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It didn’t take long for him to squeeze me tight. He scented my neck and placed a soft kiss on it.

“I’m sorry that you’re stuck with me, but I’ll spend the rest of my life making it up to you. I swear,” he whispered. He let go, leaning back to see my face. “Okay?”Advertisement

I nodded. “Okay.” I startled at the sound of a throat clearing. “I forgot we weren’t alone.”

“Unfortunately not alone,” Dastien said.

“Girl talk,” Meredith mouthed when I met her gaze. “Do you want to go early to dinner?” Meredith asked aloud.

My stomach answered for me. “That would be amazing,” I said.

“We’ll stay here and help Dastien clean up,” Chris said.

Dastien stood with me still attached. I dropped down to the ground and turned to go, but Dastien grabbed my hand. I pulled him down to me for a kiss. It was soft and quick, but still burned me all the way to my toes.

“Later,” Meredith said as she pulled me away from Dastien.

We walked to the cafeteria. It was thankfully mostly empty, except for the workers who were busy setting out food for dinner. Most people were probably in the common rooms playing games or watching TV. We filled our plates and sat down.

“You’re pretty quiet,” Meredith said.

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“It’s a lot to take in. Did I just give into him?”

“Yup,” she said. “But don’t freak. You’ve got time. Even if Chris and I are right about what’s going on. Doesn’t mean anything has to change right now.”

I let that sink in while I picked at my mountain of mashed potatoes. “It’s not that. I feel like I’ve known him forever but he’s still new. Like I’ve known that he was mine since I first saw him, even if I didn’t really realize what that connection was or any idea of what it meant. It’s a lot to get used to. Plus, all the rest of the stuff is throwing me off.” I motioned down to the food. “Like this. I have to eat a shit-ton just to stay in control.”

“It’ll get better.”

I snorted. “That’s what everyone keeps saying.”

“They’re saying it because it’s true.”

I knew it would, but that didn’t mean there wouldn’t be more than a few bumps in the road. Things were better with Dastien, but he’d mess up and I’d mess up as we figured it out. Once word got around, it’d be hell to pay with Shannon and Imogene. And that didn’t even begin to count the whole vampire thing. And Mr. Hoel thing.

Oh and the whole turning furry thing. Christ. How had I forgotten that part?

Chapter Twenty-Nine

The boys joined us for dinner after they cleaned the gym. As soon as they sat, Imogene strutted into the cafeteria. She smirked at me and stopped behind Dastien.

My temper flared to life. I wanted her away from him. Now.

She ran her fingers through his hair and leaned down between Dastien and I. “I thought we were meeting outside?”

My trust in Dastien was still extremely fragile and she was trying to break that. I knew she was trying to get me to react, but I couldn’t stop the growl that escaped from me. For some reason, I didn’t care when my hands started changing.

Dastien pushed her away, and leaned into me until our noses were touching. He gently placed a hand on each of my cheeks as his eyes started to glow. “Shhhh,” he said.

Waves of power ran through me. My muscles turned to mush and whatever was rising up inside of me laid down.

“Okay?” His face still close to mine, close enough to kiss.

A silly grin spread across my face. Like he was reading my mind, he leaned in and gave me a soft kiss on the lips. I waited to see what his mind would show me, craved to know what was going on beneath the surface, but got nothing. My whole body tingled as he pulled away from me. He didn’t get very far, since I was clutching his shirt in my hand.

He laughed, and pulled me to sit across his lap. “Better?”

“I’m not going furry.” My words slurred together. “It’s totally better.”

Imogene snarled. She grabbed the table and flipped it into the air. Dastien stood quickly and blocked me from the flying debris. Chairs screeched across the floor as people dodged the table.

Luckily no one was sitting where it crashed. The force broke our table in two and chairs scattered across the linoleum.

When the din faded from my ears, Dastien stood between me and Imogene. “I’m sorry that I’ve hurt you, however unintentionally, but this is getting silly, Imogene.” pqdm.com