ClosertoFire by Alexis Reed Read Free Book Online Page A

say?” he asked gently.
    Lily shook her head. “I never told her. I couldn’t. But I
figured it out that night—she was right. She wasn’t keeping me away from the
evils of the world. She was keeping the world safe from me.”
    After a brief silence, Darek asked, “The letter-jacket dork.
Did he survive?”
    Surprised, Lily glanced up at him. “Survive? Yeah… Of course
he survived. He did have to change schools,” Lily said. Remembering a little
detail, she tried hard to suppress a smile. “It didn’t help his reputation that
his name was Peter Cockburn.”
    He roared with laughter. Lily giggled guiltily. It was a
long moment before he regained his composure.
    “You’re kidding, right?” He swiped moisture from his eyes.
    “I’ll swear it on a stack of bibles,” she replied, the
corners of her mouth twitching.
    “Alas, poor Peter,” he joked, coughing.
    “Anyway, I learned my lesson. Stay the hell away from men.
It wasn’t all that difficult, actually. I mean, I was curious sometimes, but I
never met anybody I really wanted to… What?”
    Darek was staring at her, open-mouthed.
    “What is it?”
    “So you’re serious?” he managed. “You never again… And
you’re honestly…?”
    “A virgin. Yes. Like I told you.” She punctuated each word
with her hands. She dropped her head back and looked up at the ceiling. How
stupid was she, anyway? She’d met the first guy—okay, guys —she’d ever
wanted to sleep with, and she’d started her Great Seduction by telling one of
them first that she was barren and then that she was a virgin. Brilliant.
    When she looked back at Darek, he was gazing at her with
something like reverence. Wary, she crossed her arms over her breasts, holding
the bedspread tightly.
    “Oh man,” he said, running a hand through her hair
possessively. “Bane was right. You’re perfect. Absolutely perfect.”
    He leaned forward until his gaze was level with hers. “I
want to be first then.” His low, velvet voice gave her goose bumps. With one
finger, he tugged at the top of the bedspread.
    “Uh-huh,” she said, pushing his hand away. “How do I know
you won’t—”
    “End up like Peter Cockhead?” he finished, grinning.
“Because I’m not like him and neither is Bane.”
    “That’s another thing,” Lily said, waving her hand toward
the door to the adjoining room. “I don’t understand it. I want you. I want him
too. What the hell…?”
    He laid his hand on her thigh. “Maybe you’re meant to be
with both of us.”
    Lily gaped at him. “Say again?”
    His dark eyes were sympathetic. “What does your heart say?”
He slid his hand up her thigh, eliciting a moan from her. “What does your body
say?”
    “I want you,” Lily whispered, clutching the covers. “I want
you so badly I can barely breathe. But this is insane . You grabbed me
off the street yesterday and today I need you like I need air. I want you on
me, in me, now . I want—”
    “Stop, Lily. Please.”
    Lily stopped, agape. His irises were crimson, lit from
within. She should be frightened, she supposed, but she wasn’t. If anything, he
was sexier like this, something savage, full of longing.
    “I know you’re afraid. What you’re feeling—it’s not human.
Neither am I and neither is Bane,” he said.
    Lily coughed. “What are you?”
    “I think the latest name for Bane and me is ‘shape-shifter’.”
    “Okay,” she said, struggling to take all of this in. “Is
that what I am?”
    He shook his head, grasping her arm and urging her to lie
down next to him. She did, turning on her side to face him, and he propped
himself up on one elbow, looking down at her. With one finger, he pulled the
covers down to her navel. Shivering with excitement, Lily watched his finger
trace the edge of her nipple. Her breasts felt heavy, her skin hot and tight.
The questions began to fade in her mind and her eyes drifted closed.
    “I don’t think so,” Darek answered, nuzzling her neck.