AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I’m not hungry fortheirlust, Brynlee.” His eyes were hot.
His touch was, too.
“If you want to drink from me, you should just ask,” I said.
“I wish I could.” He eased me off the barstool, then led me toward the door. When I leaned against him, he tucked me closer to his side.
As much as I got irritated with him, I was starting to understand Sebastian Villin.
He wasn’t staying away from me because he didn’t want me. He wasn’t even staying away from me because he didn’twantto want me.
He was staying away from me because he was afraid of losing his freedom. Of being rejected by me, not in the current moment, but at a future time.
Of beinghurt.
And who wasn’t afraid of being hurt?
I couldn’t hold his fear against him any more than I could fix it myself.
But he’d proven when he came to my door with a present that he was willing to fight when he absolutely had to. He had to eat, so he’d agreed to be my friend.
What would it take before he decided he absolutely had to be my boyfriend? Or my fiancé? Or my husband? Or my mate?
I wasn’t sure.
I also wasn’t sure I wanted to know.
There was a real possibility that he would never feel that certain about me, and that was scary, too. I wasn’t the kind of girl whowould stick with a guy who refused to commit to me. I’d give him time to make up his mind, and if he didn’t, I would leave.
It would hurt like hell, but I reallywasstill human. And that meant I didn’t have a decade or two to waste with someone who would never decide he wanted to spend his immortal life with me.
But, I also wasn’t in a hurry.
I was stuck with him for a whole year, whether I liked it or not. Afterward, Jasper and Elijah, my other two brothers, would take turns with August in trying to keep me prisoner. I hadn’t been able to get away from August, but I was confident I could sneak out from under Eli’s or Jasper’s nose if I was smart about it.
And ultimately, Anastasia’s plan did have merit. I’d give it my best shot before I decided to walk away if Bash still wasn’t up for spending our lives together.
It would be difficult to get away from him, too, considering he said he could track me, but I’d cross that road when I got there.
The drive back to his house was relaxing, with his usual classical music playing quietly. I rolled the window down, and let the wind have its way with my hair.
My eyes closed, and I breathed in out, enjoying the rush of it.
Scale Ridge was beautiful.
One of the hardest things about being born human, while surrounded by dragon shifters, was that I’d never know what it felt like to fly. The dragons lived for it. They did whatever they had to in order to maintain their freedom—even staying single when their bodies and magic urged them to take mates—because of how much they loved the sky.
I wanted that for myself.
That freedom.
That bliss.
Bash’s hand brushed my thigh, and I didn’t let myself react to the contact. He felt good, but I didn’t want to spook him.
As silly as it should’ve been to think of a massive, muscular man asscared, it was the truth. And it wasn’t silly. Not to me.
Something had obviously hurt him in the past. I didn’t know what, and couldn’t ask, but I knew that was true.
