Read Online Red Snow Bride (Wolf Brides Book 2) by T. S. Joyce - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: T. S. Joyce
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today I saw more skin on your sister-in-law than I’ve ever seen of any woman.” Her almond shaped eyes met mine. “When are you planning on leaving?”
“Tomorrow morning. We have to get back to plant the crops and one of Kristina’s friends is heavy with child. She aims to be there for the birth and I wouldn’t ask her to stay any longer. It’s a long trip back. Do you need more time to think on it?”
She exhaled long and slow and settled into the warmth of my jacket. The wolf inside of me relaxed with her acceptance of the small gift. It was the first positive feeling I’d drawn from him in years and an unfamiliar fear of loss echoed through me at the thought of her turning me down. Lorelei was so beautiful, sitting here on my parent’s rocking chair with the moonlight kissing her cheeks. Dark tendrils of hair hung down in her face like the waves of a babbling creek. Her nose was small and elegant and her lips full on the bottom. Perfect for nibbling. I hadn’t seen her smile much, but when she’d graced me with the tiny ones, my heart had thundered in ways I hadn’t felt since Anna had been alive. She was much too skinny, but from the way her stomach had been rumbling earlier today, it was probably from the lack of funds to eat well.
Her scandal was bad, awful in fact, but she’d survived it and nobody in Colorado Springs would care overly much about the affairs of city society. She’d be safer there, with me. Hell, who was I kidding? I was bringing her to a wolf den without a warm place to sleep. I was a horrible man for doing this to her, but I couldn’t drag myself away from her living in that poor house. I’d find a way to keep her comfortable.
“I’ll have your answer by tomorrow morning then,” she said quietly.
To hide my disappointment, I looked away. Why couldn’t she just say yes so I wouldn’t have to worry over it all night? Sleep would be unattainable now with the risk of this marriage not working out.
The clomping of horse’s hooves sounded from far away. It must be a husband returning late from work or a show to be out this late hour. Or maybe it was someone returning from a drink at one of the nearby taverns. The gently rocking rhythm settled me, but as the carriage stopped in front of Da’s house, my spine stiffened again. Instincts were a very serious part of daily life, and a wise werewolf listened when they were blaring like the blast of a steam engine whistle.
A man stepped out of a black carriage with a gold letter D written in fine print over the door. The driver was dressed in black from boot to top hat and when the door opened, a blond haired man in silk suites stepped from it.
The smell of Lorelei’s fear was bitter and made me want to kill the man who’d caused her reaction. “Your husband?” I asked.
“Not anymore,” she said, standing. “What’re you doing here, Daniel?”
My jacket slipped from her legs, but I caught it before it brushed the cold wooden planks beneath us. She hid her quaking fists well but the tiny vibrations in the air had a sound. I reached out and held her hand in mine and it was warm against my skin. She looked up with wide eyes but didn’t push me away.
“You have no place here,” I said, sliding my gaze to him. “Be on your way.”
His icy eyes narrowed. You could tell a lot from a man’s eyes and his held nothing. No fear, no feeling. He was a dangerous creature with a wicked soul. I pulled Lorelei behind my back.
He pressed the toe of his polished shoe casually against the bottom step. “My spies told me you came here tonight and I found myself curious about what you were doing with people above your new station.”
Lorelei lifted her chin and squeezed my hand gently. “They aren’t above my station. They’re my new family. You moved on and so have I.”
I was family? Well if that wasn’t what turned my insides to fire in a bitter winter, I didn’t know what did. “Mr., she ain’t your wife no more so you
“Tomorrow morning. We have to get back to plant the crops and one of Kristina’s friends is heavy with child. She aims to be there for the birth and I wouldn’t ask her to stay any longer. It’s a long trip back. Do you need more time to think on it?”
She exhaled long and slow and settled into the warmth of my jacket. The wolf inside of me relaxed with her acceptance of the small gift. It was the first positive feeling I’d drawn from him in years and an unfamiliar fear of loss echoed through me at the thought of her turning me down. Lorelei was so beautiful, sitting here on my parent’s rocking chair with the moonlight kissing her cheeks. Dark tendrils of hair hung down in her face like the waves of a babbling creek. Her nose was small and elegant and her lips full on the bottom. Perfect for nibbling. I hadn’t seen her smile much, but when she’d graced me with the tiny ones, my heart had thundered in ways I hadn’t felt since Anna had been alive. She was much too skinny, but from the way her stomach had been rumbling earlier today, it was probably from the lack of funds to eat well.
Her scandal was bad, awful in fact, but she’d survived it and nobody in Colorado Springs would care overly much about the affairs of city society. She’d be safer there, with me. Hell, who was I kidding? I was bringing her to a wolf den without a warm place to sleep. I was a horrible man for doing this to her, but I couldn’t drag myself away from her living in that poor house. I’d find a way to keep her comfortable.
“I’ll have your answer by tomorrow morning then,” she said quietly.
To hide my disappointment, I looked away. Why couldn’t she just say yes so I wouldn’t have to worry over it all night? Sleep would be unattainable now with the risk of this marriage not working out.
The clomping of horse’s hooves sounded from far away. It must be a husband returning late from work or a show to be out this late hour. Or maybe it was someone returning from a drink at one of the nearby taverns. The gently rocking rhythm settled me, but as the carriage stopped in front of Da’s house, my spine stiffened again. Instincts were a very serious part of daily life, and a wise werewolf listened when they were blaring like the blast of a steam engine whistle.
A man stepped out of a black carriage with a gold letter D written in fine print over the door. The driver was dressed in black from boot to top hat and when the door opened, a blond haired man in silk suites stepped from it.
The smell of Lorelei’s fear was bitter and made me want to kill the man who’d caused her reaction. “Your husband?” I asked.
“Not anymore,” she said, standing. “What’re you doing here, Daniel?”
My jacket slipped from her legs, but I caught it before it brushed the cold wooden planks beneath us. She hid her quaking fists well but the tiny vibrations in the air had a sound. I reached out and held her hand in mine and it was warm against my skin. She looked up with wide eyes but didn’t push me away.
“You have no place here,” I said, sliding my gaze to him. “Be on your way.”
His icy eyes narrowed. You could tell a lot from a man’s eyes and his held nothing. No fear, no feeling. He was a dangerous creature with a wicked soul. I pulled Lorelei behind my back.
He pressed the toe of his polished shoe casually against the bottom step. “My spies told me you came here tonight and I found myself curious about what you were doing with people above your new station.”
Lorelei lifted her chin and squeezed my hand gently. “They aren’t above my station. They’re my new family. You moved on and so have I.”
I was family? Well if that wasn’t what turned my insides to fire in a bitter winter, I didn’t know what did. “Mr., she ain’t your wife no more so you
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