Page 80 of (Sur)real
He chuckled.
“Lift your arms again.”
My heart skipped a beat when I did as he asked. His fingers drifted lightly up my sides, tracing the outside of my arms until he reached my hands. I fought not to let myself feel.
We were playing a dangerous game. Not just with the emotions I was struggling to keep at bay so Blake wouldn’t know, but with Jim’s safety. I didn’t understand how he wasn’t already on his knees gasping for air.
With care, he eased the sweater on. The soft, fuzzy material skimmed over my skin as he slowly drew it down. Unable to stop it, a shiver coursed through me. Everything felt too heightened and sensitive now. And I craved more.
When he finished, he eased my hair from the back of the sweater and set it over my shoulder. He moved closer, his legs brushing against my butt as the weight of his hands settled on my shoulders. I barely breathed, waiting for what he’d do next.
His lips grazed the exposed skin at the back of my neck just above the sweater.
I gasped.
He placed a lingering kiss there before moving to a new spot, just an inch above the first one.
With a strangled moan, I stepped forward, away from him and his tempting touch.
“If you keep doing that, I’m going to ask to stay with Winifred tonight and not go anywhere with you.” I couldn’t help the way my voice shook as I spoke. I was struggling.
He sighed heavily behind me.
“You’re right. Too soon.”
Seventeen
JIM…
It took every ounce of willpower to remove my hands from Olivia’s shoulders. I watched her in the mirror above the desk, as I had from the moment I’d turned her away from me. Her flushed cheeks and slightly parted lips increased the ache that had grown much further south than my pain-free chest.
I didn’t feel a twinge of guilt for looking at her shirtless or for touching her or for kissing her soft skin. I’d needed to test my theory. Doing everything I’d done and seeing her bare without feeling a bit of pain proved I was right. The oath and my connection to the pack kept me from doing anything that might be self-serving. The key to being with Olivia was believing it wasn’t in my interest but in the pack’s interest.
Winifred had told me time and again to listen to my heart. My heart told me that the voice I’d heard when speaking the oath belonged to the Lady. The same mysterious being who, according to Olivia, had been stacking the deck to ensure the Judgement happened this time around.
If the Lady had been guiding not only the pack through our Elders and our oaths, but the Judgements as well, then there was only one logical conclusion. For the sake of the pack and the Judgement, Olivia and I were meant to be together.
I wasn’t sure why the Lady had chosen me, but I wasn’t going to let that stop me from enjoying the gift she’d given me.
“Let’s go make some memories that will compete for favorite,” I said.
“I think we already have,” she said softly, then quickly held up her hand before I could take her comment as an okay to go back to what we were doing a moment ago.
“If I go with you today, do you promise to behave?” she asked.
“Nope. But I promise to listen if you tell me to cut it out.”
She sighed and shook her head. I reached out to Winifred over our private link.
Can we borrow someone’s car?
Why?she sent back.
Olivia has no good memories. None. Her whole life has been mistreatment and pain. I need to show her something good.
I don’t think—
Can you imagine dying tomorrow without one good memory to hold onto in your final moments?
