Page 19 of Nyctophilia

Need consumed my every thought. He hitched one of my legs higher on his legs, driving deeper into me. “Whether you accept it or not, your body is already mine.” I arched my back again, looking for release. Jasper gave me what I wanted, sucking firmly on my breast and never stopping his firm thrusts. Ecstasy exploded from inside of me. I cried out, hearing him call my name and feeling his body shaking inside of me only moments later.

I rested my head on his, breathing heavily. “I’m not sure if I’m coming out of this shower cleaner or dirtier.”

He grinned. “I’d apologize, but I’m not sorry.”

We stepped out of the shower and Jasper passed me a towel. I dried off before heading back to the front room where my clothes were, not bothering to wait for him. I was in a daze from the hard sex and the warm shower, and got dressed slowly.

“Ava,” Jasper called from across the room.

“Yeah?” I turned to look at him, still in a sex fog. His hair was damp from the shower, and his dark clothes were no worse for the wear from our evening.

He hesitated as if he were making a decision, then crossed the space in two sure strides. “There’s something else.” Jasper handed me a small framed photo. I rolled my eyes. I didn’t really need to see a family photo of whosever’s house we had just violated. But then I looked at the photo. And then I looked again.It couldn’t be.

“I wanted to tell you. Really. But I had to figure out a way to get around the rules. When I found the picture…” Jasper watched me warily as I studied the photo.

I drew in a breath to steady myself. “What the hell is this?”

The blood drained from Jasper’s face as he watched my reaction.Shock. Anger. Betrayal. I held a group photo, taken a few years back from the looks of things. Jasper’s arms were slung around another young man’s shoulders, their contagious grins frozen in time. And in the back corner, smiling widely at the photographer, stood my parents. I had no idea what the hell was going on.

Chapter 7

I began making a mental pros and cons list. Con -- Jasper was a liar. And a big one. Pro -- I had just had the best sex of my life with that liar. Somewhere in the middle ground, Jasper was a werewolf. I’d classify that situation based on how this conversation went down. The tension in the room was so thick it practically suffocated me. I could see Jasper trying to decide how best to handle the situation. Thesituationbeing me. To be fair, I was set to go off like a bomb if he didn’t have a damn good explanation for how he knew my parents, and why he hadn’t told me in the first place.

Jasper kept looking from me to the photo, running his fingers through his dark hair. If I hadn’t been so livid, his perfectly dishevelled appearance would be sexy as hell.

Finally, he walked towards me, looking like he was about to speak.

I took a step back. I needed space until I understood everything. Frustration flashed across his features. “Goddamn Alpha’s orders. Goddamn Jim and Monica, keeping you in the dark.”

What?

Jasper must have read the confusion on my face. “Look, you have to believe me. It wasn’t my choice to leave you out of the loop. Your parents made that call and I had to respect their decision. It was a command by the leader of the pack, the Alpha. I had to figure out a way around the order without directly disobeying him.”

His tone was pleading, his eyes begging me to believe him. But I had to hold my ground. I ignored all the crazy Alpha wolf bullshit and went right to the point. “Whatdidn’t they want to tell me?” My voice came out sharper than I ever thought possible.

His hands were pulling at his hair again and he sat down on the couch. “Look, Green -- Ava -- would you please sit down?”

I folded my arms over my chest. “I think I’m fine here.”

Jasper sighed. “Okay, fine, have it your way. But you have to know this isn’t my secret to tell. I wanted to tell you everything. Truly.”

I gritted my teeth. “Get to the point, Jasper.”

He held his hands up in defeat. “Okay. Okay. Look. I’ve known your parents for a long time. They’ve helped the pack out with a lot of different problems.”

The wheels were turning in my head, but I couldn’t figure out how everything fell into place. “What would my parents possibly help werewolves with? Was my dad teaching you Latin? My mom is an artist, for Christ’s sake.”

Jasper looked away, uncomfortable. “Your parents are special people. They are a part of a group of people we know as Venators.”

My mouth dropped open. “I’m sorry, what?”

“Venators.” He continued, as if reading a textbook. “Descended from Romans. Bred to fight dangerous creatures, or so history goes. History conveniently leaves out the part about what they hunted.”

I narrowed my eyes. “Venators. Uh-huh. Sure. What did they hunt?” I kept expecting him to laugh at me, tell me he was messing with me. But it never came.

Instead, he looked even more serious. “They hunt supernatural creatures, Ava. Evil ones. And your parents are some of the best.”

This couldn’t be happening. This kind of stuff being real was one thing. But my parents knowing about it my entire life was another issue altogether. Not to mention themlyingto me about it. My mind flashed back to a vivid dream I had as a child, of hurting myself on a funny looking knife I had found in my dad’s study. I had gone back after I had woken up the next morning but the knife wasn’t there.

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