White Raven (22 page)

Seeing him half-naked made me feel like I was stranded on a desert, parched, and he was a tall glass of water. “What are you doing?” I barked.

Unfazed, he stood, brows wrinkling. “Showering. Is that okay?”

My cheeks turned hot. “Oh. I thought we were going to talk.”

“We will. After I get the sweaty smell off my skin, unless you like it dirty.” He flashed a quick menacing grin that was going to get me in trouble.

“I’ll just wait here, I guess.” I hated how squeaky my voice sounded.

When he got to the bathroom doorway, he halted and turned around. “Don’t touch anything.”

That was like an invitation. I rolled my eyes. “Like I would want to touch anything of yours. Boys have cooties.”

I waited until I heard the water running, figuring it was safe. Not knowing what to do, I bit on my bottom lip while my eyes darted over his room. Two seconds went by before I could no longer contain my curiosity. I strolled casually to his dresser, running my hand over the smooth surface. The wood was stained in a metal color, picking up grains of almost black. There was a pair of Ray-Ban shades and a handful of loose change. A framed black and white photo of his family on the beach sat under a table lamp. Typical guy stuff, mostly. I didn’t know what I’d expected to find.

My curiosity satisfied, I sat on the edge of his bed, feet swinging over the side. The water was no longer running, but I could hear him fumbling around in the bathroom. It was relaxing, listening to him do mundane human things like brushing his teeth.

“I thought I told you not to touch anything.”

I jumped. Zane was standing a few feet in front of me in sweatpants and a shirt. At least he had a shirt on. I wasn’t sure if I was feeling relief or disappointment. His hair was damp, eyes sparkling in the sunlight. “Christ. Don’t do that,” I snapped. His sudden appearance had startled me. Damn him and his stealthy movements. It was freaky how soundlessly he moved, especially being so tall.

He wasn’t smiling, but at least he didn’t look like he was plotting my death. “What did I do now?”

Unfurling my fist, I replied, “Sneak up on me. I almost karate chopped your balls in half.”

He winced. “You sure like to threaten my manhood.”

Leave it to Zane to throw off my whole train of thought. “This is not going as planned,” I mumbled, running my fingers through my messy locks.

“I find few things ever do when you’re involved.”

I sighed, fighting an eye roll. “I wanted to say sorry for overreacting the other night.”

He tilted his neck to the side. “Which night?”

Taking a deep breath, I struggled to keep my temper in check. “You’re going to be a jerk about this, aren’t you?”

He grinned. “Maybe if I knew exactly what we were talking about. It’s so hard to pinpoint. I seem to recall you overreacting nearly every time we see each other.”

I stood up. So much for an apology. All I wanted to do was hurt him. “God, I can’t believe I was actually going to apologize to you. Now all I want to do is ram my shoe—”

He was laughing.

All I could do was glare at him. “Do I even want to know?”

His eyes met mine, dimples playing peekaboo. “Not in a million years.”

“Great,” I grumbled. “Please excuse me while I find a wall to bang my head on.”

The lazy smirk on his lips stayed in place. “So I take it you’ve come to terms with everything?”

There was something almost playful in his expression, and my internal caution alarm went off. He was up to something, and it both warmed and frightened me. “I talked with Rose. By the way, you’re on her shit list.”

Chuckling under his breath, he reached forward, tucking a loose wave of hair behind my ear. “When aren’t I?”

The back of his knuckles brushed against my cheek, and I had to bite my lip to keep from sighing. A glow blossomed in my chest, having nothing to do with the simple touch, and everything to do with the look in his gaze.

The air crackled with static, his blue eyes darkening. He was watching me so intently. I buzzed with anticipation as he closed the distance between us. His hand slipped behind my neck, drawing me forward, right up against him. “You missed me, didn’t you?”

Then he was kissing me.

Chapter 22

I rose on my tiptoes to meet him, kissing him back with a hunger that surprised me. But sharing a kiss so wholeheartedly with Zane probably wasn’t wise. Not for my heart. I gave into the urge to touch him, binding my arms around his neck, straining
toward
not
away
like a smart girl.

He crushed me close, his tongue sweeping over mine. Full body contact sent my senses into chaotic hyperdrive.

His breathing choppy, he pulled back slightly. “Open your eyes, Piper. I want to see you melt when I touch you.”

My lashes fluttered open. The intensity I saw in him mirrored my own. There was something between Zane and me that I couldn’t explain, so much more than a girl crush. His hands roamed down my sides and over my hips, but when his fingers flirted with the top of my shorts, grazing my skin, I could barely stand.

His mouth slanted over mine, and I caught his lower lip as I started to pull away. He took the kiss deeper, igniting those delicious sensations that made my body come alive. A heady blend of emotions warred inside me, and I kept telling myself this was crazy even as I slid my hands to his chest. When his fingers inched under my shirt, every cell in my body warmed.

“I’ve never wanted anything as much as I want you,” he growled against my lips, not all too happy.

My blood pressure went bananas. It couldn’t possibly be healthy, but I doubted the way Zane kissed was healthy for any female.

