I don't know if it's normal or not in this day and age but in all my eighteen years of living, I've never actually seen a person completely unclothed before- aside from myself of course.

That status quo quickly changed the moment I opened my eyes.

What would you do if you saw the guy you were crushing on for years just suddenly standing over you in all his naked glory?

The answer was simple for me: I caught my eyes on their unconscious and very unholy descent, covered them with my hands in case they decided to rebel and screamed.

"So much for future plans," Will muttered.

I didn't move my hands but could hear running footsteps on wood- were we outside a house?- and a male voice cursing loudly.

"You going all fur-ballistic wasn't enough but you have to traumatize the poor girl even more?"

It was Brad. The escapee.

Despite my irritation with him, I stood up and stumbled towards his voice. His calloused hand found my arm before I found him.

He patted me on the shoulder. "You okay?"

"You abandoned me," I hissed, lowering my hands to glower at his sheepish expression.

"Sorry, didn't have much of a choice seeing as I wanted to live to see another day."

"Will wouldn't have hurt you," I mumbled non-committedly.

"Did you not notice the I'm-going-to-eat-you-alive vibe he was emitting?"

I rolled my eyes.

"Nice to see how fast you two became friends."

I whirled around at that, startled enough by the bitterness, laced with utter betrayal in Will's voice that I didn't care about the fact that he didn't have any cloths on, nor the fact that he looked like a stranger standing where he'd retreated to in the shadows; at the very edges of the porch light where only part of his face was visible. The part of his expression that I could see was stone cold, but his mouth was pulled down in a frown that betrayed his indifference. I started forward- probably would've plowed right into him a few beats later if Brad hadn't caught my elbow and yanked me backwards.

"Let go," I hissed, trying to pull free to no avail. He might've been more leaner than Will but he definitely wasn't weak. Or paying attention to me.

Brad's eyes were on Will as he entwined his fingers in mine, holding them together in a steely grip. The challenge in Brad's eyes was blatant, fearless in the cocky tilt of his head. "Since you brought her back yourself, I take it you're relinquishing your claim?"

"What?"

"What?"

One was a growl, the other an incredulous exclamation.

Brad, now center stage to both pairs of our eyes, shrugged. "I've wanted her since last night and would've had her if you hadn't interrupted-"

"Have her then," Will cut in, shifting his glowing gaze to me. "Don't ever follow after me again or I will hurt you, Kiara."

Beside me, Brad whistled but the sound might as well have come from another dimension. Everything was narrowed in on Will and the hostile threat, the threat that had apparently come from the same sensual lips I often had a hard time keeping my eyes off. I'll hurt you? Ha. When he told me I was only a nuisance he'd been putting up with, it had shocked me plenty but the hurt was what blinded me from the fact that it was obviously a lie. This time there was no way I could be fooled for a second- I mean, this was the same guy who once caught a soccer ball that was heading towards my head mid-air, then promptly crushed it. Why? "So it won't repeat the same mistake again," he'd replied.

I smiled at him now. "You're cute."

"No, he's not," Brad said. "And you won't be following him anywhere."

I shot a glare at him. "Mind your own business."

He raised his eyebrows, sapphire eyes twinkling with a delight that both confused and worried me. "You are my business from now on." He raised my wrist up, shoving the long coat sleeve down to expose my wrist. He clasped something on it, the sound of the action an audible click.

I squinted at it. It was a black bracelet.

"What is this?" I demanded, trying to take it off. Like his steely grip, the bracelet refused to move. "Take it off!"

"He can't," Will said, voice a hollow whisper. "He's staked his claim."

"What claim?" I asked, exasperated.

"On you, sweetheart," Brad grinned,flicking the tip of my nose. "You're mine from now on."