A deep sigh escaped him, and he slumped against me. Who was I to weep like the victim when I was the victimizer? He owed me nothing. But, what he gave me was worth everything.
“We’re ok.”
Chapter Eleven
I stared at Arys’s house for a really long time before I got out of the Charger. I easily imagined striding up the walk and ringing the bell, but doing it was a whole lot tougher. The sun had just disappeared from the western sky. Only a pale glow remained at the start of another perfect summer night. I planned to catch him here before he left for the evening.
I was on my way to talk to Veryl and meet a new client about a potential job. I didn’t have time to run around town right now. But, I needed to see Arys. A glance at the dash clock told me I should hurry, but I still had time. Or did I? Maybe I should just go to work and deal with this later. Duty called.
No. I was being cowardly, and thankfully, nobody was there to see it. My heart pounded from the anxiety, and a cold sweat broke over me. I stepped out of the car and steeled myself against the power inside me. It recognized his presence. I could feel him within the walls of the house. The little hairs on my arms stood on end, and I wished I’d brought a sweater to throw over my tank top. Dread settled in the pit of my stomach.
I rang the bell but got no response, and I wondered if he was trying to get rid of me. The door swung open suddenly, catching me off guard.
“Back for more, Alexa?” He greeted me with a big shit-eating grin plastered on his handsome face. His dark hair was wet and messy. He wore only jeans. I hoped that I wasn’t gawking openly as I imagined running my hands over his hard, bare chest.
“Hardly,” I managed to say despite the aching inside me. In that moment, I wanted to spill blood, his and mine, to bask in all of our power, to reach the heights that we hadn’t yet dreamed possible. I went to take my first step towards him but snapped back to myself. I gave myself a shake to clear my head.
“Would you like to come in? I didn’t really take the time to give you the grand tour during your last visit. I just had the place redecorated last month.” His midnight ocean eyes spoke volumes. He made no attempt to hide his lust as he ogled me from head to toe and back up again.
Something didn’t feel right. The air buzzed with our power, anticipating.
“Come on, Arys, you know why I’m here.” He stared at me like a feline on catnip, and I resisted the urge to smack him upside the head.
“I assume it’s to explain to me why I made a chew toy out of Mrs. Olson’s dog last night.”
“You say that as if I know.”
“Don’t you?”
“Of course not!” I was incredulous.
What the hell was he trying to insinuate? That I had done this on purpose? I shouldered my way inside and fixed him with eyes blazing with anger. “You’re not the only one suffering, Arys.”
“Oh?” He cocked his head to the side and studied me. I told him about the previous night: the blood tears, the eye color and the memories plagued with bloodlust.
He knew all too well. A glint of something new and unsettled haunted his eyes.
“I think the memories may have been the worst part,” he said, and I frowned, insulted. My memories couldn’t have been worse than his. His were much more gruesome. “But then again, perhaps it was the pain.”
“The pain?” I asked. I wanted to hear his side now.
“After you left in the morning, I slept through the day. I woke, and everything hit me.” He seemed to sober considerably as he spoke. “I was hungry but not just for blood, for the rush of running on four legs and the thrill of being one with nature. I couldn’t shake the need to hunt, to tear into a fresh, meaty kill, so soft and warm.” He paused for a minute.
He was sickened, but I found that funny considering his way of survival. I nodded and encouraged him to continue.
“That wasn’t the worst part though. The worst part was the change.”
“The change?” I was flabbergasted.
“Well, the need to shift would be more precise. It was like a wolf had been trapped inside me, scratching and biting to get out. Only I couldn’t let it out, Alexa. It burned. God, it burned. I thought that was it for me.”
I stared at him with a terror-stricken expression. We had been inside one another’s minds, seen each other’s souls, but I didn’t realize the exchange had truly been to the core. This was so not funny.
“You had the need to change form?” I shook my head. This was dangerous. I anticipated a backlash of some kind, but a wolf trying to tear itself from a form unable to shift was downright scary.
“I’m surprised claws didn’t spring from my fingertips. I could feel them, like torturous little needles pricking right beneath the surface.” Arys shuddered then and stared at his hands as if they were foreign objects. “It ate at me for most of the night. I went to Lucy’s Lounge but couldn’t sit still. I had to get out of there.”