Free Dark Siren by Eden Ashley

hunt.
    Kali’s pulse fluttered erratically. She didn’t move as he took a few steps into the living room.
    He turned to her expectantly. “Would you like this in the kitchen?” He gestured with the box.
    “Uh, yeah, let me get that.” She took the pizza from him and found her voice again. “So I know two things about you. You’re a fan of scary movies and you deliver pizza for a living.”
    He chuckled softly. “No.”
    Not much of a talker. She lifted an eyebrow. “No to one or both?”
    “Both. The delivery boy had just arrived when I got here. So I grabbed the pizza for you. I paid him of course and tipped. As for the films…” He scanned the room, taking in every detail and design. Even looking at the family photographs, he didn’t bat an eye at the obvious fact that her family was African-American but Kali was clearly not. His piercing appraisal settled onto her again. “I’ve seen and experienced things far more frightening than any contrivance of the human mind.”
    Unable to bear another second under his unflinching gaze, Kali escaped into the kitchen with the pizza, setting it down on the counter. Get it together, Kali. He’s only another guy. With a deep, motivating breath she spun to return to the living room and almost jumped over the counter. He had moved without making a sound and stood only inches behind her.
    “I didn’t mean to scare you.” He was eerily still. His peculiar eyes watched her as if they saw everything.
    Kali slid her gaze away. “You didn’t,” she said but her heart disagreed. It was trying to pound out of her chest. His heat was affecting her. Brain getting foggy again, Kali saw his eyes flash. And for a split second, the stranger seemed to be fighting against something very primal restrained under a fragile veil of calm. Then his features relaxed and she thought she had imagined it.
    “How’d you get this bruise?” His fingers brushed her jaw lightly. Her skin tingled in the aftermath of his touch.
    Kali was confused. She had no idea what he was talking about. Then her mind snapped back to the fight with Cal. She remembered why her feet and face were hurting. Kali hadn’t looked in a mirror, but evidently the ex-boyfriend had left a mark. It made her furious. She angled her face away from the stranger. “It’s nothing.”
    “It’s something. You’re upset.” He sounded worried, maybe even a little angry.
    She was mad at Cal. Hated the fact that now she would have to lie even more to explain things. But Kali didn’t want his or anyone else’s pity. The subject needed to be dropped. “Leave it,” she said. The words came out hotter than she meant them to.
    He took a step back, taking his warmth with him. “Okay,” he relented quietly.
    Kali regretted it immediately. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean--”
    But he held up a hand, stopping her apology. “It’s nothing.”
    Frowning at the echo of her own words, she folded both arms across her chest. Then he smiled and her irritation disappeared as quickly as it had flared.
    “Bad choice of words, I guess. Really, it’s okay.”
    Trying to remember some of the manners Greg and Lisa had taught her, she gestured toward the box. “Would you like some pizza?”
    He shook his head. “I’m not much of a vegetarian.”
    She opened her mouth in surprise, wondering how he knew what kind of pie she had ordered, but Greg’s voice called her name anxiously from the other room ahead of his urgent footsteps. He entered the kitchen from the back. “I just came from the garage and saw the darnedest thing. My car isn’t there. Why is that?”
     
     
     
     
     

Chapter 11
     
    The question lit a matchstick of panic. Kali hadn’t realized Greg’s car was missing. If the stranger had brought her home, then of course Greg’s car would still be at the theater. Why hadn’t she thought of that before? She couldn’t admit to Greg that his baby was gone. He would ground her. Forever.
    Kali floundered.