Natalie gaped at me, stunned.
The fact that she hadn’t immediately snapped me down gave me courage and I stepped closer to her, staring into her eyes, pleading with her to see me. To really see me.
I took her hand from where it rested at her side and she turned her head to look down at where I touched her, following the trajectory of our clasped hands as I brought her sweet fingers up to my chest and pressed it there, right at the center. Her eyes got wider, then snapped up to meet mine again.
“Feel that?” I murmured, embarrassed by how my heart pounded. How my hands were trembling. But that was the truth of the effect she had on me. “For three years it’s been beating for you, Natalie. My heart speeds up every time you walk in the ro
If you like music while you read, try “Never Let Her Go (Reinvented)” by Project Vela. It speaks Mack’s heart very clearly in this chapter!*****~ MACK ~I slept in the next morning because it had been the small hours of the morning before I’d been able to sleep. I’d spent the whole night wracked with guilt and self-loathing, anger and injustice and… just weary. The wrong kind of weary. Bone-weary and with nowhere left to fight.She was right. I hated it, but she was right. I’d been not-even-eighteen years old and somehow in my mind I’d decided that finding other females, getting them to smile, getting them to give their bodies to me would make me feel better.Three years later and I couldn
~ NATALIE ~It had been a relief at first to hear the door close behind him, to know I was finally alone and didn’t have to hold myself ready for his appearance. I’d spent the entire morning trying to act normal, but fleeing his presence whenever it appeared.Exhausted, after a night staring at the ceiling and hating life, I fell into bed and slept at last.But when I woke three or four hours later and the house was still empty, a tick of apprehension started in my chest.Where was he? What was he doing? Had he disturbed Rig and Cara?Fuck, was he telling them what I’d said?Cara wouldn’t like that.I
~ NATALIE ~Laying on my bed later, staring at the ceiling with which I’d become far too familiar the night before, I couldn’t stop seeing that dead look in his eyes when he’d said he was fine. I couldn’t stop hearing that flat, emotionless tone in his voice.Mack was hard. Mack was fiery. Mack was arrogant.He was never… empty.The night before I’d been angry. Nervous. Frustrated. I’d hated that he’d just thrown himself into this plan without talking to me about it, and that it put him in danger. I’d hated that he’d made such sweeping declarations about me and us when he’d never shown an ounce of that kind of devotion before.I hated that deep down I was w
~ MACK ~I heard the front door close and closed my eyes. I was sprawled on top of my bed, still dressed, just staring at the ceiling.Part of me felt relieved to know she wasn’t just two doors away. That her scent would fade instead of strengthen. But my skin itched with the urge to go after her.I rolled onto my side and looked at the trees outside the window because I hadn’t closed the blinds. Even when I came back, pushing every thought and feeling down to my toes and growling at them to stay there, even when she’d talked to me, been worried… she still hadn’t come for me. Still wasn’t ready to give in.I was beginning to think it might actually kill me to be here in this house with her for a week and unable to touch her.
~ RIG ~I didn’t sleep much, but apart from eyes that felt gritty when I opened them to the morning sun, I was fine.Cara woke at the same time, but after a slow sigh, she sat bolt upright, eyes wide and staring at me, her hand braced on my chest.“That… what happened? Last night? Was that a dream?!” she hissed.I shook my head and smiled at her, rubbing her arm. “No dream, babe. But don’t worry. You’re fine. We’re fine.”“Fine? Fine, Rig? Really? I grew claws.”And a tail, but I didn’t think she needed to hear that just now. “The good news is, it s
~ CARA ~ Rig’s breath sucked in below me, and I giggled, letting myself go so I dropped because I knew that I had just the right angle to catch the next branch down if I just turned my body slightly… “Cara, for fuck’s sake, you’re going to give me a heart attack.” I laughed and continued on my path down the tree while Rig growled and paced below. He was strong. He could climb the trees too—like a gymnast. But it was all sheer power. He couldn’t jump the way I could. His body didn’t… bend like mine. We’d tried racing and it turned out I was faster off the mark—shooting ahead and keeping my lead for a while. But when I
~ CARA ~Rig leaped on me with a playful growl, straddling my legs, his large hands pinning me down to the blankets, his breath hot on my neck again, then disappearing as he curled himself up and for a moment I just stayed there as he kissed his way up from the base of my spine, his hands stroking and kneading all over my body, desperate, but leashed.I could feel the fight in him, the need warring with his desire to take care of me, and while I loved that he wanted to be careful with my heart, I hated that he felt like he couldn’t really let go.Then his kisses reached my neck and I sighed happily, bending my head forward to pressing into the warmth of his lips and tongue.He gave a little growl and nipped at the sensitive skin there.
~ NATALIE ~I don’t even know what time it was when I finally dragged myself back to the house, except that it was broad daylight, and I’d been gone several hours. The sun had risen hours earlier and now the sky glowed. The trees were still draped in mist and fog, but it had a magical quality with the sunlight shining through it.I should have been inspired by that. I should have smiled and enjoyed the incredible view, the quiet, and the safety of this place.But I was hungry, tired, and utterly miserable.I’d tried to flee my feelings. Tried to run away from the pressure building in my chest. At some point in the dark, I’d gotten it into my head that if I ran out all my energy and exhausted my body I’d be able to ignore… well, everyth