AllFreeNovel
Share Us
They were proving popular, and opening avenues of discussion that had been closed for far too long. Reading some of the comments made his day brighter, knowing that he was helping others tread carefully along the same path he was trying to guide Caera on.
He’d made steps in that direction as well.
After seeing the shithole she called an apartment, he had made it absolutely clear that she would not be returning there. Ever. It had taken less than two hours to pack up her belongings and move her—temporarily, permanently—into his house.
When he’d seen the majority of her possessions were books, he understood what reading meant to her. All those books—all the romance she thought she could never have—were her escape route from a world she believed didn’t want her. Somewhere along the line, she’d lost her passion for reading, growing despondent at the idea of being alone for the rest of her life.
Now she had him, and although he’d almost dropped the ball at Avalon, Saul was determined to make her see that he wasn’t going anywhere. After asking a friend, he’d discovered one of his favorite bookshops in downtown Phoenix needed a fresh infusion of enthusiastic blood, and in an hour, his little rabbit would be taking the first steps toward accepting her first job offer.
Of course, Caera’s nerves were threatening to overwhelm her, and his sweet bunny had sprouted sharp teeth over the last two days. Teeth she was growing brave enough to use when she couldn’t stem the anxiety.
“Come on, Caera!” Saul yelled up the stairs. “We’re going to be late.”
A muffled response drifted back down to him, making him smile. Oh yes, she was pissed. Unfortunately for her, she needed to find her place in society, even if it was just as simple as being able to go to the store for bread without breaking down.
It probably wasn’t helping matters that she’d discovered her kinky side and wanted to explore it more, while he was reserved about returning to Avalon with her triggers still primed to fire.
“Five seconds, bunny…” He heard footsteps padding along the upstairs hallway. “Five…four…three…”
As always, Caera took his breath away when she appeared at the top of the steps. She looked incredibly young with not even a dusting of makeup on her flushed cheeks. Although he’d told her the interview was casual, she’d made an effort to dress for it with a pretty green sweater, black pants, and black flats. Her hair was a golden waterfall, cascading over her shoulders.
“Look at you,” he murmured as she descended. “Stunning.”
One day at a time, her weight was creeping up. Maybe it wasn’t noticeable to some people, but his keen eye could see the changes in her body, the way the sweater didn’t hang on her the way it used to. She was losing the gauntness in her face, the pockets of shadow where her skin was too taut over her facial structure, and more often than not, she wore a radiant glow like a badge of health.
“Please don’t make me do this, Saul,” she pleaded when she reached him.
Unable to resist, he bent his head and brushed his mouth over pouting lips. “We’re taking a trip to a bookstore to meet someone new,” he explained for the fifteenth time that day. “If you like Beryl and Beryl likes you, then you have an opportunity to explore the woman you could—and should—be. I’m not driving you to the Spanish Inquisition, little rabbit.”
“Sure feels like it.”
He nipped her lip, then straightened. “You have my permission to bitch about how horrible I am on the way into the city. I’ll even agree with half of what you say, but you’re going to meet Beryl, and you’re going to smile and look beautiful while doing so.” He tapped his finger on her nose. “If I have to gas you with nitrous oxide, I will.”
“Seriously?”
Rolling his eyes, he grabbed her hand and dragged her toward the door. “Pretty sure I don’t have access to laughing gas, Caera. I’m going to be right there in the store with you, and I’m not going to sneak out and drive away. Just give it ten minutes, okay? We can take a look around, find some books you like, and say hello to Beryl.”
“I’m not ready to go out there!”
Ordinarily, that argument might have worked in her favor, but today… “Little rabbit, you already go out there. What scares you is going to a new place, with new people, and experiencing new situations. It’s Avalon all over again, and you survived that. Hell, you enjoyed yourself for most of the night.”
“That’s not the point,” she protested.
“It absolutely is.” Saul opened the front door and pulled her through, then closed and locked it behind them. His stubbornness butted against her anxiety like two mountain goats locking horns. “Until you open yourself to new experiences and embrace what they offer you, you’re always going to be scared.”
“Please can we just stay home?” Caera’s fingers slipped into his waistband, trying her damnedest to slow him down as he walked, but his strength outmatched her determination. “Saul, please. I’ll make dinner, I-I’ll…you can do the butt stuff!” she blurted.
He almost missed a step. Almost. It was a very tempting offer, one he’d be an idiot to turn down, but it was a fine day to be stupid. Cultivating her future was more important than rewarding his own selfish desires. “I will add butt stuff to tonight’s list of exciting things to do.”
“Goddamn it,” she muttered, then tripped over her feet as he continued the short trek to his jeep.
He paused and turned, breaking her hold on his trousers, and scooped her up to avoid any more procrastination. If she didn’t behave herself, all her squirming and wriggling would achieve was a stinging bottom, possibly a mouthful of his cock. “Breathe in, little rabbit.”
“What?”
“Breathe in to the count of three, hold for three, exhale for three,” he ordered gently, reaching his vehicle a lot faster than he would have with her in tow. “I can hear your breathing change, Caera, and you’re panicking. There’s no need to, because we’re going on a quick trip to a bookstore. Just think of it as a shopping spree. All the books you can read in one place.”
Her finger curled into his jacket. “I don’t like reading anymore.”
