could think about was how close he’d been to kissing her the last time he’d touched her hair.
She looked up and drew in a breath, her frustration and anger melting as his gaze moved from her hair to her mouth. Her cheeks warmed and her heart pounded.
He slowly leaned forward and touched his lips to hers. A kiss of apology—and so much more. His mouth lingered, the sensual caress sending a light shiver down her spine.
Derek had always been attractive, but he’d become a part of her in some fundamental way she didn’t understand because she’d never felt this connection before. Maybe it existed because they were both Halven, but she didn’t think so. That lightning storm of tension had been there from the start, long before they knew what they were.
He lifted his mouth, but only a fraction, his gaze trained on her lips. Then he angled his head and deepened the kiss. A tightening sensation swept through her middle. She threaded her fingers through his soft, messy hair and kissed him back.
Derek lifted her on his lap as if she weighed nothing, her legs dropping on either side of his waist. He pulled her close until no space existed between them.
After a moment, Elena broke the kiss to catch her breath. They were at eye level and she could see the sapphire flecks of his beautiful irises, the outer rim a midnight blue.
“Are you still mad?” His voice came out gruff.
She shook her head and pressed her mouth back to his. The feel of him beneath her—surrounding her—had all the muscles in her belly contracting, the sensation migrating down her thighs. He kissed her while she ran her hands up his muscled neck to the angle of his jaw, her fingers smoothing over the light scruff there. Derek pressed her lower back until her body rocked flush with his. He did this over and over, his tongue moving in a similar rhythm inside her mouth. And that was when her breath started to come out in short, sputtered bursts between kisses. The friction—the closeness—sent her heart racing.
Elena had made out with boys in high school, before she’d hermitted herself away in order to earn entrance into college. But never had she felt this. Raw, consuming, she wanted—wow—more.
In the distant recesses of her mind, she took note of a door closing. A moment later, a knock sounded at Reese’s bedroom door.
Elena broke away from Derek, nearly falling off the bed in her effort to climb off his lap. His gaze was half-lidded and more intense than she’d ever seen it, and he was looking at her as if he was ready to ignore the knock and pull her back on his lap.
For a second, she considered it.
“Yes?” she said, without looking away from the magnet in front of her.
“I’m not going to wait in your room all night, Elena.”
Holy crap, Mateo. How could she have forgotten her cousin in the other room?
Leave it to Mateo to interrupt the hottest kiss of her life. He officially had the worst timing ever.
Elena scooted off the bed and ran her fingers through her hair, taking a deep breath to cool the heat in her face. Did she look like she’d just had the sense kissed out of her? Her gaze moved to Derek, but she had to look away. Seeing his half-lidded expression only sent warmth back through her body. She smoothed her top, though it wasn’t ruffled, and opened the door.
Mateo’s eyes darted around the room, narrowing on her face. He glared at Derek.
“We’re studying,” she said, like she’d been caught. Which she had, but still, she was an adult. Kissing and all the rest of it was allowed.
According to half of her high school student body, Elena was way behind in sex education. Not that she felt the need to keep up with the rest of them. But with Derek, she was beginning to appreciate what all the hype was about.
Mateo’s mouth twisted, as if he didn’t believe her. Okay, so there were no books out and she could feel her face was still flushed.
“I’ve been looking at Cosmo for over an hour. I can’t believe girls actually read that garbage. I’m grabbing food from the kitchen and going to bed.” A pause. “You should too. Alone.” He frowned in Derek’s direction.
Elena glanced heavenward. “Give it a break, Mateo.”
He notched his shoulder toward Derek. “Where’s he sleeping?”
“He—”
“Here,” Derek said, and she looked at him. “I’m not leaving, Elena.”
She didn’t want him to leave. She wanted to keep kissing him, but that wasn’t what Derek was referring to. He was worried about her.
She rubbed her forehead. “Okay—I guess you can sleep in the living room with Keen.”
“No,” Derek said. “That’s not a good idea.” He looked pointedly at the wall, as if trying to communicate something silently.
Was he worried about interrupting Keen and Reese?
“Let’s get food, and see what’s going on,” she offered. “Maybe Reese knows something by now.”
As the words left Elena’s mouth, they heard shouting. Mateo’s head swiveled toward the living room, and Elena and Derek joined him in the hallway.
“—how can you be such a misogynistic pig?” came Reese’s elevated voice.
Mateo stepped forward as if to go in there, and Elena pulled him back. “Wait.”
Derek moved beside her. His arm brushed her shoulder, sending sparks across her skin. She sucked in a breath. How was she supposed to concentrate after those kisses?
“Derek,” she said. “Are you sure this is going to work? It doesn’t sound like they like each other, let alone want to know each other better.”
Mateo stared at her in disbelief. “What are you doing trying to set your sweet roommate up with that creep?”
“Be quiet, Mateo,” she whispered at his loud voice. “And it’s none of your business.”
“You’re right,” Derek said to her, and let out a strangled sigh. “It shouldn’t be taking this long.”
She stared down the hall. “I think I made a mistake forcing them together.”
“Come on.” He nudged her. “Let’s see what’s up.”
They walked into the living room and Derek headed for the kitchen.
Keen and Reese didn’t seem to notice them at all. Reese was on the couch, leaning away from Keen with her arms crossed, her face set in a scowl, and Keen hovered over her, one long basketball arm, as Mateo had put it, on the back of the couch. His mouth was close to her ear as he spoke in low tones Elena couldn’t hear.
Considering Reese’s expression, whatever Keen was saying was pissing her off.
Reese scooted farther away and shook her finger at him, the majority of her hushed tirade making its way into the kitchen. “You are not more intelligent… I’ll have you know…”
“We have to do something,” Elena whispered, as she sat at the counter across from Derek, whose head was halfway in the fridge.
He glanced over at Reese and Keen. “Nah, it’s going to be okay. It’s on.”
“What? Are you nuts? They’re about to come to blows.”
Mateo was watching Keen and Reese too, his brows raised in interest.
He was no help. Mateo loved telenovelas, and this was like a live version.
Derek closed the refrigerator door and rifled through the cupboards. He pulled down a cereal box. “Honey flavored”—he popped a little O in his mouth—“and still fresh.”
At the sound of food, Mateo grabbed bowls from the cupboard. “Don’t eat ’em all, man. I need nourishment if I’m gonna maintain my guns.” He flexed and kissed his biceps.
Elena gaped at the two of them like they’d lost their minds. How could they think of food with Reese and Keen fighting?
“What?” Mateo said, at the look on her face. “Don’t worry, ER. I’ll pick up more groceries tomorrow.”
Elena ground her teeth, her eyes crossing briefly. “Mateo, what did I tell you about that nickname?”
Derek smirked and poured cereal to the rims of the bowls, followed by milk that toppled little Os on the counter.
A screech of frustration came from behind. Derek gave a cursory glance behind her and Elena spun on her stool to see what was happening.
“Yup, so on,” he said.
She turned back to find him shoveling a heaping spoonful of cereal in his mouth.
“They’re going to kill each other,” she whispered. “This was the worst idea I’ve ever had.”
Mateo grinned. “Ten bucks says we find them spooning on the couch in the morning.”
Derek shook his head. “Don’t make that bet, Elena. Guys can be cavemen when they like a girl, and Keen’s exhibiting all the signs. Trust me on this.”
She stared at the two guys across from her, pouring food down their throats as though they’d been starved. “I will never understand men. All I see are two people hating on each other.” She shook her head. “Mateo’s wrong. I’ll take his bet, because I know Reese.”
Without looking up from their food, Mateo and Derek high-fived each other loudly enough to elicit a moment of silence from the couple on the couch.
