AllFreeNovel
Share Us
At the sound of Ryder’s voice, I jerked out of Walker’s grasp, but not quickly enough. Towels fell with a thump at Ryder’s feet, and I met his shocked gaze. With a growl, he snapped his open mouth shut and stormed away, leaving me alone with the cowboy yet again.
Both of us stared at each other with flushed cheeks, swollen lips, and no shortage of mortification. With more force than I intended, I shoved Walker away and bid him good night. When I slammed my door shut, he stood staring at where I had once been.
I tugged off my clothes and jumped into a cool shower with the hopes of washing away all the heat and shame still mingling on my skin. I couldn’t believe myself. A witch killer was on the loose, and, here I was, jeopardizing an alliance with the son of a powerful Alpha to make out with a human. A hunter.
I scolded myself again and again, but, when I closed my eyes to sleep, it was Walker’s crestfallen face that haunted me.
Chapter Thirteen
Walker
I leaned against the door inside my suite and wondered when I’d become such an idiot.
I had kissed her.
I had kissed Freya.
What the hell is wrong with me?
Before Cadence could see me so out of sorts, I hurried into the bathroom. A stack of clean clothes had been left for me on a shelf above the toilet. The werewolves were intimidating, but clearly generous.
I climbed into the simple, white-tiled shower and cranked the water as cold as it would go. It wasn’t cold enough to erase the heat of Freya’s body pressed against mine. The pouring water didn’t drown out her soft gasp that echoed in my ears. I ran my thumb across my lips and cursed myself. I turned my face into the stream of cold water.
Maybe I can freeze out the memory.
I doubted it.
I’d never so impulsively kissed someone, not that I had much kissing experience anyway. I’d hooked up with some girls here and there. It had been fun, no doubt, but it hadn’t lit a candle to kissing Freya. Touching Freya. Two of those times, I’d been heavily intoxicated, and the peck in seventh grade barely counted. I wondered if the werewolves had slipped something in my drink but quickly shut down the thought. They wouldn’t need me to be drugged to harm me, and I doubted they had grand plans for humiliating me.
Ryder might.
It hadn’t seemed like an embarrassing thing to do in the moment. Her eyes, her proximity, and all we’d been through together in the last few days had converged all at once. It had felt like the only thing to do. I had been so sure she wanted it just as badly as I did.
I was almost certain I’d seen her fingers reach for the door of her room. She had pulled me even closer, connecting me to all the soft curves of her body. She was so strong that I hadn’t expected her to be so soft. And warm. And pliant.
Stop thinking about it, you idiot.
I couldn’t imagine the kiss without reliving the aftermath. When she ripped herself away from me, downright horror had marred Freya’s face. She’d been disgusted, yet she’d kissed me back. She probably felt that way because she kissed me back.
I was just a human after all.
I stayed in the shower for way longer than I ever did at home. Luckily, by the time I emerged from the bathroom, Cadence was fast asleep. Only her dark head of hair was visible under the fluffy, olive-green comforter. A matching bed with a wooden bedframe sat beside it. A little table with a lamp was sandwiched between them. A TV hung to my left, above a huge chest of drawers.
I clicked off the lamp between the beds and climbed under the covers. The clock ticked beside me, but hours passed before I quieted my mind long enough to fall asleep.
*
Walker
“You’re extra grouchy today,” Cadence so helpfully remarked.
We stood in line for breakfast in the dining hall. Werewolves surrounded us, and, boy, they could eat. Every plate that left the buffet line was piled high with eggs, ham, bacon, sausage, eggs, toast, and anything else you’d ever want for breakfast.
Cadence stacked hers as much as anyone around us, and, though I lacked an appetite, I did the same. In the cowboy business, you always accepted food when it was offered. You never knew when you’d get another break to eat.
When it came to journeying to a vampire castle, I figured the same principle applied.
Freya finally entered the dining hall with Arion hot on her heels. She must’ve stalled getting ready as long as possible. She wasn’t exactly the type to be late. It was absurd for both of us to dread awkward interactions more than vampires.
