Total pages in book: 47
Estimated words: 46587 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 233(@200wpm)___ 186(@250wpm)___ 155(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 46587 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 233(@200wpm)___ 186(@250wpm)___ 155(@300wpm)
Some blow away completely; others stay close enough for me to grab them. A few get caught on the park gate.
My cheeks burn as I feel people looking at me. My breath catches as I turn to the gate, meaning to count them and see if it’s even worth pursuing them.
A man’s already collecting them.
He wears gym gear, his pale blue T-shirt clinging to his strong torso. His back is turned, giving me a look at his silver hair. And for a crazy second, I think about the wolf, the silver fur, and the moonlight in his eyes.
Stop.
The man turns with the papers in his hands, his gaze moving over to me.
I’m probably imagining it, but I’m almost sure a tremor moves through him when he sees me, the same sort which stampedes through me.
I realize how tall he is as he swaggers closer.
He’s got to be at least six feet, six inches. His shoulders are wide, his mouth shaped into a casual smirk. His clean-shaven jaw is strong and confident. His expression is slightly cocky, or like he’s secretly laughing at me.
And yet I don’t feel ashamed.
It’s difficult to feel anything except for this racing feeling inside.
I haven’t experienced this. Ever.
No, that’s a lie.
Last night.
With the wolf.
Okay, double stop now.
“Thank you,” I say, reaching out. “I was miles away. I should’ve been paying better attention.”
The man nods. His voice is stiff. It’s like it’s a struggle just to speak to me.
“It’s not a problem.”
He hands me the papers, and I get ready for our hands to touch. But he seems to make a special effort for them not to, holding the papers from the very edge.
I take them, and a weird sense of disappointment hits me.
“I’m Ruby, by the way,” I say when it looks like he’s going to turn away.
The man narrows his eyes. It’s like he’s pissed I’ve given him my name. Suddenly I wish I could snatch it back.
Then he steps forward. I’m sure his heat touches me.
Or maybe the heat comes from within, driven by how close he is.
“I’m Ramsey,” he says.
CHAPTER FOUR
Ramsey
This morning, I awoke to her – to Ruby’s – scent tickling my nose. It was easy enough when I could tell it was on the other side of the city. Not easy, fine, but easier.
Then I scented her moving, speeding across the city, most likely on public transport.
My head began to swim when she got closer and closer to the gym, coming right into the center of the city.
It was like my feet carried me out of the gym all by themselves, driven by instinct, not by me. I kept telling myself to turn back.
It wasn’t like last night, with plenty of dark alleyways to dart into. Changing now would mean a catastrophe.
The sun is blazing, and Ruby is staring at me, looking even more mouthwateringly beautiful in her tucked-in white shirt and black pants.
Every item of clothing highlights her shape even more gorgeously, her breasts womanly and ready to be rubbed, palmed, and pleased.
Her hair is brushed to her shoulders, but still a little messy, like her natural wildness can’t be tamed.
Most of all, it’s her scent, how close she is. I have to focus with everything inside me so I don’t snap.
“It’s nice to meet you,” she says with a little shaky voice.
We’ve already met.
“Anyway... thank you.”
“Good luck,” I say, aware of how taut my voice sounds.
But nowhere near as tight as my need, my hunger, my wolfish desire.
“Huh?” She tilts her head, then laughs in the cutest way. “Oh right. Duh. Yeah, thank you.”
“How long have you been looking?” I ask.
“Just this morning.”
When she shrugs, her breasts move in the most delicious way. My fangs tingle, the tips of them, as if ready to change.
I bite down.
“It’s going okay so far, I guess.”
It’s a mistake, what I’m about to say. But my mind is sprinting ahead as though on all fours, as though there’s nothing I can do. It’s like fate is pulling me closer and closer to this woman, this human.
I know it’s dangerous. I know I have to stop.
But I can’t.
“I own a gym,” I tell her. “Well, a few gyms, in fact.”
Her eyes widen a fraction. “Oh.”
“I need a receptionist. You’d have to split your time between different locations. But the money’s decent.”
Her eyes are a captivating shade of green. I don’t study people’s eye colors as a general rule. It’s not something that strikes me.
But then, I don’t normally obsess about people, abandon work to follow their scent across the city, dream of them so vividly I was sure I’d woken up last night. It was really happening.
It was no dream. I was claiming my woman.
“Are you sure?” she asks. “You don’t know me.”
I smirk, even as wolf’s teeth clash in the back of my mind, even as my skin tingles like it’s going to change.