Read Online Dark by Erin M. Leaf - Free Book Online

They’re
basically machines programmed to eat and die. Except no one
programmed them.” He snorted. “That’s evolution at its best, or worst,
depending on your point of view. There’s no intent behind their actions. No
consciousness.”
    She pursed her lips. “That’s… disturbing.”
    He glanced at her, making a second sandwich for himself. “Yes. Very. That’s why my father swore the first Sentry oath when
the Others offered their help.”
    “The Others?” She frowned.
    “The aliens that changed my father’s
and the other Sentries’ DNA. They’re long gone. The one who helped us was the last of his
people.” He slid a sandwich in front of her and then poured them both some cold
milk. “He gave us our tech, too.” He didn’t mention the heightened powers he’d
also inherited. She already knew he could heal. He had no idea how she would
react to his empathy.
    She stared at the glass he put on the table.
    “Go ahead,” he urged. “I just bought it a few days ago.” He didn’t
understand why she was eyeing the drink so oddly, but didn’t want to completely
open up his senses. It was already hard enough keeping himself in check with
her here. His mind wanted to reach out to her, connect on a primal level. Giving
in would only lead to madness.
    “Milk?” She smiled wanly, but finally
picked up the drink and sipped at it. “I’m trying to lose weight and you’re
giving me milk.”
    “Why are you trying to lose weight? You look fine,” he said,
sitting down with his food. Women were crazy. He knew this, but still, why did
she think she had to lose weight?
    She took a bite of her sandwich, chewed and swallowed it. “Because
I’m overweight, that’s why. And I don’t want to die of heart disease when I’m
forty.”
    He stared at her. “Who said you’re overweight?” She looked normal
to him, not anorexic like most of the other young women these days. He’d seen
fashions and body-types come and go for centuries, and he far preferred women
who didn’t look like they were starving. He remembered the Great Depression all
too well. Eva had curves a man could get lost in. He tried not to stare at her
bosom, but it was right there. And so perfect.
    She frowned. “My doctor said I should lose at least thirty pounds.”
She paused, then slid her plate away, sandwich only
half-eaten. “But I already knew that. I’ve been overweight since I was a junior
in high school.” She looked out the window, her expression suddenly sad.
    Greyson remembered that she’d lost her biological father when she
was in high school. He wondered if that’s why she thought so badly about
herself.
    “I don’t even have a change of clothes,” she muttered. “And I need
my laptop so I can get started on that project. I promised John I’d have
something for him on Tuesday and it’s already Sunday afternoon.”
    “I’ll buy you clothes,” Greyson said, irritated.
    “I don’t want you to buy me clothes. I want my own clothes.
And I want to wear them in my own house,” she retorted, whipping her head
around.
    Greyson swallowed the last of his sandwich and sighed. She had a
point. “I’ll fetch your clothes.”
    She crossed her arms over her chest. “This is ridiculous. Four
years ago all you did was push me away. And now you won’t let me go.”
    He stood up and walked over to her, leaning on the table by her
chair. “You were a child.”
    She tossed her hair. “I was old enough to know how I felt. I was
old enough to know how you felt,” she insisted, glaring at him. “And I’d
been through hell already with my dad’s death, as you well know.”
    His heart ached as he thought of the pain she’d been through. “You’re
still so very young,” he murmured, touching her cheek. Her skin was so soft.
His fingers tingled as the proximity triggered his empathy. Her emotions
swirled through him: anger, frustration, arousal . He
dropped his hand abruptly.
    “I’m not that young anymore,” she said,