Page 21 of Revenant

I’m breathing roughly as I scan his lean frame. Up close, his shoulders are broader than I remember, his muscles bulkier, giving him a slightly menacing mien. Maybe I should be more wary of the changes, but it’s his eyes that capture me.

He looks at me like I’m his whole world, the reason for his existence, and it’s addicting as fuck.

Almost enough for me to forget that another woman was touching him…if she wasn’t standing behind him, glaring at me like she was contemplating the many ways she would like to murder me.

Chapter Six

JACESON

Pink hair. Heart-shaped face. Ruby red lips. A body that fills my dreams.

My world stops at the sight of her…and so does my heart. I don’t blink for a full minute, worried she’s a mirage that will disappear if I dare to breathe.

I step out of the food line, barely registering Crystal’s sharp voice as she screeches my name like a banshee. As I stalk toward Rue, my strides increase with each step until I’m sprinting across the room. I drop my tray onto the table with a clatter, so eager to have her in my arms that nothing else matters.

When she looks up at me with her big, teal eyes, something in my soul settles. Then my lips are on hers, my hunger for her like a craving that refuses to be denied. I take what I need to survive, the taste of her barely keeping me from hauling her into my lap and fucking her like a caveman.

She tastes like sin and heaven all rolled up into one delicious bundle.

I pull away reluctantly, but I can’t take more than a step back before my body refuses my commands. Each inch feels like my soul is being stretched thin. Dropping into the seat next to her, I straddle the bench sideways, sitting as close to her as humanly possible without dragging her into my lap. I wrap my hand around the back of her neck and press my forehead against hers, breathing in her soothing, smoky floral scent that no product can ever duplicate.

Fuck if I didn’t try.

Flowers, essential oils, candles—but nothing ever replicated her warm scent. Everything was a pale imitation. The only way Jameson could sleep was huffing the damn stuff like he had a drug habit. We’d gone back to sharing a room after Rue was taken, neither of us able to bear being alone.

Jameson is a fucking mess, his manic energy turning into pure pandemonium without her to keep him in check. Unfortunately, her absence fucked with his head. Instead of being a playful agent of chaos, he’s more of a menacing envoy of the devil with slightly murderous tendencies.

The other guys aren’t much better.

The only thing keeping us sane is knowing Rue is counting on us to rescue her.

“What are you?—”

“Jace.” Crystal purrs my name, cutting off Rue before she can finish speaking. The bitch drapes herself over my shoulder as she glances at Rue, unblinking in a way that reminds me too much of a snake about to strike. “Why don’t you introduce me to your little friend?”

It’s all I can do to contain my shudder of revulsion, feeling defiled when she keeps invading my space, no matter how many times I tell her I’m in a relationship. I ease away from her toxic touch, but the damage has been done. Rue’s face turns blank, her eyes locking on the hand caressing my shoulder. ThoughCrystal’s tone is all sugar and sweet, her nails dig almost cruelly into my skin, her possessiveness raising my hackles.

No matter how much I fucking try to avoid the girl, she keeps showing up wherever I go like a bad rash. I swear she tagged me like a beast she wants to bring down. I do my best not to make enemies, but she’s testing my patience.

I scowl menacingly at Crystal, but she pays me no mind. Her hard, green eyes are glaring such daggers at Rue that I’m surprised they don’t draw blood. When I shove the bitch away, Rue blinks and her eyebrows slowly rise. “Yeah, Jace. Introduce me to your friend.”

Rue pulls away from me, and it’s like she’s tearing off my skin. Frost tinges her voice, and I swear the temperature around me drops a good ten degrees.

Fucking hell.

I might not spend much time around the females of our species, but it doesn’t take a genius to recognize that too polite expression—I’m in deep shit.

I don’t give a fuck about Crystal, my focus is solely on Rue.

Only she matters.

I quickly drop my hand to her knee, clamping my fingers around it in warning…and because I can’t keep myself from touching her, still not convinced she isn’t a figment of my imagination. “This is Rue—the love of my life.”

A little furrow appears between Rue’s brows, and she breaks the standoff to peer at me with a perplexed, slightly bewildered expression. I will her to read the truth of my words in my eyes. We might have only known each other less than a week, but sometimes, a man just knows.

No other girl has ever drawn my interest.

Sure, I fucked them every once in a while with James, but I never sought them out on my own. I never understood theappeal. I could get off just as easily using my hand and not feel disgusted with myself afterward.

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