“What about the dolls and the noose? What about the fact that you told a teacher and not me, Ember?”
Well, apparently Cromwell had told him everything. “Mr. Theo—”
“The English teacher?”
“Yeah, but he knew about the rabbit. And I didn’t mean to tell him about the rest, but he knew something was going on and—” Hayden cut me off, eyes flaring. “You told him over me?”
His words meant something. It wasn’t me telling a teacher over him. Or even a stranger over him. You told him over me. I recognized the look in his eyes, because I felt it whenever he left lunch with Phoebe.
Not anger. Not even disappointment. “You’re—are you actually jealous?”
“What?”
“You are! You’re jealous because I told Mr. Theo over you.” I yanked my arm back, but he pulled me right up against him. My legs were flush with his, our chests met. I could feel him take his next deep breath, and I forgot what I was saying.
The look of jealousy slipped away, replaced by something equally frustrating. His hands slid up to my shoulders, sending tiny shivers down my body. He backed me up until my legs hit my desk. “Can I?”
“Sure.” I had no idea what I was agreeing to.
Hayden lifted me and sat me on the desk. His hands lingered on my hips, his touch burning through the thin cloth. A smoky scent, like a candle blown out, wafted through my room, but there was no source.
“What are you doing?” I asked, my breath hitching.
“I don’t know.”
“Hayden?” I whispered.
“Yes?” He shifted closer, his warm breath brushing the skin of my neck like the night in the cabin.
This was our form of kissing—our soft, feathery-light kisses that never made contact.
My hand rose reflexively, wanting to touch him. I stopped myself a mere inch from his cheek.
Helplessly, my fingers curled around thin air.
“It’s okay.” His hands were on the move again, sliding upward. When they circled my waist, all rational thought went out the window. His breath trailed across my throat, around my chin and stopping over my cheek. His fingers curved along my back as his soft breath hovered over my lips. “Do you know what you do to me?”
I think I shook my head, but I wasn’t sure. All I could concentrate on was how exquisite, how right, how wonderful being this close to him felt.
His breath still lingered over my lips, and one of his hands drifted upwards, stopping at the collar of my shirt.
And then he touched me.
My eyes fell shut and a tiny sigh escaped me. Hayden moved the tips of his fingers across my neck, over my chin. They jerked more than once, but he continued until his entire hand pressed against my cheek.
“Tell me to stop,” he pleaded hoarsely.
Any resolve I had shattered. I touched his face, cupped his cheek. His skin felt just like I’d imagined.
No. Better than I’d ever thought. His skin was hot, smooth, and inviting. Maybe even as hot as I felt and I was tingling all over.
Hayden let out a ragged sound. Seconds went by, and just our breathing could be heard. His thumb traced a broken circle over my cheek. He couldn’t keep his hand still. Whatever poison in my skin affected him, but I couldn’t pull my hand away.
I inhaled once, twice. The scent of smoke and spice filled me.
He moved his other hand to the nape of my neck, his fingers spasming as they made contact with my skin. A startled sound escaped me. My brain couldn’t process one logical thought other than how wonderful he felt—how beautiful, how alive.
“Ember…?” His voice felt like a whisper against my lips.
He was going to kiss me. I knew it. My entire body tensed in anticipation, my pulse hummed deliciously. But on the fringes, things start to blur. Even as I felt like I would burst through my skin any second, my head started to swim. Then he pulled away so fast I nearly fell off the desk.
Panting heavily, Hayden stepped back and stared. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that.”
“Did I hurt you?” I asked, surprised by how husky my own voice sounded.
He looked at me like I’d grown a hand out of my head and it’d wiggled fingers at him. “I was hurting you, Ember. I could feel it.”
“No,” I said slowly. “I was just a little dizzy. You didn’t drain anything, right?”
“I wanted to.” He looked away. “Don’t you get it? I did. I could feel it happening and I would’ve held on. I would’ve done it.”
I wished he’d pull me back into his arms. I liked it there. And I didn’t see what the big deal was. “It’s okay. Nothing happened.” I sounded a little disappointed.
“I could have seriously hurt you.” He ran a hand over his head, clasping the back of his neck.
“Do you realize how weird this is? I’m the one who could’ve seriously hurt you. You can make me dizzy and maybe, worst-case scenario, put me in a coma for a few days. I can kill you. So who has the bigger right to freak out here? I’d say me.”
“You wouldn’t hurt me. I haven’t told you this, but my gift would kick in before you did any serious damage. I don’t think I’d even be able to stop it from doing so.”
Well, that was good to know. But it didn’t bother me. It actually made me glad that he was protected in that way. I chewed on my lower lip and watched him. Regret strained his face. That kind of stung. This probably explained why I asked the next question. “Are you still mad that I told Mr. Theo and not you?”
Hayden took a step back, eyes narrowing. “I think it’s ridiculous that you’d confide in a complete stranger. I thought you trusted me.”
“I do trust you, but Mr. Theo isn’t a stranger.” I hopped down from the desk and brushed past him.
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. I thought you didn’t want to hear about it anymore. That you were done dealing with it.”
“What?” He spun around. “Why would you think that?”
“I don’t know. I just didn’t want to bother you.” I folded my arms. “I just thought it would make us argue more.”
Hayden shook his head. “I don’t understand you sometimes. If you could just let go of how you feel about my family for two seconds—”
“Not going to happen.”
He groaned. “Do you know—do you even care how disappointed he was in me? What that meant to me?”
My head jerked up. “What? You didn’t tell him you knew about the stuff in the locker, did you? I told him I didn’t tell anyone, Hayden. Oh, God.”
“He didn’t appreciate the fact that I’d been hiding what was happening.”
“Then why did you tell him?”
“I needed to tell him the truth, Ember!” he said, equally frustrated. “It’s bad enough that I’ve been lying to him about helping you.”
“I never made you help me! You pushed it on me!”
He stared at me for what seemed like forever. “My father was on the phone with every contact he has ever made in the last ten years after he reamed my ass out last night. He sent Kurt to find out who’s behind the stuff in your locker.”
That meant nothing. I’d do the same thing if I was guilty and wanted people to believe I wasn’t, but the look on his face stopped me from letting those words get past my lips.
“And I know none of that means anything to you.”
I flushed. There was no point in denying it. I folded my arms and glared at him.
“But I wish it did. Then you could see that my family isn’t against you.” He stepped forward, catching the edge of my sleeve. Only the tips of his fingers brushed my skin, but it felt like a thousand touches in one. “They’ve been watching over you for so long. My father wants to help you. He’ll do everything and anything to keep you and your sister safe.”