Free Lilith by Ashley Jeffery

echoed inside my head. He reached up with the hand that had been holding my fingers and brushed my cheek, turning my face towards his.
    "Pacey, " He said.
    I moaned a little in response.
    "I love you." His voice was just above a whisper.
    I watched his face contort in different emotions, from excitement, to sorrow and fear. Had he really just said that.
    "Wow Dean really." I didn't know what else to say, it was stupid, that's not how you should react when someo ne tells you they love you.
    "I-I love you too.”
    He smiled and pressed his forehead to mine. I could feel my pulse start to beat faster. Wow...Love. He turned more towards me and pressed his lips to mine. The heat exploded the moment our lips met. In seconds we were up and standing. Dean was pressing my back against the bed and crawling on top of me. His hands were in my hair and running down the sides of my body.
    The tray of food crashed to the floor. His hand reached under my shirt and rubbed my bare stomach. A small moan escaped my lips and he broke the kiss. I stared up into his intense face and caught my breath. One solitary tea r was running down his cheek.
    "What's wrong?" I said.
    Dean rolled off of me onto his back and covered his face with his arm. "I have to tell you something, something...bad."
    I sat up and stared down at him. " Great, that sounds awesome."
    He groaned and uncovered his face. He pushe d himself up with his elbows. "You know how I told you I moved because of my dad dying."
    I nodded and watched his eyes glaze over.
    "That was only part of the reason. We also left because someone I loved, other than my dad...she....she..."
    I waited for those few moments in dread, I just knew his ex was stalking him or something crazy like that damn it. I could tell he wasn't being truthful about his ex when we'd talked about it weeks ago. Damn, damn, damn .
    "Pacey, my girlfriend she was killed. That's why I didn't want to talk about it. Dad died a long time before we moved almost two years ago; it was Tess's death that drove us away. Tess's death." He closed his eyes and laid back down throwing his arm back over his face.
    "I'm sorry, do you hate me?" He said.
    I reached for his arm but couldn't move it.
    "No Dean I don't hate you, but why didn’t you just tell me?"
    He sat up and looked me in the eyes. "I don’t know. But I’m worried whoever killed Tess might have tried to hurt you."
    I fought the chill that crept up my spine. Was this all because of Dean, was someone after him? I denied the rightness I felt settle in my belly. It wasn’t his fault it couldn’t be.
    "I don't know Dean why would someone kill her and try to kill me…” But even as I tried to deny it, I could feel it was true.
    Dean shrugged. "I don't really know, it’s just weird right."
    " I guess." Denial. I mulled it over in my mind trying to figure out how the pieces fit together. Why would someone be stalking Dean?
    “I mean were you ever contacted like by a stalker or something?” I crossed my fingers hoping to God he said no.
    Dean chewed on his cheek, shaking his head. "No it's just, well come on, it can't be a coincidence."
    I took a deep breath of relief.
    " Well if no one contacted you then it’s not the same at all. It’s more like I have a crazy stalker than you do. When your girlfriend died how'd it happen?"
    " She was run off the road, her car flipped a bunch of times, and she died on impact. Why?"
    I smiled a little maybe I wasn’t in denial, coincidences happened all the time, and they didn’t always mean something. DENIAL. I ignored the inner voice.
    "Dean, seriously, this can't be connected. I was attacked by...something, and I'm the one that keeps getting crazy messages."
    We both jumped when my phone rang. I stared at the familiar number and smiled. Thank God, I needed the distraction.
    "Just a sec ok, we'll finish in a minute." Liar. I opened my phone and smiled into the receiver.
    "Of all the crazy ex-boyfriends in the world you just had to be mine."