Page 42 of Cold Moon

There, on the edge of the couch, Skye sat, pink in the face, pushing the glasses up the bridge of his nose.

And I was standing in the hallway, the next best thing to naked, while he stared at me.

With a smile, a tiny nod, I went into the bedroom. But that felt... wrong somehow. I wasn’t ashamed for Skye to see me. Wasn’t ashamed to be around him.

I dropped my dirty clothes in the hamper and stepped back into the hallway. When I walked into the living room in only my towel, Skye sat up straight, his eyes enormous behind his glasses. He was chewing on his lip, staring not at my eyes, but at my chest.

“Sorry I took so long,” I muttered, and the words felt fuller in my mouth, like I was talking different, deeper, pushed by feeling instead of logic. “Thanks for waiting.”

“Oh, yeah.” Skye got up, but that only brought him closer to me. He tipped his head to the side, a frown on his face that was anything but dissatisfied. “But don’t you still need to—” He waved at my chest, but his throat worked as he swallowed. After a second passed, his fingertips traced across my skin.

“Get dressed?” I leaned into his hand, and his palm flattened, his fingers flexing on my pec. His tongue darted across his lips. His gaze was still down, on where his pale hand connected with my shower-warm skin, so I had ample opportunity to search his face. His eyebrows were thick and as dark as the mess of hair on his head. It was soft, but a little chaotic, like he combed his hand through it often.

His lips were pink and full, like his warm flesh strained below the skin, not dry and cracked despite how cold it was getting outside.

“I’m going to,” I muttered, leaning down. His breath tickled my lips, and finally, his eyes met mine. They were so fucking blue, like... like sky. Shit. I was supposed to be cleverer than that, right?

“Yeah?”

“Uh huh.” He wasn’t pulling away, just staring up at me. Slowly, his fingers began to move over my skin again, and I never wanted him to stop. His touch was light but tickled. I wanted to growl and push into him, but—

Date. We were going on a date.

I wasn’t just any alpha, beholden only to their instincts and desires. I wanted Skye to trust me. And his pack—I needed their tolerance, at the very least. Because I didn’t intend to play fast and loose with Skye’s heart.

“Yup. I’m going to get dressed,” I confirmed. “But first—”

I leaned in, angling my head down to catch Skye’s soft lips. He made a muffled sound against my lips, but let my movements lead his. I kissed him slow, just teasing while I touched his pale cheek, his hair that was so much softer than I’d imagined.

When I broke away, his chest was rising and falling with quick breaths. His eyelids were shut, his lashes fluttering against his cheeks, but he was wearing a beautiful smile.

“I wanted to do that at the farmhouse,” I said. But the truth was, I’d wanted to do that for days. Maybe longer. Maybe the first time I opened my eyes and saw him sitting there in the clinic.

“Right. And now? You want to do it again?”

I laughed, pulling him in for one more quick kiss. “Again. And probably some more later. But I do want to take you on that date. Wherever you want to go. And it’s so early, we have time for a movie too. You up for that?”

He opened his eyes and gazed up at me, the look in his eyes making my heart clench. “Sounds perfect.” With a heavy sigh, he stared back down at his hand on my chest. “So Iguessyou should get dressed. Maybe.”

24

Skye

The theater was ancient and small, and never played movies until they had been out for months, but it was still a treat. Not that it was expensive, I simply didn’t go on my own. Mostly because it felt a little... sad. Who goes to the movies alone?

Well, people who really liked movies and didn’t have anyone they wanted to go with, I supposed. I liked TV better, most of the time. People on TV usually had smaller problems, closer to my scope of interest. More “what am I going to do with my life?” and less “how can I save the whole universe from destruction?”

A year before, I never thought I’d be embroiled in a fight bigger than the one with my mother over my own independence.

Funny, how things changed, first with an out-and-out pack war with the Reids, and then... well heck, we kind of were in a movie, weren’t we? It was us against a giant corporation, with the fate of every omega in the world hanging in the balance.

Hopefully no one would expect me to do much more than cheer from the sidelines. I could be an excellent cheerleader, as long as there were no complicated moves involved.

Although actually, with the yoga Linden had put me onto for strength training, I could do the splits. Maybe I’d be a great cheerleader!

Dante slid his hand into mine as we walked into the theater, twining our fingers together and watching me from beneath lowered lashes, probably half expecting me to jerk my hand away and wipe it off, horrified to be touching a Reid in public. Well, he was in for a surprise. I squeezed his hand and leaned against his shoulder.

He turned to look at me, biting his lip, and nodded in the direction of the snack counter. “They have anything on your diet here?”

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