Sweet mercy. Did they give out master’s degrees for perfecting the kiss?

Things got a little heated. One minute I was on my feet, and the next we were on the bed. He pulled me into his lap. Or maybe I climbed there. It didn’t matter how. What mattered was I was there, in his bed, and it was exactly where I wanted to be. Maybe if I was honest with myself, it was where I’d wanted to be from the moment I’d laid eyes on him.

The weight of his body pressed into the curves of mine. His chest rose as he drank me in. “This doesn’t make sense.” His hand came up, and he rubbed the pad of his thumb lightly over the bottom of my lip. “I shouldn’t be attracted to you.”

Mood killer. I pushed at his chest. Hard. “Thanks a lot, douchebag.”

He let me go, staring at me with a frown. “That’s not what I meant, Piper. Obviously, I’m attracted to you. I can’t keep my hands off you. What I mean is, I
shouldn’t
have feelings for you.”

As if that was better. “But you do have feelings for me?” I asked, just to be clear before I gave him a black eye. I knew when a guy wanted me, and Zane wanted the heck out of me. My body was still tingling from his touch.

I was greeted with silence.

My response was a dirty look. “I’ll take that as a yes. Why is it so hard to admit?”

Zane straightened up, dragging his fingers through his already tousled hair. “Because it will only hurt us both, and the last thing I want to ever do is hurt you, Piper.”

Well, shit. When he said it like that, it alleviated some of the sting. I leaned into him, pressing my lips softly to his.

He framed his fingertips around my face. “This can’t work between us,” he said.

It felt like I just had a bucket of ice water dumped on my head. “You sure know how to make a girl feel special.” Disentangling our limps, I crawled off him.

I got to the edge of the bed, before his hand covered around my wrist. “Just wait.”

I spun around. “What? You want to dog on me some more?”

A muscle popped at his jaw. “I’m not trying to hurt you.”

“Don’t worry. You didn’t.”

He looked at me straight on, a tiny glint in his eyes. “You can’t lie to me, remember. I can sense what your feeling.”

“This sucks.” Actually, sucks didn’t even cover it.

“It’s not that I don’t want you, Piper, because trust me I do,” he added.

“Then what’s the problem?” I protested.

“It’s complicated.”

I was officially done. If he couldn’t give me a straight answer, then he didn’t deserve the time of day. I started to get up.

“Okay. Fine. But promise you’ll listen. To all of it,” he added, driving home the point that I wasn’t to leave until he said everything he had to say.

I paused in the center of his room, contemplating. He’d better not make me regret this. Arms folded, I turned around. “You’ve got five minutes.”

Zane leaned back, his head resting against the plush silver headboard. “There has been a lot of tension building between reapers, talks of a change in management…”

This I had already suspected after talking with Rose. He was telling me nothing I hadn’t already figured out on my own, and I didn’t understand how disobedient reapers had anything to do with us locking lips, but I’d promised to be patient.

“So your grandma and my father devised a plan. Nothing good ever happens when the two most powerful reapers get together, but at that time it was of little concern to me. That was before I knew you, before I knew what you were to me. If I had known…” A fire leapt into his blue eyes, scalding. “I would have fought for you.”

My heart backflipped. The possessiveness and fierceness in his voice made me shiver.

Several second passed as our eyes locked, and then he said, “I need you to know that there wouldn’t have been a reaper or human alive that could have stood between us.”

Sweet Mary mother of Joseph.

When he said stuff like that, I all but liquefied at his feet. Still, I was as confused as ever. Hearing him tell me he would have gone to the ends of the earth to be with me only made me want him that much more. I was in serious jeopardy of falling head over heels in love with Zane.

Fists clenched, he closed his eyes briefly. “They decided the best way to enforce the continued peace between sectors was to
join
our families.”

My jaw hit the floor. “Let me take a shot in the dark. By join, you’re referring to Zander and me?”

His eyes flashed. “Afraid so, Princess. You’re betrothed to my brother, a deal signed and sealed by Death and bound by blood.”

Ew. Why did everything supernatural have to be written in blood?

Me? Engaged to Zander? The hell I was. No one, I repeat, no one decided who I was going to marry but me. I didn’t care if it had the stamp of approval from the freaking Pope.

I shook my head, dumbfounded. “You can’t be serious.”

Regret shone in his expression. “You have no idea how much I wish I weren’t. It’s an unbreakable treaty. On your eighteenth birthday, you are to wed Zander, thus giving you the power and protection you need to govern the rebel sectors. With our families combined, there isn’t a sector or a reaper that would dare challenge our authority. My father stands behind your grandmother, but a marriage between Ravens and Crows will solidify our place without posing a threat to Earth.” His little speech was monotone, emotionless.

I had a very different reaction. “I can’t believe this. I’m not doing it. She can’t make me marry him.” I was barely out of high school, and Rose was ready to make me some guy’s wife. A guy I barely knew. Zander was nice enough, but that didn’t mean I wanted to spend the rest of my life with him. It would be like marrying my brother. There was no spark between us, not like the fireworks that went off when Zane and I were in close proximity.

