drove on the highway.
“That’s good to hear,” he said. “He wasn’t worth it.”
“I don’t care about your little piece telling me to stay away from you either. If I choose to stay away I will, but not because she tells me to.”
“That’s not an option,” he replied immediately. “I don’t ever want you away from me.”
I looked over at him then. It was dark in the cab of the truck so his face was hidden in shadows but it didn’t matter. I knew everything there was to know about that face. I knew that just beneath his right ear was where a cheetah had taken a chunk out of his skin. It should have either killed him or at the very least left a grisly scar, but because he was a Shadow Shifter, it had done neither. I knew there was a muscle in his jaw that ticked whenever he was getting angry and that his thick eyebrows would furrow just before he shifted into his cat. I also knew that staring at him now and remembering all that was a colossal mistake.
“This all seems so pointless sometimes,” I admitted. “Us coming here trying to live among the humans, trying to gain acceptance. Why go through all of that when beneath it all we’restill different, we’re still outsiders from the jungle? We still don’t belong.”
“You belong wherever you want to be, Lidia. You can do whatever you want to do. The choice is and always will be yours.”
I let those words marinate, wondering how I felt about Brayden saying them.
“As long as I choose what you want,” I said before thinking. “I can be a teacher if I go with you and become an Assembly guard first. I can stay in school as long as I date who you want me to.”
The truck swerved, pulling over onto the side of the road so fast I was lucky to be strapped in.
“Let’s get one thing straight,” Brayden said, turning sideways in his seat so he could face me. “I’ve never told you what to do or how to do it, never said you couldn’t be what you wanted. I came to this school to support you and to be with you and I haven’t left you because I want you to know that you have my support regardless of what you choose to do with your life.”
I opened my mouth to speak but Brayden put his hand over it.
“I’m not finished,” he told me. “As far as who you can date, the truth of the matter is I don’t want you dating anyone.”
Silence filled the cab.
“Anyone but me, that is.”
I sighed, turning away from him. “Take me back to my car, please.”
“After,” he said simply, a growl quickly following the words as he leaned over the console.
I think I knew what he was going to do. On some level I wanted it. The way one of his hands went to the back of my neck, pulling my face to his, and the other grasping my shoulder to hold me still, was breathtaking so I didn’t speak immediately. I also didn’t speak when his lips touched mine, because, well, his lips were on mine and despite all the conflict roaring through my body, this one thing was true. I liked Brayden’s lips on mine.
The kiss was hot and determined, hungry and demanding. His tongue thrust possessively into my mouth, I tilted my head to accept, to devour. Teeth and lips and moans and growls all came together to fill the cab of the truck with the thickest, sweetest-smelling aroma I’d ever imagined. With every inhale my body temperature soared. I wanted, needed more.
And Brayden pulled away.
He hesitated for a second like he wanted to go another round. I had to admit that I wouldn’t have argued that if he did. But the way he looked at me was like he wanted to say something more, maybe yell or shake me, or possibly—please, just one more time—kiss me into submission. My breasts tingled with that thought.
He slid back over to sit rigid in the driver’s seat, both hands gripping the steering wheel with enough intensity to whiten his knuckles. Then he drove off, leaving me to wonder and to want. I moved as close to the door as I could, turning my head until my neck
“That’s good to hear,” he said. “He wasn’t worth it.”
“I don’t care about your little piece telling me to stay away from you either. If I choose to stay away I will, but not because she tells me to.”
“That’s not an option,” he replied immediately. “I don’t ever want you away from me.”
I looked over at him then. It was dark in the cab of the truck so his face was hidden in shadows but it didn’t matter. I knew everything there was to know about that face. I knew that just beneath his right ear was where a cheetah had taken a chunk out of his skin. It should have either killed him or at the very least left a grisly scar, but because he was a Shadow Shifter, it had done neither. I knew there was a muscle in his jaw that ticked whenever he was getting angry and that his thick eyebrows would furrow just before he shifted into his cat. I also knew that staring at him now and remembering all that was a colossal mistake.
“This all seems so pointless sometimes,” I admitted. “Us coming here trying to live among the humans, trying to gain acceptance. Why go through all of that when beneath it all we’restill different, we’re still outsiders from the jungle? We still don’t belong.”
“You belong wherever you want to be, Lidia. You can do whatever you want to do. The choice is and always will be yours.”
I let those words marinate, wondering how I felt about Brayden saying them.
“As long as I choose what you want,” I said before thinking. “I can be a teacher if I go with you and become an Assembly guard first. I can stay in school as long as I date who you want me to.”
The truck swerved, pulling over onto the side of the road so fast I was lucky to be strapped in.
“Let’s get one thing straight,” Brayden said, turning sideways in his seat so he could face me. “I’ve never told you what to do or how to do it, never said you couldn’t be what you wanted. I came to this school to support you and to be with you and I haven’t left you because I want you to know that you have my support regardless of what you choose to do with your life.”
I opened my mouth to speak but Brayden put his hand over it.
“I’m not finished,” he told me. “As far as who you can date, the truth of the matter is I don’t want you dating anyone.”
Silence filled the cab.
“Anyone but me, that is.”
I sighed, turning away from him. “Take me back to my car, please.”
“After,” he said simply, a growl quickly following the words as he leaned over the console.
I think I knew what he was going to do. On some level I wanted it. The way one of his hands went to the back of my neck, pulling my face to his, and the other grasping my shoulder to hold me still, was breathtaking so I didn’t speak immediately. I also didn’t speak when his lips touched mine, because, well, his lips were on mine and despite all the conflict roaring through my body, this one thing was true. I liked Brayden’s lips on mine.
The kiss was hot and determined, hungry and demanding. His tongue thrust possessively into my mouth, I tilted my head to accept, to devour. Teeth and lips and moans and growls all came together to fill the cab of the truck with the thickest, sweetest-smelling aroma I’d ever imagined. With every inhale my body temperature soared. I wanted, needed more.
And Brayden pulled away.
He hesitated for a second like he wanted to go another round. I had to admit that I wouldn’t have argued that if he did. But the way he looked at me was like he wanted to say something more, maybe yell or shake me, or possibly—please, just one more time—kiss me into submission. My breasts tingled with that thought.
He slid back over to sit rigid in the driver’s seat, both hands gripping the steering wheel with enough intensity to whiten his knuckles. Then he drove off, leaving me to wonder and to want. I moved as close to the door as I could, turning my head until my neck
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