Page 34 of Red

“A ring would suffice, you know,” I kid, but my traitorous voice revealing my emotions.

He roars with laughter as his head lolls back against the back of the couch. I take a mental picture—He never looked better to me.

“You were very upset the other day when I first approached you,” Alex says a bit later after thedinner’s over. “What happened?”

“Oh, it’s stupid!”

“Baby, nothing that made you cry is stupid to me.” He caresses my curls as I embrace him with the movie playing in the background.

Why is this supposed monster the sweetest person I’ve ever met?

I tell him the history of my friendship with Lana, our roommate dynamic, and my life back in Chicago. I also open up about my childhood, the estranged relationship I have with my Mom, and how I came about to move out here.

Alex listens, seeming genuinely interested, only interrupting with additional questions, as we continue snuggling on the couch. It feels so normal and so good to be with him, I don’t ever want this to end.

Shit! I think I might be falling for him.

It might be only lust… or whatever other supernatural force is driving us together. But he does make me happy; happier than I have ever been, actually.

“Thank you for today,” I whisper into his chest. I figure he doesn’t normally do that.

He buries his snout in my hair. “I’m sorry we can’t go out in public together.”

“Are you joking?!” I lift my eyes on him. “This is my favorite kind of date!”

“Is it really?” His tail is wagging, and I can’thelp but giggle at how adorable he is.

“Yeah, most definitely.”

“You’ve never had one like that with him,” he points out.

My heart drops when I realize he must have seen me with Dean so many times.

I sigh. “That’s because I didn’t have enough of a connection with him to share such intimate moments like this.”

He kisses—or licks—me tenderly, hooking my thigh over his hip. I climb onto his lap as our tongues dance together and he presses my body closer to his.

“Do you ever wish I was a human?”

“No, I’m attracted to you just the way you are,” I reply honestly before I flatter him, “but it would be nice to show you off.”

“Hmm, then we better work on that control of mine.”

I don’t know how precisely since it happens so fast my brain is unable to register, but all of a sudden, there’s a man underneath me.

A veryfineman.

14.

Prey

God.

He looks exactly like I would have imagined a human version of him. So handsome in such an intriguing way. Ethnic, yet not something I can pinpoint specifically.

His oval face is full and symmetrical, with a straight nose, prominent pointed chin, and well-defined jawline covered in dense stubble. Large, almond-shaped eyes in a familiar warm amber hue framed by thick, arched brows and adorned with a curtain of long, dark lashes. His medium-length, slightly messy but glorious nonetheless, black hair shiny, cascading in gentle waves over his face to barely graze his broad shoulders. His olive skin tone, much darker than mine, with a subtle golden glow of a setting sun.

It clicks to me that he’s completely naked, but my attention is on his wide, full mouth.

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