Total pages in book: 145
Estimated words: 138274 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 691(@200wpm)___ 553(@250wpm)___ 461(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 138274 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 691(@200wpm)___ 553(@250wpm)___ 461(@300wpm)
Nalla made him want to stick around: Now he knew exactly what his father had been saying about not wanting to talk again until Nate started to care about someone other than himself.
It was early with this female, but yes, he cared about her, a lot, and yes, it made everything different: Time wasn’t a burden, thanks to her. It was an opportunity. And he wanted to hoard it because even though he might live forever… Nalla wouldn’t.
Oh, God, he already didn’t want to think like that. And he also didn’t want to freak her out with the fact that he’d made a deal to end this immortality bullcrap… but she was making him reconsider that whole thing.
Too soon to admit she might very well be saving his life? You bet your ass it was.
“I don’t need you to be sophisticated,” he murmured as he skipped the question that was hanging in the air between them.
Had he ever been in love before? He might have said yes, up until recently. After Nalla, though, he was starting to think it was a no.
What was that old line… that the reason they called it a crush was because the shit hurt?
Drawn by the feel of Nalla’s warmth and her smooth skin, he brushed a hand over her shoulder… went back onto her collarbone… and up to the side of her neck where his bite mark had fully healed, thank God.
“Good, because I’m not,” she said quietly. “Sophisticated, that is.”
There was a pause, and the banked expectancy on her face told him she was looking for some information on his dating past—and considering all the things he didn’t want her to know about him, he figured his sex life was the least of a bunch of bad reports.
“I haven’t had any lovers.”
Her eyes bugged. “I—ah, you’re a virgin? I mean, were a—”
“No.” He cleared his throat. “I had some… professional interludes.”
“Like a training class on making love—” She stopped the joking as she connected the dots correctly. “Oh. Like… oh. Well… that’s—”
“I wasn’t a good bet for a relationship.” Okay, that was still true. “Back then, I was looking for extreme experiences in everything. Like, my time in the field, the tattooing… other things. And for a while, I found a couple of females who shared my interests, as you might call it. But when I realized I was the same person before and after, and considering that was precisely what I was hoping to get away from, I stopped with all that. Turns out you can’t remake yourself with distractions, no matter how hard you try.”
She seemed to get lost in her own thoughts. “People can try to change. But you have to be careful how and who you’re taking your cues from. I have a friend who’s into this social media guru—and I just don’t think it’s going to end well.”
“Sometimes it’s hard to know what’s a way to your destination and what’s just a distraction.” What he was clear on was that he wanted to be different for Nalla—and that was generalizing into other areas of his life in a good way. “And I guess, sometimes doing shit for the sake of doing it is an excuse to avoid the truth. But what do I know. I’m hardly qualified to comment on anything that has to do with self-improvement.”
“I don’t know, it sounds like you’re turning over a new leaf. And I’m glad I’m here with you as you do.”
Staring into her eyes, he felt like he was falling—and he didn’t mind the rush at all. “Me too.”
Abruptly, she took a deep breath. “Mmmm, I love the way you smell. Dark spices…”
As her voice drifted off, he felt his eyes widen—and hers did the same. Like they both came to the same conclusion at the same time.
“Sorry,” he said softly. “I can’t help it.”
“Is that… what I think it is? I mean, I’ve kind of wondered.”
Nate nodded. “I’m pretty sure I’ve bonded with you. I’ve heard it can happen fast, but I never believed it.”
There was a long pause, and her eyes seemed to darken with a sadness he didn’t understand. But then she was smiling widely, so widely that he could see her fangs—and imagined, with a kind of greed he’d never felt before, that they were buried deep in his vein, and she was drinking from him.
Taking the nourishment she needed… from him, and him alone.
“Bonded males are a pain in the ass,” he said roughly. “We’re a little nuts when it comes to protecting our females. So can I just do a blanket apology if I run across those assholes from Bathe again? I didn’t go far enough the first time.”
As she laughed and threw her arms around him, she shook her head. “Just let it go. I don’t care about the stupid parlor games. Besides, I’m off the market.”