Free Fallen by Kelley R. Martin Page A

of hair under his navel—
    I dropped my eyes as shame flooded me. I shouldn’t be ogling him. I shouldn’t be ogling anybody, I was—
    Single. I’m single now, remember?
    The painful reminder didn’t make me feel any better about being attracted to him. If anything, it made me feel worse. Here I was, not even two days after leaving my boyfriend, and I couldn’t stop staring at Gabriel. My heart might’ve been broken, but my body hadn’t gotten the memo, apparently.
    Ignoring how low his pajama pants sat, and how he looked softer— younger , even—with his brown hair stuck up in disarrayed patches of bed head, I waltzed into the kitchen, keeping my head high and eyes straight ahead.
     

    My back reflexively straightened as Emily entered the kitchen. It was surreal to have a girl here for my morning routine, to have her see me…like this . I cleared my throat and said, “Morning.”
    Damn, she put on a bra.
    “Good morning… Uh, where are your glasses?” 
    I pointed to the cupboard over the coffee maker. She reached up and opened the door, pulling down a tall glass. After filling it with tap water, she took a sip. 
    Her coloring was better, and the rings under her eyes weren’t as severe. “You look much better,” I said, refilling my coffee cup.
    “Thank you.” She set her drink on the island, and turned to open the fridge, frowning at what she saw. “Don’t you have any—”
    The strange look quickly vanished as she snapped her mouth shut. I was behind her a second later, peering into the fridge as well. There were several packages of ground beef and some cups of pig’s blood, but that was it. “What are you looking for? Would you like something besides beef?”
    She jumped and slid out from her spot between me and the fridge, absently reaching for her glass. “No, beef is—”
    “Watch out—”
    It was too late. She’d knocked the cup off the counter and it shattered as it collided with the floor.
    “Shit!” she muttered, bending down to pick up the shards as I grabbed some paper towels. I bent down across from her, soaking up the mess. 
    She reached for another piece, but quickly hissed in a breath as she snatched her hand back, inspecting the pad of her finger as a drop of red welled up from nowhere. “Damn it.”
    What the…?
    I dropped the wet paper towel and grabbed Emily’s hand, blood oozing out of her cut from the increase in pressure. “You’re bleeding .” My mind raced as I tried to process what my eyes were seeing. This was impossible. We didn’t bleed. “How…?” 
    My eyes flicked up to meet her equally surprised stare. 
     

    What do I do?
    My heart thundered so hard it echoed in my ears, and my body screamed at me to do something, anything , before I became paralyzed with fear.
    One shallow breath left me. Then another.
    I shoved Gabriel back with everything in me and took off, running faster than I ever had through his apartment. My acute hearing, heightened even more with the rush of adrenaline, heard him scramble up and run after me.
    Shitshitshit, where do I go?
    Bursting into my bedroom, I ran for the bathroom, stopping only to lock the door behind me, though I knew it would only slow him down for a second, if that. I crossed the bathroom and went for the window over the tub. Fumbling with the lock, I snapped my head around when he banged on the bathroom door. 
    “Open the door, Em, I just want to talk.”
    Yeah, right, and I’m the fucking Queen of England.
    The window finally gave way (because I smashed it), and I hitched one leg over the window sill, ducking my head as the bathroom door splintered apart. Gabriel charged in, his angry stare landing on me halfway out the window. I lifted my other leg, praying to God it wasn’t a straight shot to the ground seven-stories below, and prepared to launch myself.
    His arm wrapped around my waist before I could get anywhere, yanking me back inside as he threw me on the ground. My back smacked against the tile