Read Online Atone: A Fairytale (Fairytale Trilogy) by Jessica Grey - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Jessica Grey
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if he hadn’t wanted that to be her answer.
“I’m not playing games.” Becca took a deliberate step backward. There wasn’t much room between them in the first place, and her movement caused her to come up fully against him. It was a weird sensation. She could feel the warmth of him, almost fever-pitched, seeping through her. The soft fur on his chest pressed against her back, and under that she could feel the coiled, tenseness of his muscles. She didn’t take her eyes off the reflection of his, but in her peripheral vision she could see the reflection of her body pressing against Nicholas’s. They looked disturbingly like a couple; his larger frame seeming to cradle and protect her much smaller one, but what she felt wasn’t Nicholas the man. She could only feel the beast.
If Nicholas towered over her as a man, he dwarfed her in animal form. Her head barely came the top of his rib cage. She was in his power even more than she had been a moment before. By stepping back against him she had placed her total trust in him. And he knew. The shock in his eyes would have been almost funny if it hadn’t been accompanied by the desperation and pain. Becca felt that pain clear to the center of her.
“Why are you doing this?” he whispered.
“Making you look in the mirror?” She knew that wasn’t what he was asking. “Don’t you see it?”
His eyes continued to bore into the reflection of hers, almost as if he was afraid to look elsewhere.
“See what?” he bit out. “See the monster I’ve become? What they’ve turned me into?”
Becca was so surprised that her eyes left his, flicking across the reflection, as if to reassure herself. The reflection of Nicholas didn’t look like a beast at all, in fact, he may have been even more attractive than she remembered. The hurt and anger he felt were definitely reflected on his face, his mouth twisted in a grimace, the color on his cheeks heightened. But that didn’t detract from his handsome features; it only served to highlight them. Her eyes darted back to his in the reflection.
She tugged her hand out his grasp, reaching up over her head and behind her, resting her flat palms on his face. He started at her touch and she tried to ignore the fact that she was pressing her body more firmly against his furry, muscled length as she ran her fingers over his face. She could feel the soft, short fur that covered his snout, the heavy brows, the wide mouth that could so easily transform into a snarl.
In the mirror her hands ran over Nicholas face, his aquiline nose and high cheekbones, his mouth—the bottom lip fuller than the top. He was completely impassive under her soft touch, his fierce eyes burning into hers the only sign that he was at all affected.
Her fingers trailed to his hair—her hands looked small and pale against the dark waves—she felt the silky strands of the mane running against and between her fingers.
“You look as if you’re on fire, a purple fire,” he finally whispered in a voice that was raw on the edges. “Purple and gold. Like a goddess.”
“In the mirror?” Becca paused, looking at her own reflection in the mirror. She could see the gauzy lavender-gold power flitting around her reflected form, but nothing to the level that Nicholas was speaking of.
“Yes, there’s magic all around you.”
Becca bit her lip, wondering why they could see such different things. “In the mirror you’re a man.”
Nicholas froze. They stood like that for a moment…just a moment, but it seemed like an eternity. And then, suddenly, he was gone, whipping away from her and out of the room in the space of a heartbeat.
~ Chapter Six ~
B ECCA LAY ON the daybed in the room she had claimed as her own, staring at the tendrils of late afternoon sunlight playing on the ceiling. The way the light filtered through the half open blinds and curved against the place where the wall and ceiling met reminded her of the claws in the frame of the mirror.
She
“I’m not playing games.” Becca took a deliberate step backward. There wasn’t much room between them in the first place, and her movement caused her to come up fully against him. It was a weird sensation. She could feel the warmth of him, almost fever-pitched, seeping through her. The soft fur on his chest pressed against her back, and under that she could feel the coiled, tenseness of his muscles. She didn’t take her eyes off the reflection of his, but in her peripheral vision she could see the reflection of her body pressing against Nicholas’s. They looked disturbingly like a couple; his larger frame seeming to cradle and protect her much smaller one, but what she felt wasn’t Nicholas the man. She could only feel the beast.
If Nicholas towered over her as a man, he dwarfed her in animal form. Her head barely came the top of his rib cage. She was in his power even more than she had been a moment before. By stepping back against him she had placed her total trust in him. And he knew. The shock in his eyes would have been almost funny if it hadn’t been accompanied by the desperation and pain. Becca felt that pain clear to the center of her.
“Why are you doing this?” he whispered.
“Making you look in the mirror?” She knew that wasn’t what he was asking. “Don’t you see it?”
His eyes continued to bore into the reflection of hers, almost as if he was afraid to look elsewhere.
“See what?” he bit out. “See the monster I’ve become? What they’ve turned me into?”
Becca was so surprised that her eyes left his, flicking across the reflection, as if to reassure herself. The reflection of Nicholas didn’t look like a beast at all, in fact, he may have been even more attractive than she remembered. The hurt and anger he felt were definitely reflected on his face, his mouth twisted in a grimace, the color on his cheeks heightened. But that didn’t detract from his handsome features; it only served to highlight them. Her eyes darted back to his in the reflection.
She tugged her hand out his grasp, reaching up over her head and behind her, resting her flat palms on his face. He started at her touch and she tried to ignore the fact that she was pressing her body more firmly against his furry, muscled length as she ran her fingers over his face. She could feel the soft, short fur that covered his snout, the heavy brows, the wide mouth that could so easily transform into a snarl.
In the mirror her hands ran over Nicholas face, his aquiline nose and high cheekbones, his mouth—the bottom lip fuller than the top. He was completely impassive under her soft touch, his fierce eyes burning into hers the only sign that he was at all affected.
Her fingers trailed to his hair—her hands looked small and pale against the dark waves—she felt the silky strands of the mane running against and between her fingers.
“You look as if you’re on fire, a purple fire,” he finally whispered in a voice that was raw on the edges. “Purple and gold. Like a goddess.”
“In the mirror?” Becca paused, looking at her own reflection in the mirror. She could see the gauzy lavender-gold power flitting around her reflected form, but nothing to the level that Nicholas was speaking of.
“Yes, there’s magic all around you.”
Becca bit her lip, wondering why they could see such different things. “In the mirror you’re a man.”
Nicholas froze. They stood like that for a moment…just a moment, but it seemed like an eternity. And then, suddenly, he was gone, whipping away from her and out of the room in the space of a heartbeat.
~ Chapter Six ~
B ECCA LAY ON the daybed in the room she had claimed as her own, staring at the tendrils of late afternoon sunlight playing on the ceiling. The way the light filtered through the half open blinds and curved against the place where the wall and ceiling met reminded her of the claws in the frame of the mirror.
She
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