Read Online Melody Snow Monroe by Animal Passions - Free Book Online Page A

didn’t kill both of you.”
    Taryn sobered. “They nearly did. Had it not been for the fact that Kellum jumped in front of me and take the brunt of the attack, I might have died. After Kellum fell, the wolves only scratched me before running off. I was scared shitless that the wolves had killed him.”
    She couldn’t imagine their mother’s horror when she found her baby boy so near death.
    Kellum winked. “When I need the leverage, I remind him of that day. Since then he’s become very protective of his little brother.”
    Kellum was hardly little anymore.
    Taryn laughed. “How about when you, me, Kranor, and sometimes Henla would sneak over to Amlic’s farm and ride his horses without his consent?”
    Kellum smiled. “Or when we made a mess in his barn by jumping in the hay, and the old man took out his shotgun and said if we came back again he’d shoot us.”
    “I will admit I was pretty terrified. I’d never seen a gun before.”
    They laughed, but she saw nothing funny about that threat. “What happened?”
    “We were always too fast for him. We’d grab some berries on the way out and run away.” Kellum glanced at Taryn. “I think the old guy liked us. It was company for him. He and his wife never had kids.”
    He reached across the table and refilled his plate with more vegetables and meat. “How about you? Did you ever get in trouble?”
    “Me? Only once. I was an only child on a farm that lived and died by the weather. My parents got up early every morning and worked until the sun set. They expected me, from a very young age, to do the same.”
    Taryn’s shoulders hunched forward. “I take it you rebelled?”
    “You could say that. When I was twelve I decided to run away. The problem was that we lived in the middle of nowhere. The only way to get anywhere was to drive, so I stole my dad’s keys and took the car. The issue I faced was that I had never driven before.”
    “I didn’t learn until I was eighteen.”
    Maybe he grew up poor, too. His status in life sure had changed.
    Taryn shoveled more food into his mouth and chewed. “What happened? Did you get in trouble with your dad?”
    “Let’s just say I, too, didn’t get the chance to drive until I was eighteen. As soon as I did learn, I left home.”
    Kellum picked up his plate and one other, and brought the dishes into the kitchen. “Weren’t your parents sad when you left? I know our folks would have been devastated.”
    Apparently, theirs was a tight-knit family. More and more that closeness was becoming unusual. “I went to college, so they were proud.”
    The conversation seemed to stop as they cleared the table. They were halfway through with washing the dishes when Kellum rushed to the door. Once more, Taryn didn’t ask why his brother suddenly dashed away. He placed a hand on her waist. “There’s some trouble with the wolves, and Kellum has to talk with the troops.”
    Troops? “Is he some kind of military man?”
    “Yes. Kellum and I oversee all of the protection on Anterra.”
    He had told her he was some kind of Homeland Security expert. “If it’s that dangerous to live here, why do you?”
    “I grew up here. Besides, I doubt earth people would appreciate regular-looking men suddenly shifting into lions.”
    She was getting a bit tired of their story. After she finished washing the dishes, Taryn dried them and stored them back in the cupboard. In no time, the kitchen looked unused. Instead of suggesting they sit in the living room, he moved in front of her. With one hand he drew her near, and with the other, he cupped her chin.
    “Thank you.”
    Before she could ask what for, he kissed her. This was no tentative kiss. It was one of capture. She closed her eyes and pretended he was a powerful animal who could ravish her at any moment.
    He broke the kiss and ran his lips along her jaw. Bubbles of pleasure sizzled up her spine. She could tell him it was too soon, that she had to leave, but if there were wolves out