Stone Predator - Kennedy Harkins (100 books to read in a lifetime .TXT) 📗

grows to an unreasonable length, but what can I say? The scenery is beautiful.
“Ellen called,” a soft voice came from behind me. I whirled to see Ace sitting alone in the dark with his head dipped forward. It would have looked peaceful if his muscles weren’t tenser than cement. “She wanted to know if you needed a change of clothes for our day together.”
Shit. The jig was up, I could feel myself trembling at the barely controlled fury in his posture and voice. I’d been too blinded with my need for revenge to notice that I was playing with fire. Ace would see Charles as another predator closing in on his territory. On a more human note Ace would see Charles as a threat to me. No matter how friendly he was, he was still a vampire. It was pointless to think that Ace didn’t already know who I had spent my day with, I hadn’t thought about scent when I’d come back without showering extensively.
What must he think? That I’m having sex with a vampire? Guilt flooded me to my core. I shouldn’t have lied to him, even if it would have meant taking the backseat. He’d trusted me, and I’d betrayed that trust. I felt physically sick, like someone had punched me in the stomach.
I sat next to him on the leather couch, he turned away from me and the muscles in his back tightened under my touch.
“Ace, I-”
He whirled around to capture my face in his hands. His eyes were ten times lighter than his usual color. It felt like I was truly staring into an animals eyes. My heart clenched at the thought that I’d upset him to the point of losing control.
“Do you have any idea what was going through my head all day?” He hissed, “I looked for you everywhere. Then you walk through that door smelling like...” A choking sound came from his throat. He was trying very hard not to growl at me or to lose command of his inner wolf.
I leaned my forehead against his and closed my eyes, a sign of submission. The war for dominance would have to wait. I couldn’t just watch him struggle knowing there was something I could do to stop it. I’d probably pay for this in the long run, but I’ll deal with that later. Much later, if I have anything to say about it.
“I’m sorry,” I breathed, not daring to open my eyes.
“To be sorry you have to wish you’d done things differently. I see you lying to me and putting yourself in constant danger in the very near future. Again and again.” His voice was still a little strangled, but it was obvious me standing down had helped.
“How about this? I didn’t mean to hurt you in the process of getting what I wanted.” I opened my eyes and gazed into light emerald pools. We stared at each other for a long time before he broke the silence.
“I know you didn’t,” he breathed. I reached up and caressed his cheek. He leaned into my touch.
“Are you...still mad?” It seemed childish to ask, and not to mention the way it came out sounded like I was talking to my father after being caught out after curfew.
“Yes.”
“Oh.” He pulled my head to his chest, and held me tightly, like he was afraid to let me go. I wrapped my arms around his waist and squeezed him just as hard. “Anything I can do to help with that?”
“I’ll let you know,” he whispered into my ear. I felt shivers go down my spine at his closeness, not at all unpleasant. I raised my head so that our noses were touching. The heat radiating from his body was warming me to my core. I could tell that the fight was over, and we’d both come out intact. It wouldn’t be the last time.
I locked gazes with him and proceeded to say what I should have this morning. “I need to find him. I can’t just...let him get away with this. I don’t know why, but I can’t. I didn’t know her, I didn’t even like her. It doesn’t matter, no one deserves what she got. And I need to make him pay. If you keep me away from this...I’ll lose it.” There it was, what I should have told him from the beginning. He brushed a tear away from my face that I hadn’t even realized was there.
“I will let you do this, and the pack will help, but not at the expense of your safety. You don’t do anything without me. Understood?” His tone was very final, but it was the best offer I’d heard all day and I nodded vigorously.
His lips crushed into mine and I smiled, I was definitely getting better at this whole ‘compromise’ thing.
Captive

“Wake up, trouble maker,” Ace’s voice rang from just outside my consciousness. I frowned, ‘waking up’ sounded like a bad idea. No, going back to sleep was a better course of action.
“Go. Away.” I peeked through one eye and saw Ace looming over me with his arms crossed. I sighed, “You’re still here.”
“My bed,” he pointed out with a grin. I scooted to the center of the bed and threw my arms and legs out so I claim my territory.
“My bed.”
“You do seem to sleep in it more than I do.” My face heated up, much to my mortification, he laughed at my embarrassment. “No need to be ashamed, I like waking up to see you there,” he said seductively.
