Dust of My Wings by Carrie Ann Ryan Read Free Book Online

take the explanation at face value and merely nodded then left, and that was that. Everything, on paper anyway, was normal; it had just been a freak windstorm that damaged a building and left some patrons with mild cuts and bruises.
    Lily let out a breath and gripped the edge of the sink. Her body tingled from the energy flowing through her. She’d lied to the other girls. She didn’t feel normal. She felt…
    Well, Lily didn’t know how she felt. Just weird.
    She looked into the fogging mirror and hardly recognized herself. Her face was flushed and her eyes bright. Her chestnut hair was in a tangle.
    What the hell had happened?
    She shook her head. There wasn’t anything she could do about it now. She needed to shower, clean up her mess, and then go to sleep. She was still going to meet Jamie in the morning to play dominos.
    The hot spray felt soothing against her skin as she stepped into the shower stream. Though her body ached and she could have fallen into bed and never come out, she needed to go to the park tomorrow with Jamie. Playing gave her a release from the pressure that assaulted her throughout the week, a release she didn’t get anywhere else.
    Especially from a man.
    The water trailed down her breasts, stomach and then pooled at her feet. She closed her eyes and moaned at the soreness that spread across her back and sides. She needed to relax. She closed her eyes, and images of a dark-haired stranger with strong hands assailed her. She imagined his hands replacing the water droplets and splayed across her skin. Her breath picked up as her stranger pulled her closer and pressed his mouth to hers. Her head rolled back as she imagined his hands working her nipples and then going lower. Her hand lowered to her mound of its own accord, and she touched herself, shocked at the heat. She rubbed her body against her hand and thought of her stranger’s deep voice resonating naughty words that left chills on her skin.
    Just as she was about to press herself closer into her hand, the water turned cold, and she gasped.
    Darn it. She couldn’t even get off in her mind.
    She rinsed the last of the soap out of her hair and turned off the water. She toweled off and then hobbled to her room. Once dressed in some comfy sweats and a tank, she went to the kitchen to get her cleaning supplies. It wasn’t as if she could just leave the mess in the living room.
    God. She really did need a life.
    With a groan, she went back into the living room and cleaned up every speck of dirt and grime she might have left. Her friends said she had OCD and, frankly, she agreed with them, but she could still function in the real world with it. She just liked order.
    Her muscles ached as she scrubbed out the last of the dirt and put everything away. Her house could probably use another deep cleaning, as it had been two weeks since she’d last done it, but she was too tired to think, let alone clean.
    Like a zombie, she dragged herself to her room and pulled back her down comforter. She lay down, turned off her side table lamp, and closed her eyes. Though her body pulsated with an unfamiliar energy, she was just too tired to deal with it. Maybe in the morning things would make more sense. As she drifted off to sleep, an ice-blue-eyed stranger filled her thoughts, and she smiled.
    Yes, he would be a perfect stranger to meet. If only he existed.

 
     
    Chapter 5
     
     
    Shade pulled his bike up to the curb at the park and turned it off, the vibrations still rumbling through his body. He loved his bike. It was like flying, just on wheels. He always felt so confined in a car, but with his bike, he felt free—like with his wings.
    He took off his helmet and shook out his shoulder-length black hair. He’d almost tied it back but decided against it. The long locks could hide his face better if he were truly seeking out answers and didn’t want to be remembered; people would remember the hair and not his face.
    A human woman bumped into his side