Page 26 of Deadly Games
“No,” she said reluctantly. “Just wanted to talk to him. Figure out where we stand.”
“Yeah.” I cleared my throat, trying not to think about how that was exactly what I needed to do when it came to her. She must have sensed my apprehension because she started watching me more closely.
“Is everything alright?”
“Yeah,” I answered. “Everything’s fine. But while you’re here, do you think we could talk?”
She tilted her head, seeming surprised by the question. “Sure. What’s up?”
I glanced over my shoulder but even though I was reasonably sure we were alone, I didn’t want to take any chances with such delicate subject matter. “It’s really something I’d rather discuss in private. My room’s just around the corner.”
“Okay,” she said warily. “Lead the way.”
I realized it probably seemed like I was propositioning her, but although I would’ve been more than happy to, I knew we weren’t there yet. Hell, how could there be any intimacy between us when I was keeping something this big from her?
Once we made it to my room, she stopped and looked around in dismay. “Whoa.”
“What is it?” I asked, shutting the door.
“Your room. It’s not what I thought.”
“Cleaner?” I asked knowingly, folding my arms as I leaned against my desk.
“Much,” she said, flopping down on the edge of my bed. I’d pictured her there plenty of times, but actually having her here made me anxious in a way I’d never been with any other woman. To be fair, I’d never felt anything more than lust for anyone other than her, and I still wasn’t used to it. The intensity only seemed to grow over time.
“What did you want to talk to me about?”
“Right,” I coughed, rubbing the stubble along my jaw. “It’s kind of hard to explain.”
“Is it about what Ares said?” she asked, frowning.
“More or less,” I admitted. “It’s related, at least.”
She waited expectantly and I realized there was no good way to ease into it. I’d never been good with words and preferred to let my fangs do the talking, so this was foreign territory to me. “You know how Ares said we’re all connected?”
“Yeah,” she answered. “What about it?”
“Well, you and I are connected in a different way,” I began. When I realized she was only more confused by the answer, I added, “Have you ever heard of something called imprinting?”
“Imprinting?” Her nose wrinkled. “Isn’t that like a fictional vampire thing?”
I laughed. “No. No, it’s real. And it’s kind of a wolf thing.”
“Oh.” Her eyes widened with understanding. “Oh.”
“I’m sorry for not telling you earlier. Or maybe I shouldn’t have told you at all,” I muttered, pacing to the other side of the room. “Shit. I suck at this.”
“You tell a lot of girls you imprinted on them?” she asked dryly.
Something about the mischief in her smile had the exact opposite of the effect she probably intended. It was hard to relax when everything I never even knew I wanted was all wrapped up in one package, sitting right in front of me.
“Never,” I snorted. “It’s kind of a once in a lifetime thing.”
“Come here,” she said, taking my hand to pull me down next to her. I was surprised by the gesture, and even more by my response to her closeness. It took all the restraint I had not to lean in and breathe deeply of the scent that captivated me. “I know it’s weird, but after everything we’ve been through, we should at least be able to talk about it.”
“You’re taking this a lot better than I expected.”
“What, did you think I was gonna flip out or something?”
