Shimmering Chaos (Enchanted Chaos 2)
“Max’s ogre … He keeps the thing in the trunk we mentioned a few times.”
“You keep an ogre locked in the trunk in the attic? Holy crap. Was it in the trunk when I was up there?”
“He was … Sky, I really am sorry for the shit Easton and I did to you when you first came here. We thought we needed to get you to leave so our family’s secrets wouldn’t be jeopardized, but it was wrong of us.”
“No, it wasn’t. Or, well, wanting to protect your family’s secrets wasn’t. But you probably shouldn’t have let me go into the attic with the ogre.” I cringe as I recall how hungry he looked and those fangs … “I’m pretty sure he wants to eat me.”
“Let me get dressed, and then I’ll go get Max and have him take care of him.” He doesn’t bother correcting me about the ogre wanting to eat me, so I’m assuming I’m correct. “Max is the only one who can really control him. Although, I’m not even sure why he’s running around the house to begin with. Max usually only lets him out when he’s portal traveling.”
“Why? Or, well, what’s the point of having an ogre?”
“Because they’re good at tracking scents.”
“Is there a specific reason Max needs something to track scents?”
“Because he’s a tracker, which is basically like a bounty hunter in the human world.”
“So, Max tracks outlaws for a living?” I mull the idea over. “What kind of outlaws? I’m assuming inhuman ones.”
“Yeah, they’re definitely not human,” he says. “The things he tracks are usually dangerous and evil.”
“Oh.” Goosebumps sprout across my arms.
Quietness stirs across the air until Foster says, “So, um, I need to get out of the shower at some point.”
“Oh, yeah.” I mentally roll my eyes, the heat in my cheeks magnifying. “Do you want me to, um … step out?”
“No. Like I said, Ollie might be waiting for you …” He clears his throat. “You can just close your eyes.”
I smash my lips together and restlessly thrum my fingers against the sides of my legs. He wants to get out of the shower while I’m in here? Be naked in the same room as me? Not that I think nakedness is bad; it’s just a naked guy is a bit out of my comfort zone. Not that I’m going to tell Foster that.
“Just let me know when it’s okay to get out,” he adds with a hint of nervousness.
Never in a million years would I have thought the guy who treated me horribly the other day in the auto body shop parking lot could be so tentative and unsure. It makes the situation a bit easier to deal with.
Sucking in a breath, I close my eyes. “All right, my eyes are shut.”
I hear the click of the shower door being opened then the rustling of clothes. Knowing that he’s right there, totally naked, makes my heart rate speed up and my palms fizzle with heat.
Just calm the hell down, Sky. He’s just a guy. A guy you pretty much despised until last night.
The problem is, he basically went from being an extremely cocky jerk to this nice, sweet, understanding guy who made sure I fell asleep safely in my bed. The change in him happened so swiftly that it gave my emotions whiplash. But the only reason he may be being nice to me is because I’m an elemental enchanter like him, so that kind of sucks ass. That doesn’t make him any less hot, though, and knowing he’s right there, without any clothes on, dripping wet, has me conjuring up all sorts of mental pictures in my mind—
“Okay, you can open your eyes now,” he says with a drop of laughter in his tone.
“What’s so funny?” I question, opening my eyes.
He’s standing closer than I expected, his black pants hanging low on his hips and water dripping from his hair and onto his chest. His very bare, lean, tattooed chest.
“It’s nothing.” He sinks his teeth into his bottom lip, struggling not to smile. “But I think I may need to give you a couple of practice sessions on how to block your emotions from traveling down the link.”
Wait …
Oh shit. Could he feel the lust flowing off me when I was picturing him naked in the shower?
Do not blush, Sky. Don’t you fucking dare.
I rack my mind for another topic.