Redeemed by Becca Jameson Read Free Book Online Page A

sped between the trees, jumping over any obstacle, bounding as fast as he could to combat the stress he lived with daily.
    Stress that had increased incrementally in the last few hours. It had been a risk, outing himself. He’d lived with the pain of knowing Ashley was his for months, but somehow keeping that information to himself had been less scary than sharing the details with the entire world.
    Now he had a new set of problems. What if she turned him down? And more important, what if she didn’t?
    She brought a closet of skeletons he’d never fully understand. Sure, he’d researched the stresses Ashley would be facing after her return, but he had no way to comprehend the depth of her pain and suffering.
    He was afraid he’d never be able to give her what she would need.
    In the end, the best course of action might be to walk away, but he couldn’t bring himself to do that without at least trying. He owed it to himself, and to her.
    Evan ran hard. He pushed himself more than usual. He’d shifted more lately than ever before, finding that the only way to relieve even a small piece of his stress was to take off through the trees at a breakneck pace. The workouts did nothing to his libido, but at least he managed to sleep hard the few hours a night he allowed himself to slide between the sheets.
    He was restless. Every time he lay down he dreamed of Ashley, his imagination running wild with whatever his mind conjured she might be like. If he’d had every one of those dreams written in a diary, they would fill several volumes and still not do justice to what he assumed a true claiming would be like.
    He hadn’t slept with another woman, shifter or human, since meeting Ashley. That hadn’t slowed him down in the orgasm department. He masturbated to visions of Ashley daily, often more than once. Usually in the shower.
    Evan stopped running and skidded to a halt when he reached his car. He hadn’t realized he was back where he’d started until he’d nearly collided with the vehicle. He’d grown so accustomed to his route, he hadn’t thought about his location while he ran.
    Heaving for oxygen, Evan lay down on the ground next to his car and rested. If he’d been in human form, he’d have been sweating so hard, he’d be freezing. But in wolf form, he could only pant. He lay on the gravel and cocked his head toward the moon and the stars while he waited for his labored breathing to slow.
    When he could delay no longer, and found himself chilly even in his fur, he shifted, yanked open the car door, and jerked all his clothes back on, heedless of whether or not they were straight, backward, or right-side out.
    The car warmed rapidly as Evan rubbed his freezing hands on his jeans and waited for the windshield to clear.
    God, she was gorgeous. He closed his eyes. The memory he’d had of her undernourished frame, her lank hair, and her deep sad eyes had been shattered by the woman he’d seen tonight. She’d put on weight. She was still skinny, but healthy. Her eyes glowed brighter, a green he could get lost in. And her hair had shown in the light.
    Her smile, when she allowed herself to release it, brought tingles to his palms. He wanted to see that expression on her face more. Maybe it would erase some of the destruction.
    Oh, who the hell was he kidding? He didn’t know if she could ever overcome what she’d been through, and he had no idea if he was capable of rising to the task of her knight in shining armor.
    •●•
    Twenty minutes later, Evan was back at home. His coffee pot still sported the tiny orange light in the corner, indicating it had yet to time out and shut off. It would still be hot.
    He grabbed a mug, filled it, and sauntered down the hall. At the first door on the left he paused. He stared hard at the dark wood finish, wishing what lay beyond had never existed. But as had been his custom for months, he turned the knob, took a deep breath, and entered the spare bedroom. There was no bed. Hell,