She smacked my arm and whispered, “Get back.”
I sat back and I was totally quiet for a very, very long time. Like a good assistant, I handed her the books, but sometimes I had to say something. Like the guy on one of the other covers looked constipated. And seriously, did she have enough angel books? But one book did look interesting. I held it up, ignoring her muffled, disgruntled sigh, and said, “This reaper dude sounds like my kind of guy. He gets to kill people for a living.”
Kat snatched it out of my hand, grinning. She spoke about the book for a few moments and then, “And that’s it for today. Thanks for watching!”
I leaned in. “Don’t forget. There are cooler things out there than fallen angels and dead guys. Just saying.” I winked.
Smiling like I hadn’t seen her do in a while, she pushed me aside and clicked off the record button. “You like seeing yourself being recorded.”
More like I liked seeing her smiling. I shrugged. “That was fun. When do you do another?”
“Next week if I get more books.”
“More books.” My eyes widened. “You have, like, ten books you just said you haven’t read.”
“Doesn’t mean I won’t get more books.” Her lips curved up again as I gaped at her. “I haven’t been able to read a lot lately, but I will, and then I won’t be out of anything new to read.”
“You haven’t had time because of him and that’s ridiculous.” I looked away, jaw working. “Reading is something you love. So is blogging, and you’ve completely dumped those things.”
“I have not!”
“You’re such a little liar,” I shot back as I leaned against the couch once more. “I’ve checked out your blog. You’ve done five posts in the last month.”
Her mouth dropped open. “You’ve been stalking my blog, too?”
“Like I said before, I’m not stalking. I’m just keeping an eye on you.”
“And like I said before, your reasoning is faulty. You know what I’ve been doing. It pretty much soaks up my time—”
“What the hell?” I exploded. Kat had bent forward to close the laptop, causing the back of her thermal to ride up, exposing several inches of skin—purple and blue skin. Bruised and angry-looking. Horrified, I grabbed hold of the thermal and tugged it up, revealing a huge bruise.
“Hey.” She twisted around, knocking my hands away. “What are you doing? Hands off, mofo.”
I looked up, meeting her wide stare. Rage bubbled like lava tinted with desperation. My hands curled into fists. “Tell me why your back looks like you fell out of a two-story window.”
Kat’s face paled as she stood. Without saying anything, she walked out of the living room. I was right behind her, barely able to hold on to my human form as we walked into the kitchen. She grabbed a Coke out of the fridge. “I…I fell in training with Blake. It’s not a big deal, though.” Facing me, she toyed with the top of the can. “I told you I slept wrong because I figured you’d make fun of me.”
I searched her face for a hint that said she was lying. She looked uncomfortable, embarrassed even, but she appeared genuine. My hands loosened. “Yeah, I would’ve made fun of you…a little bit, but Jesus, Kat, you sure you didn’t break something?”
“I’m fine,” she assured me.
Following her around the table, I took a few seconds to make sure my voice was level. “You’ve been hurting yourself a lot lately.”
“Not really.”
“You’re not clumsy, Kitten. So how does this keep happening?” I slowly approached Kat, not wanting her to dart away from me.
“I tripped in the woods the night I first found out about you,” she reminded me.
“Nice try.” I shook my head. “You were running full-out in the middle of pitch-black woods. Even I’d…” I winked. “Well, maybe not me, but normal people would trip then. I’m just too awesome.”
“Well…” Her nose wrinkled.
My gaze briefly dropped. “It looks like it hurts.”
“It does a little.”
“Then let me fix it.” I reached for her.
“Wait.” She backed up. “Should you be doing that?”
“Healing you can’t hurt. Not at this point.” I tried again, but she knocked my hand away. Frustration spiked. “I’m just trying to help!”
She backed up against the wall. “I don’t need you to help me.”
The muscle in my jaw started working. Kat always had to be so damn stubborn, even when she was obviously in pain, and I hated seeing her like this. I loathed the idea of her hurt. I couldn’t deal with it, so the moment she started to relax, I moved wicked fast. Within two heartbeats, I had my arms around her hips, careful to not touch her back, and I lifted her up, carrying her to the couch. I sat down, holding her in my lap.
Kat gawked at me as her hair settled around her face. “That’s not fair!”
“I wouldn’t have had to do it if you would just stop being so freaking stubborn and let me help you.” I slipped my hand under the back of her thermal, flattening my palm against her lower back. She jerked slightly. “I can make you feel better,” I told her. “It’s ridiculous that you won’t let me.”
“We have stuff to do, people to stalk, Daemon. Just let me up.” She wiggled, but I held her still.
“No.” I focused and felt heat flare from my palm. My lips tipped up when I heard her soft inhale. Her eyes met mine and then flickered away. Her mouth opened, and I knew she was preparing for another argument. “I can’t be around you when I know you’re in pain, okay?”
Her eyes widened slightly. Uncomfortable, I focused on the spot above the TV. A moment passed and she asked, “Does it really bother you, me hurting?”
“I don’t feel it, if that’s what you’re asking.” I paused, exhaling softly as I met her questioning gaze again. “Just knowing you’re hurt is enough for it to bother me.”
She lowered her eyes and stopped squirming, the fight leaving her. Healing her didn’t take as much concentration as it had that night we’d fought Baruck. It was natural, requiring almost no thought, and that was a good thing, because Kat placed her head on my shoulder, and that was incredibly distracting.
It felt like forever since I’d held her. Thanksgiving night was the last time. Too long ago. She snuggled in, resting one hand against my lower stomach. I closed my eyes, soaking up the feel of her. At some point I knew she was healed, but I didn’t want to bother her. She was completely relaxed in my loose embrace, where she belonged.
Yeah, exactly where she belonged.
I lowered my chin and tilted my head to the side. Her thick lashes fanned the top of her cheeks. With her slow heart rate, I knew she was close to sleep. It wasn’t late at all, but those shadows under her eyes were still there. She was exhausted. Folding my other arm under her knees, I stood.
Kat stirred. “What are you doing?”
“Taking you to bed.”
“I can walk.”
“I can get you there faster.” And I did. Leaving the twinkling lights of the Christmas tree, I raced her upstairs and into her bedroom. “See?”
She looked a little windblown as I neared her bed. Without touching them, I lifted the covers back and then placed her down. I tugged the comforter up to her hips, lingering as I stared down at her. “Do you feel better?”
“Yeah,” she whispered, her gaze fixed on mine.
The center of my chest throbbed in an unfamiliar way. There was so much between us that sometimes it felt like we would never be on the same page, but there were moments—moments like this—that there were no obstacles. It was just her and me, and the world outside didn’t exist.
My throat worked. “Can I…? Can I just hold you? That’s all…that’s all I want.”
Her lips parted, but there were no words. She nodded.
Relief cracked me straight down the center as if some internal fault line had been ruptured. My heart started pounding, and I knew she could feel it as I kicked off my shoes and then walked around to the other side. I slid into bed beside her and extended an arm. Kat rolled onto her side without hesitation, curling against the side of my body. She rested her cheek on my chest.