Sun Catch Her (Book 1: Three Rivers Deep series) COMPLETE

Chapter Thirty-Two

The comforter slid down from my shoulders when I moved, allowing a shaft of sunlight to hit my face and causing me to squint with a sudden awareness of morning. Incredibly groggy, I pulled the blanket back over my head with a groan. The piercing light combined with the color of the fabric to cast the underside of my eyelids a dark blue and, mumbling, I complained about being way too hot and the sun being way too bright. Yeah, some mornings I could be quite the tragic grump.

My disjointed stream of consciousness regrouped when a voice tried to persuade me away from sleep. I rolled over to bury my face as the blankets were smoothed down again.

"Is this better?" he asked. Fingers with a light, cooling touch of wind made a few sweeping passes through my sweat-damp hair.

"Mmm," I mumbled, wrapping my arms around Micah's waist.

His shirtless state was more than pleasant against my pressing cheek, even though he was the "something" that had gotten me too hot. He stayed with me all night, and I didn't have a single bad dream. I was...completely rested.

"You better get up. You've only got a half hour to get ready before school."

"Don't wanna," I whined around a hidden grin.

Twisting in protest, I squirmed with a high-pitched squeak when I found myself being dragged out from under the warm covers into a burst of cold air. The abrupt temperature difference left me shivering. His arm around my waist kept me pinned while he sent his free hand roaming across my stomach with the intent to tickle.

"Cut it out!" I squealed, tossing hair into his face as the only act of retaliation I could manage with my arms pinned.

Seriously, was he overlooking the fact that humans needed to pee after sleeping all night? I might only be half human, but still, my bladder wasn't going to take much before I dumped him off the bed and ran straight for the bathroom.

Grinning with mischief, Micah unburied himself from a torrent of black hair to come at me from the side, pressing his lips politely to my cheek.

"You're running late," he reminded me again, then added, "and you're incredibly sexy when you're barely clothed and flustered."

I shivered again, but not from the chilly room.

"Oh yeah?" I frowned, but a roll of my eyes hinted at amusement.

Me and sexy in the same sentence? Now there was a new one. I squirmed again, and this time he let me go. Freed from my hot bondage, I made a beeline for the bathroom, calling back, "Like you're really one to talk about being barely clothed, Shirtless Guy."

* * *

A day of complete normalcy, an entire day during which nothing dire happened-I hadn't had one of those days in quite a while.

"Ouch!" I jerked my hand from the notebook I was pulling out of my book bag. It was early afternoon, and I tossed the notebook on top of the rest of the homework piled a foot high on the kitchen table. We had just gotten home from school, arriving to a quiet, Indy-free house. I ignored the blood seeping from my cut finger as I hunted for something to wipe it off with.

"Let me see," Micah said, shutting the dishwasher he'd just loaded.

He paced across the kitchen with the taut motion of a big cat, his appearance nothing short of scrumptious in his tailored school uniform. He took my hand in his before I could spot anything useful to wipe it on besides what seemed to be a note quickly scratched on the back of a gas station receipt. Indy's hurried handwriting.

I picked up the note while I watched with interest as he brought the cut to his mouth and sucked on it. My finger in somebody else's mouth really wasn't something I was accustomed to, and while my first reaction was to pull away, I forced myself to be still. I couldn't help the laughter that bubbled up the longer he prolonged the act. Sort of tickled, I guess.