Read Online AlphainHiding by Lea Barrymire - Free Book Online Page B

do I read emotions
like you do?”
    She sighed. He wasn’t going to let her sit in quiet. “Some
of it’s instinctive, some of it comes with practice.”
    “According to my nose you’re scared? No, that’s not quite
it…but you aren’t happy either.” He scrunched his face in concentration and she
couldn’t help but laugh at his antics.
    “Sorry, that’s one area I’m not helping with. You want to
learn emotions by smell, go hang out in the mall or something.” She waved away
his argument. If she wanted to walk away from this weekend with her sanity
intact she needed to be able to keep some of her thoughts to herself. “You’ll
learn much more if you’re immersed in people’s scents. You can watch their
interactions and decipher their emotions from there.”
    “Fine. Don’t help.” He sighed with mock irritation. “How
about a movie, then? I seem to have way too much nervous energy at the moment
and sitting here is making me twitch.”
    Emily studied him for a moment, watching his legs bounce,
then gave in. “Okay, go pick something. You’re the guest here so I’ll give you
first dibs on what we watch.”
    * * * * *
    “Okay, I have to admit that I usually hate Godzilla movies,
but this was fun.” Emily grinned as she picked the last few pieces of popcorn
from her hair. They’d started tossing popcorn to each other as a game to see
who was the best at catching the kernels. That had dissolved into throwing
handfuls at each other each time someone said “Godzilla”. The floor was
covered, the couch was covered, they each had popcorn down their shirts and she
suspected she even had some down her pants.
    She couldn’t think of another time she’d so much fun. Seth’s
sense of humor was similar to hers. He was a fan of talking through a movie,
making snide comments or suggestions on how to better kill people. His comments
were witty and intelligent even when he was being snarky. She hadn’t laughed so
hard in…well, ever. Even now she couldn’t get the smile off her face.
    She was busy pulling popcorn from her hair and didn’t notice
his stealthy approach until another set of fingers was wound through her hair,
pulling her slowly toward his body. She had barely avoided his advances throughout
the movie. She had wanted to kiss him but knew that kissing on the couch would
lead to much more, and she knew that “more” was a bad idea. She looked up into
his face and was surprised by the determination there.
    “I figured out one scent that’s been driving me nuts since
this morning.” His voice was deep and compelling. He leaned down and buried his
nose in her neck. His breath was hot as he whispered, “You’re hot for me, Emily
Prescott. I can smell your need from here. You’ve been wet for me most of the
day, haven’t you?”
    She struggled to back away from him and was astounded when
he growled at her. No one growled at her, ever. She stopped moving and pressed
her hands against his chest, pushing slowly but with all her strength. The look
of amazement that crossed his face when she finally had a few inches between
their bodies was priceless, but she wasn’t amused. She was pissed.
    “You will back the fuck off right now, Seth.” She pushed
enough Alpha power at him to make him listen. She didn’t want to totally break
his spirit but he’d overstepped the clear line she’d marked in the sand. Light
touching, joking around, trying to get a kiss…okay. Discussing her rampant
sexual need for him? Definitely not okay.
    “Holy crap. Sorry, Em. I don’t know what got into me. Your
scent is just driving me to distraction, not that this is in any way your
fault.” She could actually see him get a grip on his mind and begin to stumble
all over himself trying to get away from her. Oh hell—now she’d made him feel
bad. Freaking shifters. Freaking males.
    “Look, no worries. I should feel lucky you’re as gentlemanly
as you are.” She could feel a blush pinking her cheeks. Well,