Vala Eminence by J. F. Jenkins Page B

actually worried about me?”
    â€œCurious, is more the right word. I don't worry.” Usually . He wasn't worried about Cheyenne — yet. The black outs would be reason enough for him to be concerned if he didn't understand what was happening. She didn't, of course, but she'd get filled in soon enough. The only thing that had him close to worrying was not knowing how much Lucien saw. If I'm not the only reason the wards against the demons fell, then there could be a number of spies lurking about. Especially now that the principal is in on everything. What is she thinking? And she gave me a hard time about the demons? She's in a lot deeper than I ever was.
    Cheyenne's eyes opened for a moment. “I'm not sure what it is you've been doing lately, but I kind of like it.”
    â€œHmm?” he asked, snapping out of his thoughtful daze. “What do you mean, you're not sure what I've been doing lately? I haven't done anything.”
    â€œYou have. It's like you're human or something.”
    â€œBabe, I've always been human, hate to break it to you.”
    She laughed. “I guess, but when I first met you I thought you were some kind of a god. Untouchable, and way out of my league. That week you spent at my other school, you were so cool. I'd never met another guy like you. Which is part of why you were so intimidating to me. Then you singled me out at the club, and everything else spiraled out of control. Even here at Vala, for a while I still thought of you as some kind of divine being.”
    Denver had to hold in his laughter because she was so close to figuring things out without him having to spell it out for her. “I'm not untouchable. No one is. There may be the Divine, but they're just as human and real as everyone else on this planet. Outside of that they can live longer, I mean, but that's a small detail. They're not immune to death, nor do you need some kind of special weapon to do it.”
    â€œGood to know. My point is you're vulnerable instead of emotionally void of everything. I wasn't expecting you to care about me back. I thought it was only lust.”
    â€œWhich is why you thought after one kiss, you'd have all your answers and wouldn't want me anymore. You'd be able to let go of me biting you.” He watched her nod and close her eyes. “You've forgotten we'd already kissed before this winter. At the dance we locked lips pretty nicely.”
    â€œIt wasn't the same.”
    For you, but it was for me. He licked his lips. “I'm sorry I bit you so many times without your permission. Even if you liked it, I shouldn't have done it. Normally, it wouldn't bother me so much, but look at me, making more exceptions for you.”
    â€œYou being vulnerable, as well as tough, is pretty sexy.”
    â€œIs it now?”
    â€œUh-huh.”
    Cheyenne had never described him as sexy before. Even saying the word made his hormones go crazy. From the first time he'd seen her, Denver made sure to not pursue another woman just to satisfy his primal urges. For the first few weeks, it'd been more difficult than he'd anticipated. Then he had a lull in his desire that he attributed to a lot of distraction. The more he focused on other things beside himself, the less he noticed his needs. Besides, there was something about biting Cheyenne that gave him a similar euphoria. He'd never experienced that before with anyone else he'd sunk his teeth into. Biting wasn't even something he had to do; just something fun and similar to a drug. When he did it to Cheyenne, and drank from her, it was like they were closer in a way. She became a part of his soul.
    Everything he'd done with his old flings from his past was so he could forget about her. Because even if he hadn't met her yet, somewhere in his cold heart, he knew she was alive and out there waiting to make him whole. Now she was here, and he was having a hard time figuring out what to do to make amends for all of the bad things he had