Page 113 of The Hunt of Night

“Look at me.” His words are soft, but the order is firm.

Glancing at him, my throat dries out when I find an intensity in his eyes that only darkens the longer I look.

“I’m going to spend the rest of my life looking at you.” My teeth sink into my bottom lip as my neck warms, the feeling creeping up to my cheeks, and I turn away. “You like that, don’t you?”

I can’t even bring myself to imagine the color of my face as the heat increases, but I keep my eyes glued to the book in my grasp.

“You need to focus on the books,” I mutter, earning a snicker from him. I wave my book at him for good measure and he hums.

“Hmm, whatever you say, Dagger.”

We fall into a comfortable silence again, only the sound of turning pages echoing around us as we consume page after page. If Brody is irritated with me declining the music he offered, he doesn’t show it. I just can’t concentrate with anything on in the background. Although, it leaves me acutely aware of everything the man next to me is doing.

A hand sweeping through his hair, his tongue flicking out over his bottom lip, his legs spreading as he gets comfortable, revealing the outline of his…

Nope.

Focus, Addi.

It feels hopeless at this stage, but we have to find something.Anything.

Done with another book, I add it to the discard pile, and Brody silently offers me another. I take it from his grasp with a soft smile, watching as his attention goes back to the book in his lap.

Clearing my throat, I instantly have his attention. “Are you going to tell me about earlier?”

“Earlier?” he queries, line marks gathering between his brows.

“Whatever you were holding back in dance class,” I explain, and he goes still.

“Ah.” He scrubs at the back of his neck nervously.

“Ah,” I repeat, trying to bottle up the concern that instantly bubbles to the surface so I don’t overreact. I’m not sure if it works or not; either way, his shoulders sag and he speaks.

“I heard from my father while you were gone.”

No beating around the bush, then. It leaves me slightly impressed. “That sounds…joyous.”

He scoffs, sensing the sarcasm that attempts to hide my uncertainty. “Yeah…definitely not,” he retorts, running his hand through his hair with a sigh.

“I get the feeling what he said involves me,” I admit when he doesn’t explain straight away, and it earns me another scoff.

“You would be right. It’s actually what led me here,” he clarifies, tightening my chest as he still withholds exactly what was said.

“Here?” I ask, needing full disclosure, the book in my lap completely forgotten as my eyes drill into his.

“To the research.” Tension radiates from him and I can’t contain it any longer.

“Tell me.”

He nods, accepting my demand as he clears his throat, looking up to the ceiling for a brief moment before his gaze settles on me again. “He seems to think that if you continue to suppress the wolf in you, the chance of them forcing the fated mates has a higher success rate.”

His words hang in the air for what feels like an eternity before I finally remember how to use my tongue.

“So, if I find my wolf…”

Brody shrugs. “It’s no guarantee, but I wanted you to have options.”

I blink at him. One simple word and it makes me falter. Heat creeps over my skin again, but this time, it’s not with shyness or desire. No. It feels a little like embarrassment.

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