: JA

Just put the kit on the

oom was dead silent, but the air was screaming. I sat on the low wooden bench, my head hanging between my sh

irt, Jaxson. You can't reach the

hem tight. I could smell her the moment she stepped over the threshold. Lilies. Rain. And

growled, but the sound

it had opened an old wound, a reminder of a life I was supposed to have conquered. I

parents are three states awa

ir in the room grow thinner. My lungs burned as I tried to pull in enough oxygen to stay upright. The

ed your hel

eed this much,"

e heat radiating from her body was a localized sun, warming the chilled, sweat-dam

e ghost of a movement, but it sent a bolt of pure, unadulterated electricity st

arms," sh

passenger in a vessel controlled by the bond we both pretended didn't exist. I pu

ing compared to the heat of her gaze. I could feel her eyes traveling over my scars

ep," she

mirrored my own. Her touch was like a branding iron. Where her skin met mine, the world ceased to be a ro

V:

till. This is

ering; it was a frantic, trapped thing, trying to break through my ribs to get to him. The sound of it

nched, quivering under the surface like a bowstring pulled to the breaking poin

it," he

pad and pressed

cream, but a whine, deep and animalistic. It was a sound I felt in my own chest

whispered, my

e tight with an agony that had n

led my senses, mixing with the dark chocolate scent of his skin. It was an overw

pulling my chest toward his back. I wanted to press my face against his skin. I w

a low vibration that I felt t

aid, but I di

ot. It felt like he was running a fever of a hundred and five. The heat wasn't jus

shivers erupted across his shoulders. I followed the line of a scar that

u doing thi

against the dim light. His eyes were glowing, the amber li

u're hurtin

ed. "Every second you're in this

aid, a sudden, fierce de

own mark was hidden beneath the hair. The moment my ski

rm, hitting my heart with the force of a freight train. My vision went white. I felt a

: JA

oug

in; I caught her as she fell. The contact was a catastrophe. The moment my ha

It roared through my veins, incinerating every bi

ers dug into my pectoral muscles, her nails grazing my skin. Her eyes

her voice a plea and a

rwater. I could hear her heart. I could hear the blood rushing through her carotid arte

umping between our skin where we touched. My skin felt like it

ightened, pulling her closer until our chests were ce

of running,

now, the cold sweat gone, replaced by the fever of the bond. She look

on my lips-sweet, like honey and desperation. My wolf was cla

ed her scent, "I won't be able to stop. Do you understa

" she wh

powder keg. I groaned, my head dropping to the crook of her neck. I bu

ulsive tremor that ended in her

nded, the word

ered, even as she pr

n the dark. The heat eventually settled from a wildfire into a slow, agonizing b

ned. The ticking of the clock. The smell

urned. I couldn't look at her. I turned away, grabbing my discar

aid, my voice dead.

V:

side out and left to dry in the wind. I walked out of the training

ing my own life. When I finally reached the mansion, the silence of the house fe

I needed to touch somet

unusually heavy in my hand. I frowned, turning it over. The custom case I

th my fingernail. It ga

se pop

casing, was a tiny, flat silver disc. It was no larger than a shirt button, but it

rac

ss. My hands began to shake so hard the

ged this case

months. Six months of every movement, every secret meeting,

the party. I thought of the way he always seeme

o the hall

ing there, his silhouette framed by the hallway light. He wa

osed to find that

as disappointed. He stepped into the room,

of the city, and a single, glowing red do

oice a hollowed-out shell. "Is it just you, or i

window and pulled the heavy curtains

voice coming from the shadows. "They're using the t

behind hi