PHOENIX ROLLED OVER for what felt like the fiftieth time. She couldn’t sleep.
She’d thought that she would pass out the minute she laid her head on the pillow, despite it being daylight outside. Not that anyone could tell with how dark the house was. The vampires had blacked out all their windows, so no sunlight could come through during the day, but she was pretty sure her body knew it was daytime, and daytime meant awake time. Who cares that she had gotten little sleep since she was kidnapped? Stupid internal clock.
The thing was, if she didn’t get some rest, she wouldn’t be of any use to anyone. She might view herself as resilient, independent, and just as tough as her male sentinels, but unlike a man, she could admit when she had a weakness even if it was only to herself. And being tired was a weakness.
She had tried everything she could think of to try to fall asleep. All her usual tricks had failed, which she didn’t understand because she was exhausted.
She flipped back the covers, swung her legs off the bed, and pulled up her nearly naked, except for her underwear-clad body, to head for the bathroom. She avoided the mirror as she went to inspect the medicine cabinet. She hated looking at her nude or almost nude form, but the only thing she’d been given to sleep in was some flimsy nightgown. Lexine must have someone to impress with her lingerie. Phoenix did not, and she preferred nothing to something that was supposed to show off her assets. She knew it probably wasn’t rational, but the nightgown made her feel...girlie.
She shuddered at the thought.
The medicine cabinet revealed what she had already known would be there—toothbrushes, toothpaste, floss, lotion, and painkillers. No sleep medicine. She shut the door with a sigh.
Now what?
Maybe if she found something more sensible to wear, she’d be able to fall asleep. Although being naked was a step up from wearing lingerie, it was only one step up.
She put on the jeans and sweater that she’d been given earlier and exited the room. The hall was dark and quiet, except for the LED lights illuminating from the walls. Everyone had gone to their rooms after their meal downstairs.
Phoenix made her way down the hallway, past the staircase, to the east side where all the Guardians kept their rooms. She continued until she got to the end where Dante’s room was. Right before she knocked, she thought she heard a noise, but when she turned around, no one was there.
She raised her arm again and quietly rapped her knuckles against the wood.
No answer.
He was probably sleeping.
She hadn’t seen Dante since he left her room. Since Dante had healed her sore nipples and she had been able to get dressed, she had gone downstairs to join the vampires in their meal earlier. When she had arrived, she’d found herself a little nervous to face him since he had sucked on her bare breasts, but then she’d been a little relieved when the others explained he had gone to do some work in his office.
She should probably be nervous now, but the desire to sleep had won the battle over nerves.
Phoenix tried the knob and was a little surprised when it turned. For some reason, she’d thought it would have been locked.
She poked her head in and whispered, “Dante,” as his familiar smell washed over her.
When there was no response, she tiptoed in the room, using the small amount of light from his clock radio. She called out his name again, so she wouldn’t startle him as she shut the door behind her. But when she got close to his bed, she saw it wouldn’t have mattered. It was empty. She turned on the lamp next to his bed and looked around. He wasn’t in the room at all.
She briefly considered trying to find him, but the compound was large, and she just plain old didn’t feel like it. Instead, she walked into his closet and rummaged around his clothes until she found what she wanted—a basic white T-shirt.
She put it up to her nose and inhaled. It smelled of detergent, and even though it was clean, she could still detect Dante’s cinnamon scent. This was exactly what she needed. A small part of her realized that she should focus on why she needed it, but she was too tired to care.
She shucked off her jeans and sweater, threw them into the corner of the closet, and pulled the T-shirt over her head. It reached mid-thigh on her, covering way more than that stupid nightgown had, and she smiled.
Next, after she left the closet, she circled Dante’s bed, trying to figure out which side he slept on and which side he didn’t, but it looked like he was a whole bed sleeper, going by the rumpled covers. She turned off the lamp, and then—in a move she would probably be shocked by tomorrow but was too weary to consider right now—she drew back the covers and slid under the side farthest from the door, bathroom, and closet.
She rolled onto her stomach and buried her face in the pillow, breathing in Dante’s comforting cinnamon scent. Within thirty seconds, she was out like a light and dead to the world.
Dante glanced up at the clock and threw his pen on the desk. If he wanted to be functional at all when night fell, he had better get some sleep before then. He hadn’t slept much the last few days. He had promised Vance Llewelyn that the Guardians would take the night shift, so the cats could put more men out during the day to look for Gerald, and they wouldn’t have to split up.