“I bet you do,” I giggled, as I searched the room for the bag of clothes I’d brought with me. I pulled on my favorite tight fitting jeans and a red top. I turned around to see Ace leaning against the wall watching me change out of my PJ’s.
“Enjoying the show?” I raised an eyebrow. He smiled and followed me out the door. I hadn’t thought about what we were doing.
“Where are we going?” I asked idly. It didn’t really matter to me, I was up for any thing as long as it meant spending the day with Ace.
“I’m taking you to work,” when he noticed how my face fell he added, “Then I’m going to stick around and see how you make a living.”
My whole day brightened at the prospect of getting paid to hang out with Ace. “I hope you won’t prove to be a distraction.”
I felt his hot breath on my neck, “I’ll be on my best behavior.” I turned back to to push him out of my personal space and found myself trapped in his embrace. I rested my hands on his chest and felt his muscles relax under my touch.
“This is behaving? What will the nurses think?” I teased.
“If half the rumors about the nurses at that hospital are true, I can’t imagine they’d mind.”
I swatted the back of his head, “It’s not just the nurses! It’s fun having shameful relations with patients. Just last week-” I was cut off with an outraged growl, and I couldn’t contain myself anymore, I completely lost it. My whole body convulsed with laughter, I couldn’t stop! Ace’s arms were the only thing holding me up right. Ace had actually gotten jealous, because he believed that I had been having casual sex with my subjects! “You knew I was joking, right?” I asked, suddenly serious. He looked away from my gaze, “Ace-”
“I over reacted,” he said, slightly ashamed. I took his face in my hands. I couldn’t even begin to imagine how  hard it must be to be a werewolf. You can’t get close to people for fear of hurting them if you lose control. All it takes is one moment of bad judgment or someone pushing you too far, and you do something you spend the rest of your incredibly long life hating yourself for what you did. It kind of reminded me of my job.
“You’re cute when you’re jealous,” I cooed, trying to make him feel better about his out burst.
“Jealous?” He scoffed, “Absurd.” I almost fell back into my laughing fit. Men, whether they howl at the moon or not, are all the same. I leaned in and rested my lips gently against his for a few seconds before pulling away. He looked disappointed at my sudden retreat.
“I’m late,” he opened his mouth to protest, “and you promised to be on you’re best behavior.”
***
True to his word, Ace shadowed me the whole day. It was a little unpleasantly uncomfortable when we visited Mr. Melson, but that rest of the day was amazing. It was a wonder that I got through all my work with Ace stopping me every ten minutes for a heated kissing session. Not that I’m complaining, it beats paperwork any day.
I was so happy with the last few hours that I even let him drive. He was very surprised, but pleased none-the-less.
Arriving at home, well his home, we noticed the lights were on. I spent so much time there it was almost like my home.
“Is Mel home?” I asked curiously. She’d been spending a lot of time at her new friends houses’, thanks to my great advise. I’m just cool like that.
He shook his head slowly, “She said she was staying over at Sabrina’s.”
“I’ll get the bat,” I smiled. It was baffling how safe I felt around him, even a strange intruder in our home didn’t bother me! Of course who would really worry about burglars when in the presence of a werewolf? It’s just not good sense.
He looked at me sternly, “Stay here.”
I shook my head, “Not a chance. If they finish you off, I really have no chance of escape anyway.” I got out of the car and started walking towards the house, with or without him. A warm hand grabbed my arm and pulled me back.
His green eyes showed were neon in the dark as they bore into mine, “Stay behind me.” I decided for a compromise, wrapped both my arms around his waist, and rested my head on his chest as we entered the house.
As soon as we were across the threshold, Ace visibly relaxed, he obviously recognized the scent. I could smell anything but Ace’s house, of course that was probably a human thing. We walked into the living room and my eyes widened, there were at least fifteen people in there! Someone forgot to send me an invitation to the werewolf convention. Just like always, I could just tell they were all wolves. My senses have gone way up for that sort of thing.
It was a mix of men and women, more men though, and every woman was standing by a man, were some men stood alone. In the middle of the room a man was tied to a chair, I couldn’t see his face, his back was to us. His bare back, he was shirtless.
“Is this