Total pages in book: 47
Estimated words: 46587 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 233(@200wpm)___ 186(@250wpm)___ 155(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 46587 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 233(@200wpm)___ 186(@250wpm)___ 155(@300wpm)
There was no wolf.
There was no weird change of Ramsey’s eye color.
There was no anything, no delusions, and that’s it.
Even if a voice whispers to me that it was a lie, or something magical is happening, or my mind is cracking, it is a better explanation than actually being true.
Then, when I look up, Ramsey is standing there.
My breath catches.
I curse myself, warning myself not to let him see the effect he has on me. He’s wearing a tight-fitting gym T-shirt and shorts, showing off his muscular arms and strong body. His steel hair is flecked with sweat, and his arms glisten.
“Did you run here?” I ask, wincing when I hear my voice catch at the end.
It’s the same way my voice would falter when speaking directly with Master Pete, but for completely different reasons. With Pete, it was knowing the power he held over all of us in his messed-up cult.
With Ramsey, it’s....
My thoughts come to a shuddering stop when he answers, walking casually toward me, nodding. “Yeah, I did.”
He stops near the desk, letting me smell him.
His sweat, his... musk, I guess you’d call it.
Something in it calls to me, fills my heart with warm light, and makes my body tingle. My panties rub against my sex, a combination of want and heat I’ve never felt before.
This isn’t surprising, though, since I’ve spent my whole life locked away. The only men I interacted with were the cultists, who were all creepy; they all made my belly cramp.
Ramsey makes my belly cramp too. In lust. In anticipation of the future.
Stop it. There’s no future together.
He’s still looking at me, his scent seeming to get muskier, manly. It washes around me.
When I breathe, I’m sure something strange is happening to me, the way my body starts warming up, like there’s a tremoring bomb inside of me just waiting to explode.
“Ah,” I murmur, staring up at him.
His lip twitches. It’s like he’s mocking me. Or maybe he’s just amused by how awkward I’m being.
I only realize I’m twirling my hair around and around my finger when I see his eyes – his steady, unchanging eyes – flit to the movement.
My hand drops, and I laugh, though nothing funny is happening.
“Do I need to give you a pass?” I ask.
It’s the first time I’ve seen him at this gym. He walks even closer, so close now he could lean across the desk and brush his powerful hand along my cheek, could hold me gently then bring his lips to mine, could…
I stop it. Again. The crazed flow of impossible thoughts. It can’t keep happening.
“No,” he says after a pause.
My heart’s beating far too fast. My panties are suddenly the most freaking uncomfortable things in the universe.
It’s that scent, that feeling.
It makes my whole body feel ready...but for what?
Look at him, tall, broad, handsome, and completely in control of himself. He’s probably got a new woman every week, all of them tall, sexy, and glamorous.
All of them very clearly not me.
Which is fine; I need a job, not a lover.
Liar, a voice hisses. You need him. Only him. Always him.
“Okay.”
I trail off, waiting to see if he’ll say anything else. His eyes are fixated on me as though nothing else exists.
He stares at me, into me, and through me, and I gaze back, telling myself his eyes are blue, only blue, and there’s never been a hint of red in them.
“Is everything going okay?” he asks, taking a step back.
I get the sense something’s happened, as though he’s purposefully distancing himself from me.
It’s like he’s decided it’s time to stop flirting.
Except we weren’t. This is all in my head.
“Excellent, thank you,” I say, doing my best to beam.
Mom needs money. Employers like happy workers, and this man is my boss.
That’s the only thing I should be concerned about, not imagining what it would be like if he wrapped those solid arms around me, hugged me close to his chest, and let me feel his firm body pressed against mine.
Then I’d never have to worry about Master Pete or anybody else coming after me. My man would protect me.
He turns, shattering the illusion I never should’ve held to begin with.
“See you soon, Ruby,” he says, walking through the reception toward the gym.
“See you soon,” I whisper, hoping it’s true.
But also praying it’s not.
It’s torture being so close to him, a man I know I can never have. And there’s always the chance my mind will crack again, his eyes shifting to that intense red.
It’s better this way, focusing on my work, ignoring the rest of it.
Even if I know I can’t, not ever.
Nothing’s going to happen, fine, but I’ll never be able to shake this feeling.
CHAPTER SIX
Ramsey
I’m running again. I can’t help it, bounding on all fours, my powerful body roaring with each leap.
I cover a dozen feet with each stride, leaping across the field as the grass rustles the pads on my paws. My claws cut into the ground, and I almost howl, the moon glaring down at me, the stars bright this far outside the city.