Page 38 of Wraith

Chapter Thirty-Six

She must have staredout the darkened window for three hours before dragging herself to the bed to fall asleep. I kept my ass in the chair. I may have put aside the deep-rooted feeling that the girl wants me dead but something still lingers there. How fucked is this situation? The realization that my little tiger is Lara. I’ve put many men in choke holds, knocked them out in three seconds flat. But having my hands around her neck, choking her, I thought for sure I went too far and killed her. “He wouldn’t just come walking through the door.” Her voice breaks into my tormented memories making me turn my gaze from the door over to her where she sits on the bed, now propped up on her elbow facingme.

“Maybe. Maybe not. I don’t have much else to do though now doI?”

“Guessnot.”

“Get anysleep?”

“Not even a second.” She lets out a sigh and pushes herself further up on the mattress. The blanket slides down giving my eyes access to the top half of her body. The moon shining in along with the light from the small kerosene lamp, showcases her tits nicely. Even if they are covered in the unflattering bra and tee shirt she wears. I catch the moment she sees me ogling her chest and find myself for the first time feeling like an asshole for theact.

“I shouldn’t have done what I did. Even with the need to save your life. I could have gone about it so differently.” I find myself blurting out the words. Her sharp intake of breath fills the quiet cabin, piercing my ears. Shifting from my chair I find myself kneeling before her. “I tried to make it right but it wasn’t enough. Not even fucking close.” Her chest heaves up and down in heavy pants. I chance touching her hands, clasping them in mine. “Tellme.”

“Tellyou?”

“Tell me what to do to try and make it up to you. Tell me how to wipe away our past. This shit life that was forced on the both of us.” My head bows onto the bed as if lying myself at her lap, at her mercy, but she gives me none. She pulls her hands from me, making my stomachplummet.

“When I find out, I will let you know. Until then, let’s just try to staybreathing.”

“Did I ruin you?” She spins on me, fury painted all over herfeatures.

“Ha! You give yourself too much credit,Wraith.” She spits my name in a hiss. “Believe me, you might have done many things, but ruining me isn’t one of them.” Her body is off the bed in seconds, pacing the length of the confined room. “I can’t believe you!” Her hands toss up into the air. “Ruin me,” she mutters under her breath, keeping up the brisk steps to one end of the cabin then back. “Fuckingunbelievable.”

“Listen, I onlymeant—”

“Oh no, I know what you meant. You think that since you took…since you…oh fuck!” she yells out in frustration. Her hands once again going into the air, only this time they stay as if she is praying to the havens above. Her face stares up at the log celling. I watch as her lips move and she speaks in a soft whisper, soft enough for me to not be able to hear what comes out. Approaching her at this moment would to be a complete violation of privacy if not a death wish. Willing to take the risk of her changing her mind on not wanting to kill me, I find myself walking toward her, towering over her small thin frame. I dare not touch her. Not without her permission, but close enough that when she lets her hands down and turns my way I feel the hot wisps of her breath ghosting my naked chest. “You’re too close,” she rasps, her body leaning backward as if she is going to step away but she doesn’t. My eyes widen as her slender fingers hesitantly reach out to touch my chest. Before I have a chance to feel her touch, she yanks them back as if I have burnedher.

“It’s okay.” My voice barely makes it past my suddenly dry throat. Her gaze flicks from my chest to my face as if she is asking for visual conformation. I give her with a small nod and once more, like she is about to touch a venomous snake, she reaches out, connecting with my skin. The contact causes me to suck in a lung full of air through my nose, holding it, waiting to see what she will do next. What she does has my cock hardening to unbearable lengths. Her left-hand joins in with her right and they both glide along my chest through the smattering of hair between mypecks.

“You may have.” Her voice so soft I nearly miss it through the pulsing in myears.

“I’m—”

“You weren’t bad.” Her words cut me off almost making melaugh.

“Well, thanks. I guess.” Her hand smacks me now, but continues dragging slow patterns along my bare flesh. Dropping dangerouslylow.

“I meant. You weren’t mean, back then. You didn’t hurt me like you could have. Like others would have. Like Trenton would have.” As if being punched in the gut my memory goes back to the day I killed thatmotherfucker.

“I killed him.” Her quick intake of breath lets me know she didn’t know what happened, “I overheard that he was planning on taking you from me. I wouldn’t let ithappen.”

“What about Roman? I’ve heard the rumors. I know about the list, but how? How did you take them alldown?”

“Now that, is a longstory.”

She shakes her head and steps away from me, going to the bed to get comfortable. “Well, then I guess you better get totalking.”

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