Total pages in book: 94
Estimated words: 92043 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 460(@200wpm)___ 368(@250wpm)___ 307(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92043 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 460(@200wpm)___ 368(@250wpm)___ 307(@300wpm)
“I’m sorry,” he said with a wince. “It had to be done.”
“What the fuck did you do?” I asked, reaching up to grip Ambrose’s forearm. He didn’t seem like he was going anywhere, but I needed to be sure.
“No one knows you’re my mate,” Ambrose said, kissing my temple. “And we needed to keep it that way.”
“You’re not making any sense,” I replied, watching Matthias carefully. His hands looked perfectly normal. He wasn’t wearing gloves or anything. How the hell had he burned my arm? Was it a Vampire thing?
“It’s painful,” Charlie said to me quietly. He paused to spit in the grass. “The touch of anyone that isn’t your mate is painful.”
I stared at him in shock. What the hell was he talking about? If that was true…how many times had I hugged my brother? Held his hand? Ran my fingers through his hair until he fell asleep? How many times had I shoved him or elbowed him or pinched him good-naturedly?
“No, not you,” Charlie said quickly. “No. You don’t hurt me.”
“He’s your brother, baby,” Ambrose said, tightening his arm. “It doesn’t work that way.”
“My mate says women are fine too,” Matthias said sympathetically. “And it fades a bit over time. It’s not ever comfortable, but it’s never as bad as in the beginning.”
I stared at him in disbelief.
I couldn’t touch any men who weren’t related to me? What the fuck was that?
“It could be worse,” the new brother said as he strode toward us. “For most mates, I think it’s just sustained contact, but Reese can’t even brush against someone. She doesn’t even shake hands anymore.” He stopped a few feet from us. “Hey, I’m Beau.”
He smiled gently at my brother, searching his face.
“Beau,” Charlie greeted with a nod.
“Chance and Danny,” Ambrose said as the other Vampires came around the helicopter. “And Josiah.”
We congregated at the end of the landing strip. No one got too close, and I felt a little like an animal at the zoo as they looked us over. I wondered if Charlie felt the same.
“The Boucher brothers,” Charlie said softly, a little smile playing on his lips.
“It’s good to finally meet you, Charles,” Danny said with a grin. It didn’t meet his eyes.
“You too,” Charlie replied.
“First time on a helicopter?” Chance asked with a chuckle.
“How could you tell?” Charlie asked dryly.
The group laughed, and I felt a little of the tension in my shoulders disappear.
I wanted them to like him, I realized. I didn’t really care how they felt about me, but I really needed them to like my kindhearted brother. Zeke wasn’t there to make sure that his family treated my brother well. He wasn’t there to tell them all about my brother’s best attributes or show them how much he loved Charlie.
It was all wrong.
I leaned back against Ambrose. I wasn’t sure when he had become my comfort, but I was too overwhelmed to question it.
The Vampires stood around for a few more minutes talking to Charlie and each other, but I wasn’t really paying attention to what they were saying. I was too focused on their expressions and body language. Relief filled me when I determined that they were welcoming him in, treating him like one of their own.
“We need to get back,” Beau announced finally. “My mate is probably climbing the walls.”
Ambrose let go of me to say goodbye to Matthias and Josiah. The two Vampires must’ve been brothers based on the resemblance. They both had the same brown skin, high cheekbones, and strong jawlines. They also carried themselves the same way. I wasn’t sure how to explain it, but I wasn’t sure they’d ever slouched a day in their lives. But, while I remembered Matthias’s hair in a curly halo around his head, Josiah’s fell straight and ended in a jagged line at his shoulders.
Charlie walked over to shake their hands and thank them too. He didn’t seem to have any problem touching them, which seemed odd.
I stood alone and tried not to fidget.
It didn’t matter that none of them looked at me. It didn’t matter that they didn’t say goodbye to me before they turned and walked toward the trees. None of it mattered. Charlie was being pulled into the fold. That was all I could’ve asked for.
“One last ride and then we’re home,” Ambrose announced as he moved toward me. His hand found mine, and he tugged me toward the plane at the other end of the landing strip.
“Who’s flying the plane?” I asked as Charlie and the others followed us, their conversation too quiet for me to hear.
“Danny,” Ambrose replied. “Don’t worry, he flew with the Wright brothers.”
“Didn’t they crash?” I asked wryly.
“More than once, I think.” Ambrose laughed. “But avionics have come a long way since then.”
The inside of the plane was comfortable and smelled like leather, but I still hated it. I couldn’t stop thinking about all the plane crashes I’d ever heard about and the fact that they usually happened in small private planes. Flying on a commercial airplane was different. I didn’t actually know that pilot, and there was a sense of anonymity and false safety when I was crammed into one with a hundred other strangers.