Glancing at the clock on the wall, he shifted slightly, growing impatient to see her, growing completely impatient with the high school life. Over seven hundred years old and he was lurking in the hallways of adolescent teenagers, and all because of a girl. Granted, she was an exceptional girl, and he was captivated by her, but never had he gone to such lengths for a woman before. He had never thought that he would either. And he was fairly certain that this was only the beginning of what he would do for her.
The annoying bell rang suddenly, its sound was exceptionally sharp in his sensitive ears, but it was a welcome distraction from his disconcerting thoughts. Stepping away from the wall, his arms fell back to his sides as he eagerly waited for her to emerge from the class. Doors were flung open around him, chatter spilled into the halls as students emerged. He was barely aware of the humans as they filtered around him, the boys instinctively leaving a larger gap then they would with anyone else. The girls drifted closer, “accidentally” bumping into him, giggling flirtatiously as they openly admired him.
He ignored them, his attention fixed upon the people filing out of Cassie’s class. He could smell her; feel the beat of her tiny, delicate heart. She appeared in the doorway, her mouth parting, her step faltering slightly as she caught sight of him. The small redhead that had been speaking to her broke off abruptly, her brown eyes widened in surprise.
He did not think about it as he instinctively reached his hand out to Cassie, relief filled him as her fine boned fingers slid into his, locking tight. The beast inside of him quieted instantly. The burning in his veins lessened as her presence soothed the edgy rawness in him. He could not separate from her again. If he did, he would not make it through the rest of this day.
Her smile was easy and bright as she stared up at him, the sight of her beautiful face calming him even further. “Um yeah, I’ll talk to you later Cass.”
Cassie glanced at the redhead, giving her a brief nod before turning her full attention back to him. “You got here quick.”
He shrugged, unable to tear his gaze away from her. “I don’t really see the point of study hall.”
She laughed softly, the sound beautiful and sweet, like the gentle ring of wind chimes. It resonated through his body, shaking him to the marrow of his bones. At that moment, he knew that he would do everything in his power to make her laugh as often as possible. Her eyes twinkled merrily as the laughter broke off, but she continued to smile radiantly up at him.
“Most people look forward to study hall; it’s their favorite time of day, other than lunch of course.”
“I don’t see why, there’s nothing to do.”
“That’s exactly why.”
Devon shook his head, realizing that he would never understand humans again. Though, he hadn’t really understood them when he’d been human. There was no pleasure in doing nothing, it drove him crazy. “I see,” he said, even though he didn’t.
Her smile slid away as she frowned questioningly up at him. “Didn’t they have study hall at your old school?”
“Of course,” he lied smoothly, sensing that to do anything else would seem odd. “I didn’t see the point of it then either.”
She smiled again, shaking back a strand of golden hair that had slid into one of her exquisite eyes. Without thinking, he reached forward and brushed the hair aside. She froze, her breath catching in her chest, her eyes wide upon him as his fingers lingered on her silken skin. He found he could not take his hand away as he stroked lightly over the delicate contours of her face. He recalled touching her like this last night but it was nothing, nothing compared to this.
She did not move, did not even breathe as she watched him in silent, fascinated wonder. Her eyes searched his face in awe, her mouth parted slightly. In her gaze he could see her own recollection of the dream. Her heartbeat kicked up, her pulse pounded loudly through her veins. He did not feel a surge of hunger this time, felt no desire to drain her dry as he was completely ensnared and entranced by her.
“Cassie!”
She jumped slightly; his hand fell away as Chris’s sharp voice broke through the odd spell encasing them both. He took a step closer to her, fierce possession tearing through him as Chris appeared at her side. Chris’s blue eyes narrowed as he met Devon’s gaze, his shoulders stiffened. “Hi Chris,” she greeted, her voice sounding slightly strained and confused.
“Did you do the homework?”
Cassie rolled her eyes. “Yes, but there’s not enough time for you to copy it.”
“I know I just wanted to make sure you had done it also.”
Cassie’s forehead furrowed in confusion as she frowned at Chris. Devon was nowhere near as confused as Chris shot him a dark, warning look. Though Melissa felt that they were more like siblings, Devon was beginning to believe that Chris’s feelings were not so platonic, and he did not like the competition that Devon threw into the mix.
Devon didn’t particularly care what Chris thought, or wanted. Cassie was going to belong to him no matter what. He took another step closer, his shoulder brushing against hers, his hand tightening on hers. Chris’s narrowed eyes followed him, his broad shoulders stiffened slightly. “Are you going to English now?” he asked sharply.
“Of course, I’ll see you there.” Though it had been a clear dismissal, Chris lingered for a few seconds more, his gaze was steady as he stared hard at Devon. Chris glanced briefly at Cassie before turning on his heel and disappearing into the thick throng of students. She turned back to Devon, confusion still evident in her features. “Ready for class?”
He fought back a groan, he wasn’t ready at all. He wanted to stay here, with her, but he was in her world now, and unfortunately he had to obey the rules that came along with it. Even if the rules sucked. The only good thing was that he knew they had the same class now.
He followed her down the hall, taking note of the people surrounding him for the first time. Or at least taking note of the boys. Many of them didn’t acknowledge his presence as they gazed eagerly upon her. His temper bristled at the obvious desire behind their stares. They did not care about his presence, would easily ignore him if they thought they had a chance to talk to her, to be near her.
It was a fact he didn’t like, but would remedy very shortly. Following her into a classroom, he reluctantly released her hand when he slid into the desk next to her. He had been assigned a seat a few desks away from her, but he had no intentions of sitting there today. Though he could no longer touch her, he wasn’t moving any further away from her than this. She watched him with wide eyes, her head tilted slightly to the side.