Vitality (Vitality Series #1)

Chapter 31 Don't Fear the Reaper pt.5

On Layton's way to Ava's, he felt her presence outside; maybe she'd been out there just earlier, but it seemed too palpable. Then he picked up her scent and made a beeline for her. Next, he could hear the sound of her familiar heart. Finally, he caught sight of her sitting in a tree, dressed in black from head to toe with binoculars held over her eyes, and he stopped where he was.

Every time he thought he knew what to expect...

As he eyed her up, he couldn't make up his mind whether to go straight for her in order to be close to her quickly as possible, or watch her for a little while longer; she quite amused him. His body made the choice for him, and he was suddenly next to her.

His nose lowered a micro inch from her hair to take in her scent and rid himself of the time spent away from her. His mind in those times was a deluge of conflicting thoughts that could never come to an impasse, wheels that would not stop turning. The smell grounded him, a reminder, and he was able to be anything she wanted again.

"What are you watching?" Layton asked her finally, wanting so badly for her to know he was there.

As if already prepared, his arm reached out to secure her to him when she nearly fell from the branch in her fright. He couldn't help but smile. He would nearly break down into laughter, if it weren't for the sound of her heartbeat drumming his senses into a daze; he could nearly lean down and slowly sink into her for that if it weren't for the expression on her face.

He looked over her wardrobe again, and at the black hat on her head that only accentuated her huge hazel eyes, still lit up wildly, and all he wanted to do was to feel her lips with his again.

"How did you get up here?" she asked, her breaths heady across his lips. He was lost in it when she started ramming her hands into his chest, the frustration burning hot from her determination to get him, and he almost forgot to act human against the impact.

"Ouch! I got up here the same way you did!"

She managed to beat a laugh out of him. Then she pinched her face together and he was done. His mouth was on hers, and he basked in the sound that her heart made in the moment where the two joined, that brief eternity.

But this game wasn't over. With that, he was gone from her.

He waited for her as she waited for him. He would out wait her easily; his patience was well honed through the years; and so he continued to wait as she finally realized what was happening and went stalking back to the house to find the message he'd written under hers: I know you are, but where am I?

He waited for her to sneak back out into the woods for him so he could trap her with her own traps. But then when he heard music suddenly pump out somewhere outside and smelled a can of fresh paint opened up, he was taken aback and went to have a better peek.

When he found her ignoring the game to paint instead, Layton felt... disappointed.