He sat still on the bed, his knees bent. “Someone is trying to overturn the pecking order, which starts with taking out the Raven line. Your family is the weakest in numbers. There are only you and Rose left. The other sectors have countless. Rose is extraordinarily powerful, but even she can’t fight off both the Hawks and the Sparrows singlehandedly. It would be a suicide mission. And don’t take my head off for saying this, but you are no help to her. Not as you are. You weren’t raised as a reaper, and haven’t even begun to explore the power that resides inside you, Piper. We have all been trained, either from birth or the day we were turned.”

It sounded like Zane was trying to convince me that marrying Zander was the right thing to do. That
he
was onboard with me being with his brother. “So, you’re basically telling me I’m useless and I should go along with this archaic plan.”

“For now.”

I leaned all my weight on one foot. “What does that mean?”

“Only you can change your lack of skills. Train. Learn to be a reaper, to protect yourself. Gain power from souls. You were born to be a leader. With someone as spunky as you, there has to be a fighter inside you. I feel it from your soul, the need to kick some ass. It’s there. You only need to learn to tap into it. But, until then, the only way for you to survive is under the protection of a really stellar reaper. Rose chose Zander. She had hoped your souls would align.”

“Souls? Zander’s and mine?” I made a face. I didn’t want to soul link with Zander. “But I thought
our
souls were a perfect match?”

He gave a sour laugh. “That’s the kicker, Princess. Our souls are mates. They are more than a
perfect match
. They resonate.”

Frustration rippled through me. “Then why can’t it be you?” Crap. Did that just come out of my mouth? Did I more or less just suggest that Zane marry me?

For freak’s sake, what was wrong with me?

I wanted to find the nearest hole and bury myself.

“It can’t be undone. The agreement goes beyond this realm, Piper. The best I can do is train you.”

“Oh, that’s rich.” I didn’t want a trainer. “What makes you think I would want you to help me?”

“Because I’m—”

“A prick,” I supplied.

“I was going to say awesome,” he mused.

“Your five minutes are up.” I walked out the front door, floating on anger and humming with the knowledge that Zane wanted me, but considered me off-limits.

Someone was going to pay. And I knew just who was going to be the lucky recipient of the storm churning inside me.

I walked aimlessly around town. If I had gone straight to the manor and confronted Rose, I would have killed her. Or at least tried and probably gotten myself killed in the process. How could she do such a thing to me? Her own granddaughter? We had never even met until this summer, and here she was dictating my life—my future.

Rose had another thing coming if she thought I was going to do her bidding.

I was no one’s puppet.

“Piper!”

I jumped at the sound of Aspyn’s voice. “God, are you trying to give me a heart attack?”

I had almost forgotten how stunning Aspyn was. She beamed at me, not in the least apologetic for scaring the piss out of me. “I was just going to get my nails done. Keep me company. You look like you could use it.”

I glanced down at my chipped polish that had been lingering on there for about two weeks. “Why the hell not.” It would give me time to cool off before I went commando on Rose’s wrinkly butt.

The salon was inside a cute little house that had been remodeled for a business. We had no sooner wiggled into the leather chairs when Aspyn, asked, “So, is he a good kisser?”

I held out my hand to the lady on the other side of the small table. She was rocking big 80s’ hair and snapping her gum. Keeping my face as neutral as possible, I wracked my brain trying to figure out whom she was talking about. “Who? Zander? I wouldn’t know.”

A sly look crossed Aspyn’s pretty face. “I was talking about Zane.”

My stomach did a funny dipping thing.

She pressed back into her chair, one hand soaking in a glass dish with whatever amazing stuff they put in there. “Tell me the rumors aren’t just rumors.”

It was no surprise that gossip swirled around Zane’s lips. “How did you know we kissed?”

“Small towns talk. And everyone is buzzing about you.”

It had been such a long time since I had gotten a manicure I’d forgotten how boring it was. Aspyn’s lively chatter kept my mind off the lady grinding at my nails. “Um.” I squirmed in my chair, feeling the color heighten in my cheeks. “Is it hot in here? Do you think they have the air conditioning on?”

She laughed. “I bet he’s an awesome kisser,” she supplied, enjoying this.

It was sort of weird that she was asking. I just assumed Aspyn and Zane had hooked up. “You mean the two of you haven’t…”

She gave an un-lady like snort. “Nope. But not due to lack of effort on my part. I gave up on him. Apparently, I’m not his type, but you are.”

There wasn’t any bitterness in her tone, and I was glad, because I would have hurt her, which would have made me sad. I was starting to really like Aspyn. If I had to base his kissing skills on what I’d already experience, I’d say that no one kissed like Zane. Great doesn’t do his kisses justice.

“Oh. My. God. You did a lot more than kiss,” she squealed.

My mouth dropped open. This was not the type of conversation I wanted to have with a crowd. I swear every ear in the place was leaning toward Aspyn and me, waiting to hear what juicy detail I would divulge.

Aspyn changed hands, and as the nail tech pecked away at her cuticles, I caught a glimpse of a familiar mark.