Page 34 of The Tracker's Secret
“You should check your eyes. The dress’s color is plum.” The hell if I was going to admit I was jealous of that pasty blonde.
“My eyes work perfectly fine.” His strong hand wrapped around my waist and pulled me against him.
His solidity felt divine as my torso molded to his like a puzzle piece finding its match. He buried his nose in my throat and inhaled deeply. “What do you do to me?” he growled against my skin. “I can’t stop thinking about you.”
My entire body filled with butterflies, and that awful feeling that I was about to go postal on the world disappeared. In its place, heat and want built up, and before I knew it, my hands were on his chest, exploring, enjoying the feel of his perfect body.
He inhaled sharply at my touch and let his lips glide along my jaw while his other hand slid behind my neck and held me in place.
Desire surging through me, I pulled away, grabbed his face in both hands, and pulled him in for a kiss. Our lips touched. A pang of heat thrilled its way straight to my core. His velvety tongue slipped inside my mouth, insistent and possessive. His strong arms wrapped around me, crushing me against him.
Wecanbe together, Jake. I’m not what you think I am.
I’m what you need me to be.
The words sprang into my mind, unbidden. I could tell him what I was, and we wouldn’t have to fight this anymore. We could have a future together. I could be the one to help him fulfill the promise to his father. I could be the one to help him continue his legacy.
Our attraction was inevitable. It had always been. Maybe, somehow, he’d known what I was. And maybe I had, too.
His right hand found the slit in my dress and caressed my inner thigh. I let out an involuntary moan. He hooked his hand behind my leg, hitched it to his waist, and settled between my legs. He deepened his kiss, savoring me, letting his own desire run rampant, quickly meeting mine.
He pulled away. “I’d better stop.” Breathless, he rested his forehead on mine. His upper lip shivered.
I opened my mouth, irrational words ready to spring forward, to let him know how I felt about him, but they dried up as quickly as they formed because I noticed the blonde standing behind him. Looking annoyed, she tapped him on the shoulder.
Jake took a step back and glanced over at her. She put a hand on her waist and jutted out her hip, demanding an explanation with her mere posture. I could tell immediately that she was a werewolf.
His expression gave nothing away. He didn’t look surprised or sorry to have been discovered.
“You have to admit, our date wasn’t going too well,” he said.
Really? Oh, my God. What a bastard!
Why did I fall for this man? He hadn’t just met her. He had brought her here on a date, and this was how he treated her?
The blonde glanced at me, looking at a loss for words. She didn’t seem angry at me, which was as it should be. She wasn’t here on a date withme, so I didn’t owe her any consideration, but Jake did, which made him a son of a bitch.
“Can you believe this guy?” she asked me, looking truly disappointed as if she’d expected more and had received a negative value instead.
I shook my head. I’d thought Jake to be better. He had been better with me, at least for the few months we dated after I graduated. But maybe, this was the Jake everyone had warned me about in the beginning. What was to prevent him from treating me this way at some point? Scratch that, he’d already treated me like garbage. He’d already lied and abandoned me. Falling for him again was like shooting myself in the foot with a bazooka.
“Good riddance,” the blonde said, appearing relieved to have discovered his douchebaggery in time. Gracefully, she whirled on her pointed heel and walked away.
Jake scrubbed at his face, appearing exhausted.
I thought of saying something biting and hurtful, but being around Jake got me all tangled up inside. I lost my mind around him—exhibit A: our recent make-out session—and forgot all the promises I’d made myself. The best thing I could do was avoid him, so I skirted around him and walked away, too.
“Toni, I didn’t mean to.” He went for my hand, trying to grab it, but I snatched it away.
“Stay away from me, Jake.”
“I—”
I lifted a hand to stop him from saying anything else. “You already told me thatthis,” I pointed at him then back at myself, “wasn’t possible, so you need to stop acting like it is.”
My words were all kinds of wrong. The reasons that had made our relationship impossible had disappeared, and all I had to do was tell him the truth. What he thought was an obstacle didn’t exist anymore. In fact, it never had. But now, more than ever, I felt I couldn’t open up to him. Jake had destroyed my trust, and he wasn’t making a good case in rebuilding it. On the contrary, his actions were nothing but a flashing warning sign to keep away.
And not just that. There was too much I needed to learn. I didn’t knowmeanymore, didn’t know my limits, my strength, my character. Everything was changing, so how could I be with anyone when I didn’t even know myself. I would not become anyone’s accessory out of convenience. I would not join my fate with someone else’s without understanding the consequences.
