He’d agreed to my terms. That was enough. I could deal with my own heartache later. With lingering embarrassment, I realized I was still sitting in his lap. I scrambled to get off of him. Watching me, he moved much slower to rise. “Are we okay?” Asher asked, eyeing the nervous way I laced my fing
Nurse Irene eyed me like she wanted to dissect me, look inside, and see what made me tick. I cowered under her intense focus. Until Nancy stepped between us. “We were speaking in hypotheticals only. This girl is not old enough to have a wolf, let alone manifest any abilities.” “A strange thing to
I’d do anything to stay out of that research facility. Yet I couldn’t stay silent with Asher. He’d never let me slide without an explanation. “Nancy told me about some things that could go wrong,” I said, not a total lie. “It was… scary.” Asher’s hands tightened on the steering wheel, knuckles wh
Wearing the sexy bikini, I stepped out of the changing room. For one brief moment, Asher’s eyes grew impossibly wide. His gaze was a heavy, welcome weight on every inch of skin I bared. Then, as quickly, he pounced from his chair, and backed me bodily into the changing room, slamming closed the ch
“Look at you,” Coach continued. “You are so fat, Cynthia. Have you been skimping on your workouts? Sneaking in too many snacks?” I dropped one of my arms from covering my breasts, to covering my waist instead. I was exposed, vulnerable. I wished Asher was here to block me from the world… or the wor
But today, I was afraid to open my mouth. I was disgusted with myself, inside and out. Physically, I felt overweight and slimy from Coach’s unwelcomed gaze. Internally, I hated myself for not speaking out, or speaking louder. I wanted to stand up to Coach, but how could I? To defy him was to risk e
Asher wanted me to tell him that I wasn’t involved in a swimsuit contest. All I had to do was lie to him, and he’d calm down, but when I opened my mouth, the lie did not come out. I said, “Maybe it won’t be as bad as you think.” I hadn’t realized he was still holding the television remote with one
He walked the remaining distance to me, but stopped an arm’s length away. “Cynthia,” he said, a quiet desperation in his voice. He wasn’t quite begging, but it was close. “Let me touch you.” I still didn’t think I was worth it, but when he was like this, I was too weak to refuse him anything. I n