Total pages in book: 130
Estimated words: 121008 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 605(@200wpm)___ 484(@250wpm)___ 403(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 121008 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 605(@200wpm)___ 484(@250wpm)___ 403(@300wpm)
I plant my feet and scowl. “It wasn’t like there was a sign saying watch out for woman-eating horses. How was I supposed to know?”
“You weren’t supposed to run,” Dante says with a sad shake of his head. “You were supposed to listen to my advice and stick it out with Beck. They didn’t teach common sense at your school, did they?”
“I’m not running anymore. I am done with running away. It only gets me into trouble. For your information, I’ve decided to take your advice and work on Beck.”
Leaning against the side of the house, Dante’s smile becomes slightly lascivious. “Have you got him to top you yet, sweetheart?”
I return the smile without a hint of self-consciousness. I’m also through with feeling ashamed of the things I want. Nearly dying in an icy-cold river trapped by a horse with Super Glue for skin cured me of that. In some ways I feel different. Like the river changed me. I feel…fierce. “Not yet, but I’m working on the problem. So you know something about the type of relationship I want with Beck?”
The vampire shrugs. “Sure. It’s common where I come from. You’ve got to understand, he has his reasons for being afraid of what he needs. You’ll have to pull it out of him.”
“That might be hard. I have no idea what I’m doing. It’s not like I’ve had a Dom before. I know what I want, but I’m not sure how to get it.”
“I can help you with that.” He pulls out that ever-present tablet. It apparently has a home inside his jacket. He types something on the keyboard and flips it around. The LCD screen flows as an enormous list of downloadable material on the subject comes up.
“Have a problem? We’ve got a DL to solve it.” He lets his lanky body slide down to sit in the dirt by the front door. “Sit with me, Meg. We’ll see what we can learn.”
I take a deep breath and stare at the vampire. It’s time to make a deal. “I will, but only on one condition.”
“I’ll bite,” Dante says with an ironic grin.
“Later, you have to take me for a ride on that motorcycle.” The bike looks cool.
“You got it, sister,” Dante agrees.
I’m satisfied and sink down beside Dante.
Chapter Thirteen
Beck
I walk into the house and swear silently. How I managed to live with that slob brother of mine for thirty years without killing him is a mystery to me. The small living room and kitchen area are cluttered, and it looks like no one has done a single dish since I’ve been gone.
“You were supposed to be fading, Ci,” I mutter to myself. “Not wrecking the kitchen.”
I quickly go around, straightening up what I can so Meg doesn’t take one look at her new home and walk out. She might think the woods are cleaner.
“Beck?” Cian’s voice is weak and barely carries out of the bedroom.
“I’m here.” I walk through the door and am grateful because the bedroom is far neater than the kitchen. Someone cleaned up in here. There are neat piles of papers and books stacked around the room. More than likely it was Dante. Vampires tend to be a bit fastidious. If my cousin spent the night and this morning sitting at Cian’s bedside, he probably felt compelled to straighten up a bit.
The room is dim, all the shutters closed. I walk to the two small windows and toss them open, letting the afternoon light in. It illuminates my twin’s self-proclaimed deathbed.
Cian lays on his side. His hair is lackluster, and he’s lost weight. In the light of day, his skin looks pasty. Though he probably hasn’t been out of bed much for the better part of two months, he looks tired and haggard. I try to summon some sympathy and find none.
“Get out of bed, ya bastard.” I kick the frame. All this time I’ve been trying to save us and he’s been napping. The frame shakes, but Cian stubbornly stays prone.
“No,” Cian replies with far more bite than a dying man should have. He pulls the quilt up to his neck and pointedly closes his eyes. “I’m done. It ain’t worth it. I can’t think anymore. My mind won’t work.”
“You think you’re the only one having trouble?” I’m tired of listening to my brother’s whining. Sometimes Cian forgets he’s not the only one hurting. “I wanted to kill everything in my path for a while there. I had to stop myself from going into a rage and killing innocent people. You just can’t focus.”
Cian’s gray eyes open suddenly and burn with resentment. “You can’t understand. I can’t even read a book anymore. My mind drifts. Sometimes I don’t remember where I am. Do you know what it’s like to have everything that made you who you are taken away?”