Total pages in book: 73
Estimated words: 70338 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 352(@200wpm)___ 281(@250wpm)___ 234(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 70338 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 352(@200wpm)___ 281(@250wpm)___ 234(@300wpm)
Pain pierces my temple, and my vision goes bonkers. I suck in a sharp breath to clear my head. I can’t lose control.
Why does this human make my condition so much worse?
I release her throat and reach for my back pocket. “Here.” I unfold the letter and lay it on her chest.
“I was a dick. I’m sorry.”
She takes the letter between her fingers like it’s more precious than a sacred religious text delivered directly from the hand of God.
I get it.
“You are a dick.”
That’s my princess. Always giving it back to me.
But then she says, “Thank you,” and everything inside me rearranges. The desire to earn those two words from her a million times more nearly overwhelms me.
I want to kiss her.
Desperately.
To taste that smart mouth and press my tongue between her lips.
I settle for another lick of her neck, even though we both know it’s not necessary. But with my face pressed against her skin, with her hair brushing against my ear, I find my home. The place I need to be.
I rock my pelvis into hers, the bulge of my cock fitting into the cradle of her legs. Her shaky breath feathers across my shoulder.
The sound of a door opening down the hall makes me spring up. Someone else in the house is awake. I vault soundlessly through the window.
Lauren sits up in bed, the letter clutched to her chest, her lips parted.
I carefully replace the screen and our eyes lock. My vision comes into perfect focus, and all I see is her. The human is so beautiful, she makes my chest ache.
Her bedroom door opens, and I duck out of sight, waiting with my back pressed to the house until it closes again. Only then do I sprint to the woods with Lauren’s scent coating the front of my shirt and my wolf pissed as hell I didn’t stay.
Chapter Ten
Lauren
I must be crazy because I decided to go to the Saturday night football game. Lincoln was going with Rayne, and for some reason, I accepted their invitation to join them.
I told myself it’s because I need to get out. Need to make an effort at a social life here. But the truth is that I have this borderline obsessive need to see Abe again.
His visit last night messed with my head. I hated him with every fiber of my being after he told me he was keeping my mom’s letter, but then he had to bring it back and apologize. Had to crawl up over me and remind me just how hard and firm his body is…everywhere.
After he left, I couldn’t stop touching myself, imagining what it would be like to succumb to the temptation of screwing the captain of the football team.
How cliché.
But here I am at his game, needing to know if seeing him will lift the numbness again.
My phone rings, and I look at the screen. Luke. I send it to voicemail. Now that I’ve decided I’m going to break up with him when he gets here, I can’t stand even pretending anymore. One more week, and he’ll be here for Homecoming. I’ll deal with him then.
“You smell that?” A girl behind me in the stadium concession line asks.
“Uh-huh,” her companion answers. “Smells like money.”
I turn, eyes narrowed because I know they’re talking about me. Except now I understand their problem with me and my brother a little better. It’s not just our money or the fact that we’re new that they object to. It’s our species. We’re not one of them.
“Ignore them.” Rayne tugs at my elbow.
She must be human, too. That’s why she’s an outcast at Wolf Ridge High. She’s one of the few locals who will talk to us.
Too bad because I would kill to talk to someone about what happened yesterday.
Of course, I promised Abe I wouldn’t. Besides, even if Rayne were a wolf, I couldn’t say anything. Who knows what her obligation to her pack is. She might report me or something. I don’t want to be dragged off by another town member to get my mind wiped by a vampire.
I shudder at the memory.
“Are you cold?” Rayne asks.
“No.” I take the nachos and sodas I ordered for us all to share, and we walk to the seats Lincoln is saving in the back of the stands. Not that they need saving. Most of the crowd is packed down in front. No one’s fighting us for the nosebleeds. This town is crazy about football.
On the sidelines, the cheerleaders build a complex pyramid that involves bodies being tossed to the top and then flipping down.
It’s circus-level, but there’s no net beneath them. “What is up with the cheerleaders?” My tone holds a mixture of awe and disgust.
“I know,” Rayne says glumly. “Crazy, right?”
“I can’t believe they even allow those kinds of tricks at the high school level. I would think it would be a liability risk.”