I saved myself from swooning or worse, tearing this shirt off my body and leaping into his arms by remembering why I was here. As I looked at his arms, thick with muscle, I could still see myself being carried in them—vulnerable in more ways than one.
Without the toned muscle and slender figure of the other she-wolves in town, I became aware of my body from a young age. My breasts made most tops provocative, and my soft stomach refused to flatten and tone no matter how many meals I had skipped or sit-ups I’d done.
“You think I’m going to get naked and play with you after what just happened?” I narrowed my eyes at him.
Dain’s smile was feline, “you did last time.”
“It—it doesn’t matter. Don’t pull that shit again.” My voice wavered and my eyes darted to the far side of the bathroom as I issued my warning. Which was probably pointless considering he had no boundaries and had decad
I sucked in a sharp breath, feeling my face and neck heat. It only worsened when his eyes drifted away from my own, content to explore every place my skin had reddened.“If you already knew, then why did you need me to say it?” I asked, my voice losing its sharpness.“It makes no sense.” He blinked, true confusion in his star-flecked eyes. The emotion made him look younger, somehow. Not nearly as altered by death and tragedy. “You weren’t embarrassed when I had my head between your legs…you were begging for more.”“I was…distracted.” I scowled, hating the way the words lodged themselves in my throat. I had told myself a million times it didn’t matter what anyone thought of me, but I couldn’t seem to make it stick when Dain was involved. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed…but I’m bigger than the average she-wolf. Sometimes…sometimes I’
I was more than pleased to drag Adley along when Dain sent Leslie to let me know tonight’s dinner was now moved into his suite. It was the least he deserved considering I spent the better half of an hour scrubbing dirt from my body and extracting every twig from my hair.After four piss-poor attempts at removing them with magic, I was now left with four small yet unassuming bald spots. With Dain’s words playing on repeat in my head, I couldn’t properly focus on what I was doing. It was much harder to carefully detangle my hair with magic, than it was to simply tear the leaves and twigs out.Dain’s eyes found me the moment he opened the door to his suite. I could tell from the clusters of stars and how bright they were that he was far from letting go of what happened earlier. I could also tell from the muscle that ticked in his jaw that he hadn’t missed the blonde standing at my side, a wide grin on her face.“Oh, don’t b
Sympathy and understanding played across her face like a billboard. I had no clue if her friendship with Aidan meant anything, but I trusted that ours did. She knew from the beginning how much he meant to me, even if what we felt for one another weren’t one in the same.“He’s in…some.” She admitted, and while I was a little relieved the reluctance in her voice made me hold my breath. As if she couldn’t help herself, she added, “you and him…you’re not together in any of those futures.” I knew she was looking out for me, but I had come to terms with this truth before finding out Dain was my mate.“I wasn’t asking for that reason.” I was blushing like crazy, but I couldn’t tell if it were because of Adley’s assumption or because Dain was still watching me. “I know Aidan and I are on different paths, but if you see him in even one of those futures…that mean&rsq
All throughout dinner I looked for signs of fatigue in Dain. Healing Adley had nearly killed me, though I was wounded to begin with. He looked better than alright. Smirking and grinning as though the Russo’s hadn’t made a serious move just hours ago.“You don’t have any clue what they were looking for, do you?” I asked Adley a few hours after finishing dinner, back in the safety of my suite.My stomach was stuffed, mostly from the flaky pastries Dain kept pushing my way, insisting I try his childhood favorites. Somehow I wasn’t surprised to learn that he was a picky eater as a child. His eyes narrowed playfully when I told him it was fitting.I was curled up on my side of the bed, watching as Adley rummaged through her suitcase. Skirts and lacey underwear slid across the floor as she tossed them behind her, digging through the little zippered compartment in the back.“If I had to guess, they were probably looking
Since I had spent the day draining every ounce of my energy both mentally and physically, I was more than ready to curl up in bed. Seconds after my head hit the silken pillowcase I was out cold, but it wasn’t darkness I had slipped into.Colors flashed behind my eyes, like the world was being shaken up while I stood still. It stopped abruptly, but my head was spinning as it fought to catch up. The more I blinked, the clearer things became. Colors took form, morphing into different shapes and textures.I knew this was a dream from the strange floating feeling that encompassed my body, like a tether was keeping me grounded.One glance was all it took to realize I was standing in the living room of my house, right in front of the chipped coffee table we had since before Zack was born. There were still circular spots of coffee dried onto the table from where dad would bump into the rickety thing.I leaned down to touch mine and Aidan’s name, which
My eyes snapped open, and a rush of adrenaline laced panic overtook me. The bedroom was bathed in moonlight but was also flat and void of any color. It no longer felt real.The colors and sounds were all in my head, all overlapping one another as my panic grew. I hadn’t realized I was screaming, or that I was thrashing in bed, tangled in the blankets.All I could hear was my mom. You’ll never win against my Rachel, never. Over and over it played in my head, overlapping Aidan’s warning and that voice…I couldn’t begin to process that otherworldly voice, not while the image of my dad and little brother still burned itself into my memory. The smell of tears and burning flesh stung my nose, but only the first one was real.“Ah!” Adley shrieked, and my mind snapped to the present as I felt her tumble off the bed. My scream cut off at that moment, sending the room into silence. The thud of her body hitting the
I counted down the hours until the solstice, and when that didn’t help I counted the minutes and seconds.Training was both my saving grace and the bane of my existence since Apollo and Helios seemed to be under direct order to keep me distracted until it was time to attend the party.While I was tired of being pulled back and forth, it did keep me from thinking about how terrified I felt. Considering my family survived the trip and all of us survived this solstice party, there would be one hell of a reckoning for me to face. In all my years, I never thought I’d make my mom this mad.Dad would be disappointed, that’s for sure. He’d purse his lips, shake his head, and then leave me to stew in my thoughts. His method worked on Zack, who would spend the afternoon sulking. I used it as an escape, which mom knew all too well.She was the one I wanted to avoid, the one who would corner me and demand answers to questions I’
“If blue balls were a thing, I’d so feel sorry for the guy.” Adley’s look dripped with sympathy—and pity, both emotions Dain would’ve appreciated.He left the two of us to our own devices, which didn’t last long when we realized how much help we’d need getting into these outfits. Luckily, Leslie was always on standby.I slipped the scrap of silky black fabric over my head, slowing as I pulled my arms through the delicate straps. Leslie moved to the front of me and held the dress so my make-up wouldn’t stain the material, then darted over to help Adley.The deep v in the front made it impossible to wear a bra, but the soft material was surprisingly strong and held up my breasts without a problem. Moving felt a bit awkward though, like one would pop out given the chance.“I’m noticing a theme here…” I said, smoothing out the front of my dress.Leslie dashed over to my side