Dante stacked the papers he had in his hands into a straight pile off to the side and pushed his chair back with a sigh. He knew he was dragging his feet, but he had to face Phoenix sooner or later.
The more he had sat in his office and thought about it, the more he’d wondered if she’d be uncomfortable around him. Yes, she had been the one to ask him to use his saliva to heal her wounds, but he felt like he still should have said no.
He stood, pushed his chair under his desk, and turned the light off at the door. He exited, closed the door behind him, and took his time going to his room. Despite the quietness in the air, he expected Phoenix to jump out at him and tell him he was an asshole.
When he reached the top of the stairs leading to the bedrooms, he saw Phoenix’s door was shut. He considered knocking to see if she was okay, but he couldn’t see any light coming from underneath her door. It would be best to talk to her after she had gotten some sleep.
He snorted at himself. He was turning into a pussy...over a pussy...cat.
He laughed out loud at his lame joke. It was official. He needed to get some sleep. He was overtired and overthinking. Instead of turning toward Phoenix’s door, he took a right.
He definitely needed sleep. First, he felt like he was being watched. Ridiculous since he was in the compound and surrounded by security. Then, he swore he smelled Phoenix as he walked toward his room, but it didn’t make sense.
Now, I’m going crazy. “Dante, quit thinking about Phoenix and go to bed,” he told himself.
He opened his door, and the scent of sunshine got stronger. Yep, undeniably crazy.
He closed his bedroom door, but he didn’t bother turning on any lights. He hadn’t changed the layout in all the years that he’d lived here, and he knew where everything was. He entered his closet long enough to strip off all his clothes and throw them in his hamper.
He got into bed, closed his eyes, and settled down to sleep when he felt movement beside him.
What the hell?
He slid his hand over and up onto what was obviously a female hip. He leaned toward her and inhaled. “Phoenix?”
“Mmm...” was the only response he got. She moved closer to him, and the next second, the rhythmic sound of deep breathing followed.
Well, that explained why he’d smelled her. At least he wasn’t crazy.
He looked over at Phoenix’s outline. And that solved the problem of whether or not she was uncomfortable around him.
Lexine Harlow watched Dante’s room from the crack in her doorway, stunned. She didn’t understand why he liked that shifter. Lexine didn’t have a personal problem with shifters in general. It was just this particular one. She dressed like a homeless man and had a surly attitude.
What does Dante see in her?
Lexine had seen the way that he looked at the female. Something she had never seen when he looked at her.
Lexine watched for a few more minutes, waiting for Dante to kick Phoenix out at any second. When it was apparent that it wasn’t going to happen, she closed her bedroom door and leaned back against it. She took several deep breaths, trying to calm her racing thoughts.
She was hurt, angry, and shocked all at once. Lexine had been in love with Dante for five years. Five years, she had tried to gain his attention. Five years, she had waited in the shadows while he fed and fucked other females, and she never said anything.
Lexine never felt threatened by the other females, despite the rumors she’d heard. Dante never acted cocky or bragged, but Lexine had heard things. She’d heard from more than one female that Dante fucked like a god and was hung like a horse.
But since he had never brought these girls home to the compound, Lexine hadn’t pushed for more. She had been biding her time until he’d realize that he was supposed to be with her.
Now, some shifter female he’d known for less than a month was in his room. In his bed.
Why? Why is life so unfair?
She was a good vampire. She was a great Guardian.
She deserved to be with Dante.
Suddenly, Lexine felt like she couldn’t breathe. She sprinted from her room as silently as possible, so as not to wake anyone else. She wanted to go outside and run until her lungs burned, but since it was daylight, she went to the basement and headed for the workout room. As she walked, she pulled her blonde hair into a ponytail.
As she rounded the corner, she ran into Sterling.
“Oomph.”
Sterling reached out to steady her, his gray eyes filled with concern. “Lexine, are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. What are you doing up?”
He shrugged and whipped the sweat off his short tan hair. “Couldn’t sleep. You?”
“What?”
He raised his brow.
“Oh. Yeah, I couldn’t sleep either.” She stepped around him. “Excuse me.”
“Lexine?”
She turned and noticed that Sterling had the concerned look on his face again.
“Are you sure you’re okay?”
She was so upset and brimming with emotions that she considered telling Sterling everything, but she hadn’t even told her twin brother, and he was the one she was closest to. She opened her mouth, but the only thing that came out was, “Yeah. Nothing that a little workout won’t fix.”
Sterling nodded and left Lexine alone.
Alone with nothing but her stupid broken heart.