Chapter Eight
Mystique concentrated on locking the door behind her. It was not an easy task with Reine standing so close she could feel his heat.
The man had her panties rolled into a bunch.
Just now, she’d rushed inside the house to grab the packs and use the bathroom. She’d also wet her face, hoping the cool water would do something with her hormones. It’d been useless. The moment she’d seen him at her door, she’d felt her body react. She needed an ice-cold shower, and she wasn’t even sure that would help.
Yet, she stuck to her guns. She was resolute on getting to know Reine better before having sex with him. As a matter a fact, she wasn’t even sure they should get into bed together. Clearly, he had some issues that needed to be resolved, and she was not looking for casual sex. She’d had enough of that during her time in the city.
She nodded to herself as they walked. She simply wanted to befriend Reine. That was all. He was an interesting man, close to her age who had also lived in the city and had decided to move to a quiet place like Lance. They had much in common.
Mystique glanced at Reine. He walked silently at her side, his strides matching hers and his tattooed arms basically begging her to touch them. She licked her lips and bit back a sigh. Who was she kidding? Her hormones went on overdrive every time she saw his bulging muscles. She wanted in his pants badly. She’d come twice last night just imagining he was fucking her. She couldn’t recall the last time she’d felt so attracted to any man.
“You’re awfully quiet all of a sudden.” Reine caught her gaze and she felt her face grow hot. He grinned mischievously, as if he knew what she was thinking, and she stumbled.
“Careful.”
Reine grabbed her elbow. She gasped at the sudden current of heat that traveled across her body. Mystique hastened to straighten herself and pull away, but his grip tightened.
“Careful now, you don’t want to get hurt.”
She looked up at him. His gaze darted to her lips and he growled low in his throat. Mystique’s lips parted, she wasn’t sure if she should push him away or pull herself closer. He decided for them both by releasing her.
“How far is this brewery?”
He walked ahead in long purposeful strides. She stared after him, tempted to run her fingertips across her arm on the spot where his fingers had rested. Ugh, she felt like a love-struck teenager. Mystique hurried after him.
“Reine, this way,” she said, while leading him down a side street. “If we cut across this street, we’ll reach the end of the town faster and—” Mystique turned toward Reine. He had stopped walking and stared at their surroundings as if demons were hiding in every corner. “What’s wrong?”
“What’s this place?” Reine asked. He walked toward her, his gaze darting left and right, his jaw set into a grimace and his left hand curled into a fist.
“Oak Road.”
“It’s empty,” he pointed out. “And destroyed.”
“Yes. No one hardly ever comes across here. There was a big fire a few years back. Things were never rebuilt.”
“The people?”
“There were some casualties,” she said. “Those who survived moved away.”
Reine moved to her side but did not touch her. Slowly, they walked across the silent street. Their breathing sounded loud in the stillness of Oak Road. The town which was barely a street away had vanished behind them and they were deep in a scene of blackened destruction. Buildings were rundown, timbers and glass still black from the fire that had consumed them.
“Do you walk through here often?” Reine asked her.
Mystique shook her head.
“Normally, I take the main road. I don’t know what prompted me to come this way today.”
She jumped as a cat appeared among the debris. The animal meowed loudly before disappearing once more. Mystique shivered. She had forgotten what it was like to cross through Oak Road. There was no peace in this street, but an impeding feeling of doom. Even when she had lived here, things had always seemed foreboding, as if someone constantly watched her.
“It’s not safe,” he declared. Reine grabbed her forearm and gently pushed her forward.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “I guess I took this direction out of habit.”
Reine’s eyebrows lifted.
“I used to live here when I was a child,” she explained.
