Damned and Desirable (Eternally Yours Book 2) Read Online Free PDF Page B

hadn’t minded sharing a bathroom with Sarge at Delta House. Besides, the furnishings over there actually made the place looked lived in. Here, I felt like I was living in a museum, afraid to touch anything for fear I’d ruin it. Even though Jack was housebroken, I was on pins and needles whenever he started sniffing the room, terrified he’d piss into some expensive vase or drag his ass across the Persian rug which probably cost more credits than I could earn in a year.
    I cringed when Boner stood and produced a box of cookies, tossing them to Jack over the threshold. “Oh, please don’t make a mess.”
    I stuck my head out the door and quickly scanned the hall, exhaling a sigh of relief when I didn’t see anyone. Grabbing Boner’s shirt collar, I jerked him inside my room and waved Sarge in, too.
    “What’s the matter?” Boner asked as Jack scooted closer to him, whimpering against his leg while keeping his gaze locked on the box of cookies.
    I felt a twinge of guilt when my doggie whined again. This wouldn’t have been an issue at Delta House. “I don’t want crumbs everywhere.”
    “Don’t you have your own maid?” Boner asked.
    “Yeah, but you know, getting ground cookie crumbs out of carpet is hard.” And knowing my luck, I’d probably ruin the carpet in the process.
    My gaze was drawn to Sarge, who was walking the perimeter of my room. His shoulders were pulled back, his spine ramrod straight as he surveyed the contents of my dresser. When he smiled down at a photo of my mom, one that I’d begged an IT guy running the level one surveillance cameras to print for me, my heart clenched. I didn’t know why that smile of his caused a surge of emotions to swell my chest. Maybe because I enjoyed Sarge’s rare and fleeting smiles. Maybe I was moved he would show compassion toward someone who meant so much to me. Maybe I still secretly had a thing for Sarge, and wondered, not for the first time today, if I’d chosen the right guy to be my boyfriend.
    When I caught Sarge staring back at me in the mirror, I had to look away as heat crept into my cheeks. I turned to Boner, who was still tossing Jack cookies, and cringed when I saw crumbs spew from my dog’s mouth with each bite.
    “Why don’t you feed him outside?” Sarge said. Obviously, he sensed my unease.
    “Good idea, Sarge.” Boner slapped his thigh and whistled for Jack, although he didn’t need to call him. Jack would have followed Boner down to the thirteenth level of Hell as long as he had cookies. My relief as they walked out onto the veranda and down the stairs was short-lived. Now I was alone with Sarge.
    He sat down on my bed, patting the mattress as if I was supposed to sit beside him. I paused, pondering what sitting next to Sarge could lead to. Even though I was seriously pissed at Aedan, I wasn’t a cheater. Never had been and never wanted to be. Maybe it was because I’d been cheated on enough times to know I wouldn’t wish that soul-crushing feeling of betrayal on anyone else.
    Still, it was hard to resist his crooked smile and those penetrating dark eyes. In the end, I sat on the bed, although I made sure to sit on the opposite end, in case he got any funny ideas.
    “So how you liking Alpha House?” he asked.
    “I hate it.” I turned to him, and that’s when I noticed the ugly red bump on the side of his head. Well, shit. I swallowed a wave of regret when I saw stitches fused through the center. “I’m sorry about your head. I didn’t mean it.”
    The tenderness in his smile matched the warmth in his eyes. “I know you didn’t.”
    I held my breath when he scooted closer. When his spicy male scent wrapped around my senses, my instincts told me to fly out the door and down to the bottom level of Purgatory. Anything to get away from such temptation.
    I froze when he cupped my cheek and wiped under my eye with the pad of his thumb. Frowning, he pulled back his hand, looking at the moisture on the tips of his fingers.