Challenged - Skinwalker Book 2

Chapter 16

Devon had heard Senka moving about and bolted up the stairs because... well, because he couldn't entirely help himself. Whenever he saw her or thought about her, his palms went cold and sweaty while his heart raced – a very new experience for him. His power of speech, too, seemed to evaporate, making him feel and look like an idiot in her presence - which was infuriating. When he did speak, he seemed to be only capable of saying the stupidest things and that made him want to crawl into a hole and die.

Hulk Logan? Seriously? Arghh...

Yet despite all that, he couldn't stop himself from looking for her or wanting to get closer to her – he especially wanted to get physically closer... mainly to her breasts and thighs, if he was honest. He wanted that sooo badly, though it definitely wasn't the only thing he wanted. That too, was something new for him. Devon was not used to looking for more than a casual fling. He was not used to having a woman he wanted spurn him, and he was definitely not used to being anything less than blissfully composed and charming around the fairer sex. But somehow Senka was his kryptonite, and that made him want her even more. Not as part of some sick cat and mouse game, but as the one woman who might see into his heart the way other women never did – the one who might see past his cool façade and heal the hurt lingering beneath it.

By the time he'd raced upstairs, she'd already been turning the corner to the bathroom, so he washed the soda off his hands in the little sink by the bar and settled in the rec room for a while to wait for her to finish. His mind was working over how he could pretend to have another brief encounter with her. His ears trained to the sounds she was making as they plinked off the tiled surfaces so he could be ready when she came out. He heard her run the water and thought of her stepping in to let it splash all over her curvaceous body, the steamy liquid going places and touching things that he could only dream of seeing and touching one day.

Okay, maybe this wasn't the best idea...

He swallowed hard and shifted uncomfortably in his seat. He considered leaving it for another time, then heard her make a little sigh of satisfaction – the quietest, cutest little sound that made her seem just a fraction more accessibly human and less unapproachable goddess. His heart felt unsteady in his chest and his throat tight and unpleasant.

The water stopped running and her feet padded noiselessly out of the shower. He could hear her drying her body, the sound of fabric sliding against skin as she dressed, and the zipper on her trousers as she slid it home. By that point, he was practically a pile of mushy gum stuck to the sofa he was sitting on. He heard her now shod feet tap stealthily around on the tiles a while longer before she stepped over to her bedroom.

This is it. This is my chance. Oh geeze... I can't do it! Crap!

His stomach started flipping like there was a slowly dying wet fish writhing in there. He started cursing at himself for his cowardice, trying to force himself to act. He was mid-way through his silent soliloquy when he realised that she was on the move again – and that she was heading his way!

No, no! Please not now! I'm not ready!

His palms started sweating again and his head felt giddy. She came through the door oblivious of his presence, her attention focused on the towel she was still working through her long, dark, wet hair. She was bent forward, the crease between her plump breasts fully exposed to him and framed alluringly by her v-neck sweater. He felt a familiar pulse begin below his belt at the sight and pulled a pillow onto his lap in case his body decided to add to his embarrassment in any way. She didn't notice him as she turned to look up at the roster on the wall by the door, her one hand still working the towel over her head as she reached down to pull at her panties through her dark knit tights, the curve of her rounded hips and sensual buttocks mesmerising him in the process.

Geeze, you're killing me! Only you could make that look sexy and cute!

Devon bit his fist in exasperation. He couldn't speak and he was pretty sure that he couldn't - or maybe shouldn't - move. He was stuck.

Then she stopped rubbing the towel over her head - a noise that was pretty loud when you had heightened hearing - and his heart literally jumped into his throat the moment he saw her hear his presence. He somehow managed to pull his fist from his mouth and lay it casually over the back of the couch as she turned slowly to face him. Her expression was completely unreadable to him.

He wanted to be his usual cool, charming self. He wanted to grin and make a flirtatious remark or at least smile enchantingly and deliver a friendly 'Hey'. But his body wasn't listening to him and he wasn't entirely sure his heart was still working because he couldn't feel it in his chest anymore.

"Hieeee...." He squeaked awkwardly in a failed attempt at delivering a greeting.

Mortified, he coughed and cleared his throat while the skin on his neck started to sizzle.

Plan B?

Devon pulled back his lips into a smile, but for some reason it didn't feel right. He'd wanted charming and hadn't even managed friendly. Senka eyed the almost creepy expression on his face, fisted her fingers and stormed out the room instantly.

Devon watched her go, equally tormented and relieved at the sight. He cringed when he heard her door slam, then fell forward and buried his head in the pillow he'd pulled onto his lap earlier.

Argh! I hate him I hate him I hate him!

Senka paced irritably back and forth in her room. She'd worked so hard to get where she was. She'd worked so hard to bury her past... she'd worked so hard to cement the protective shell around her heart that was designed to stop her getting hurt again. Yet somehow, that eerie half smile of his had managed to put a serious crack in her defences. Feeling that little flutter in her chest made her madder than a Bratva crime lord after a double-cross. She couldn't - no she wouldn't - let a man use her again. She couldn't believe she hadn't even noticed he was there.

Oh no! Did I really pull out a wedgie with my arse towards him?

Her cheeks flamed and her hands clenched again as equal parts mortification and irritation flooded her veins. She let a fist fly at her cupboard door, the wood splintering on impact. The resulting throb in her knuckles seemed to bring her heart back to a steady, reliable bob. Senka leaned back against the wall as she relished the feeling of calm settling back into her orderly life.

Why did the cat have to be so damned handsome? Why'd he have to be a cat? Why does he have to keep looking at me all the time??

She shook her head to try and clear it as she attempted to focus her thoughts on more constructive things. It was time to remind herself why that wall was up around her heart in the first place.

Get it together! If there is one thing you've learnt, it is that you can never trust a tomcat. You're just a game to him - to them all - an ugly, skinny, freak of nature.

She laughed to herself at that. In her world, she was the skinny, weedy little runt. But to the rest of the world, she wasn't thin enough to be pretty. She wasn't fat, but she wasn't stick thin either. Still, with regular human men at least, she could make what she had work for her - and that was a wonderful, powerful feeling. She used the memory of that feeling to further bolster her nerve.

He could never love you. He is just curious like the others were - curious to know just how different the freak really is. Once he is done he will throw you aside like they all did. Hell, he is so repulsed by you that he can't even speak to you!

She felt the crack in the shell around her heart tighten and smooth over as painful memories helped reignite her distaste for feline men. It wasn't exactly a pleasant sensation, but it was how she coped. It was how she'd pulled herself out of despair and created a new life for herself - and it was a good life!

Feeling in control once again, she rolled her neck, flexed her shoulders and then stood tall and headed down to lunch with her usual cool façade fixed firmly in place. She didn't give him the satisfaction of glancing at him even once during the meal. It was the only way she knew how to protect herself.