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)
Her adoptive sire did that a lot when he came by to see his Mary.
Down at the base of the stairs, she smoothed her sweater again and patted at her hair—and told herself that she wasn’t doing it for any particular reason—
“Oh, Bitty!” someone called out from the back of the house. “Hey, can you—”
“I’llberightbackjustgimmeaminute—”
“What about your—”
Bitty waved to the other social worker over her shoulder, and refused to look too closely at why she didn’t want anyone to know who she was meeting. She was also absolutely not going to go into how excited she was. Or how fast she moved as she blasted out onto the porch, all but skipped down the steps and then skidded around the corner of the—
“Hi,” she said breathlessly as she halted in the snow.
God… he was huge. And as L.W. tromped down toward her, his long strides and heavy shitkickers making quick, crushing work of the distance, he got even bigger.
As Bitty measured the breadth of his shoulders under the black leather that covered them, she realized she’d never seen him in “civilian” clothes. Never blue jeans or a sweatshirt. Absolutely never a jacket and tie.
“Are you cold?” he said as his jade green eyes narrowed.
Wow. His eyelashes were as jet-black as his hair, and just as thick. Like usual, he had a thick braid running along the center of his head, the long tail disappearing down his back, and the sides had had a fresh shave. He’d also put in a pair of black earrings. Black diamonds? Set in black metal?
Would it kill him to wear a color—
“Bitty? I asked you, are you cold?”
As if she’d stroked out from the zero-degree temperatures or something.
“Oh, no. I’m fine.” She crossed her arms and rubbed her upper arms. “I was getting stale at my desk, so your timing is great. What’s up?”
For a moment, that hard stare circled around the yard behind her, even though he had to know nobody got onto the property without clearance. Which was how she’d been sure it was okay to open the window and look out. The Brotherhood’s monitoring never failed.
And when he was finished casing the place, he just looked at her—so it was her turn to focus off to the side, on the ring of trees. Dimly, she noted the wind coming through the hibernating maples, the straggler-leaves that had refused to fall back in October like shrunken flags, rattling instead of waving on their stems.
I should have guessed, she thought as she figured out why he’d come.
“I’m not going to be able to tell you much more,” she said roughly.
“How do you know I have a secret?”
Bitty shook her head, aware of a biting disappointment. “I don’t know how I know so I can’t help you with that. If I can’t answer that question for myself, I certainly can’t answer it for you.”
“Do you know what it is? What I’m hiding?”
Her eyes swung back to him. And she opened her mouth to tell him no—
The strange, off-the-planet pall that always preceded a revelation came over her, dulling her senses and slowing down her body and mind. Blink… blink… blink…
“You’re back,” she heard herself say. Then she frowned as the message began to warp. “After you’ve been gone for so long… you have returned… and yet you were here all along. There are two halves to the whole, which must not be separated…”
When nothing else came, she floated in space for a moment. Then, kicking herself out of the trance, she tried to fake-laugh and couldn’t hold the smile. “I don’t know what I’m—”
“You know exactly what you’re saying.” L.W.’s shoulders shifted, his arms coming up. “Wait, hold on.”
“What?”
The next thing she knew, he was taking off his jacket and draping the heavy, warm weight on her narrow shoulders. Instinctively, she grabbed on to the lapels so it didn’t drop to the snow, and—oh, wow. It smelled like him, and it was so heavy.
Twenty pounds? Thirty?
As he was just wearing a black muscle shirt now, she couldn’t help but look at his upper arms. They were so cut, they cast shadows, and she loved the ink in his skin. Not many males had as much as he did. Nate did… and that was about it.
Not that she checked out males very much.
“Bitty?” He waved a hand in front of her face. “You there?”
“Sorry.” She cleared her throat and tried to pull herself to attention. “Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone. About… whatever it is.”
“Nobody knows. So, yeah, please keep quiet. No offense.”
The wind swirled around again, and she huddled into his jacket. Good thing he hadn’t tried to get her arms into the sleeves. They’d never find them again.
“You better go inside,” he told her. “And I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have come.”
“I don’t mind. And I wish I could tell you more.”