I Bite She Sucks, Bloom, Penelope [recommended reading TXT] 📗

dangerous amount of smooth leg. It seemed she was still taking the time to shave her legs during those brief showers she took in the mornings. I tried to suppress the part of my brain that wanted to imagine what it would feel like to go to her now—to slide my hand up her smooth thigh and press her back down on the bed by the chest. To lower myself over her and kiss those innocent, perpetually puffy lips of hers.

I blinked, focusing on what she was telling me.

“...and the best part is she has no idea he was planning it the whole time. So just when you think she’s lost everything, he shows up and boom. Happily ever after.”

I grinned. I’d missed the majority of it, but she seemed to get a fresh dose of enjoyment just from giving me the recap, which had her hugging the book and smiling at me with raised eyebrows.

“How long have you had this condition?” I asked. The question had been bothering me, but I hadn’t gotten around to asking her.

“My mom had the same thing, so my parents were kind of always looking out for signs. But it seemed like it wasn’t a problem until I was six. I got this really bad case of pneumonia and I don’t know if that triggered it or something. But, yeah. Ever since I can’t really be around germs. I’ve taken risks here and there. I snuck out to go to my high school prom,” she said, wiggling her eyebrows dangerously at me. “Of course I mostly stood in the corner all night partly because I was terrified of all the people so close together, and, well, partly because I had this idiotic idea that the perfect guy would see me and swoop in. Rescue me from my torment, or something silly like that.”

I nodded. “Did you get sick?”

“Oh yeah. I wasn’t able to keep anything down for a solid week after that. It was coming out of both ends, let me tell you-” she paused mid-sentence, cheeks glowing red. “Figuratively speaking,” she added in a whisper. “I don’t poop, actually. I mean, not-” She clamped her mouth shut and stared intensely at her hands, which were wringing together in her lap.

I hated how soft Sylvie made me feel. I normally would’ve had no problem letting her wallow in her embarrassment. Instead, I found myself digging for something I could say to ease her shame. “On full moons, our wolves take over,” I said quickly, even as I was internally kicking myself for the story I was about to tell. “Mine was in a new forest once, just roaming. Well, he found some berries and decided to go to town on them. You could say he never paid the price for that bad decision, but I did.”

Sylvie slowly raised her eyes to mine, then a grin spread her lips. “Really?”

I nodded.

“I appreciate all of this, you know,” she said. “I know my sister and I kind of tried to escape twice and I sort of hit you with a spoon.”

“And a bat,” I added.

“Right. But I’m starting to believe you really are just trying to help us. And I’m sorry we’ve made it harder on you.”

“Believe it or not, your reaction wasn’t that unusual. I’ve been doing this a long time. Well, I haven’t in years, but I did this sort of thing for a while before that. It was my line of work before I became the Alpha of the Silverbacks. And hardly anybody wants to admit they need saving at first. There’s always an adjustment period.”

“That’s a delicate way of putting it.”

“You know me. Always delicate.”

She grinned. “I like you this way. You’re not as mean as you want people to think, are you?”

I realized how close we were sitting then. I could smell the sweetness of the strawberry shortcake dessert I’d brought with her lunch on her breath. I could see her dilated pupils and the way her breaths were coming a little too quickly.

“To tell the truth,” I said, feeling myself lean closer to her.

She leaned toward me; lips parted.

“I have no problem being an asshole to everyone else. You must’ve knocked something loose with that baseball bat. Because I’m starting to-”

Maisey squirmed behind Sylvie on the bed, hands clutching into claws. She opened her mouth wide and let out a quiet hiss of pain, canines bared and sharp.

Sylvie jumped back from me. I leaned away, feeling whatever electricity had been forming in the air dissipate.

I cleared my throat and got up. “I should go call Felix to see how it’s coming with finding her help.”

“Thank you,” Sylvie said. She was leaning over Maisey, rubbing her hand down her hair and making soothing shushing sounds.

Once I was outside the room, I let out a long breath. Fuck. What had I been about to do?

I didn’t mess around with human women, for starters. I definitely didn’t mess with human women who had sisters that were turning into vampires. If that wasn’t bad enough, this particular woman was my client. She was someone I’d sworn to protect.

Failing to protect someone I cared about had nearly destroyed me five years ago. If I failed this, I knew I wouldn’t be able to carry on.

I needed to get my shit together and focus on what mattered: keeping her safe.

19

Riggs

Felix let me know the only way he'd be able to get Maisey "fed" was going to be if we snuck her out. Worse, the rebels only agreed to care for her if she came and stayed at their base of operations—an old, secluded mansion outside the city called Blackridge.

It had been six days since I brought the girls to The Wet Flea. I hated leaving before we had to, but there wasn't much choice. Maisey's condition was worsening by the day. Thankfully, Sylvie seemed to be fully recovered. She was currently curled up with a book Fang had managed to smuggle in from the crime