Werewolves in Love 1: Kiss and Kin Read Online Free Page A

him.
    “Hey,” he said softly. “I’m not that bad, am I?”
    She jumped to her feet without a word and ran into the bathroom. He followed when he heard her vomiting.
    “Lark—”
    She waved a hand behind her back to shoo him away. He ignored her. He gathered her thick hair in his hands, making sure to get all the errant wisps out of her face. He held it for her and rubbed her back as she threw up.
    Even as she puked, moaning wretchedly, he repressed a disgraceful shudder of pleasure at the feel of her hair in his hands. He’d wanted to run his fingers through it so many times, for so many years.
    He remembered the hard-on he got when she spilled a drink on herself last night; today he couldn’t keep his hands off her in the midst of her obvious misery. What would he do next, he mused—feel her up in her sleep? If he could get away with it, then yeah, probably so.
    She stopped retching but remained on her knees, gulping air and resting her head in her hands, elbows propped on the bowl. He didn’t let go of her hair.
    “Okay,” she eventually said in an unsteady voice. “I think I’m done.”
    He stood behind her while she brushed her teeth and splashed water on her face. Their eyes met in the mirror as she scrubbed at her mascara. A weird expression crossed her face.
    “You okay?” he asked quietly.
    She shrugged. “I will be. Thanks to you. I was so stupid. If you hadn’t been there…” She dropped her head so he couldn’t see her face.
    With his hands on her shoulders, he drew her back against his chest. He closed his eyes, memorizing the feel of her body pressed against his. She didn’t look up, but she didn’t try to shrug him off.
    “Silly brat,” he grunted. “Why do you think you’re stupid? You didn’t do anything wrong.”
    She took a breath. He heard it catch. “I know better than to walk off and leave my drink, especially when I’m with a bunch of people I don’t know. That’s like rule number one for single girls in bars. I don’t know why I did it.”
    “Because you’re not perfect, and people forget to do things they should.”
    No answer. He dropped a quick kiss on top of her head. He’d never done anything like that before. She didn’t react at all. That scared him.
    “You want to stop at a drive through on the way home?” he asked again.
    “I don’t think so,” she said softly. “I feel nasty. I want a shower.”
    “Yes, ma’am. Let’s get you home.”
    She didn’t speak as the orderly wheeled her out of the hospital, or while they waited for the valet to bring his Mercedes around. He tried to think of something comforting, or reassuring, or halfway witty to say, but he couldn’t. He never could, he reflected bitterly. So he called the department to check in. He told Danny he was taking Lark home.
    Once on the road, she startled him when she reached over to lay a hand on his arm.
    “Taran?” she asked uncertainly.
    “What?”
    “I want you to be honest with me, okay? You can tell me. I need to know…”
    “Know what?” he said, staring straight ahead and wondering wildly if she’d sensed something.
    “Did something horrible happen to me, and you don’t want to tell me?’
    He turned to look at her in bewilderment. “No. What makes you think that?”
    “Because,” she said, dropping her hand, “you’re acting so sweet and gentle, it kind of scared me, and I thought…”
    “Shit, Lark!” He nearly plowed into an SUV stopped at a light. “Why can’t I just be nice to you?”
    “I don’t know, Taran. I ask myself that all the time.” She gave him a small smile, nothing like the smartass-brat grin he usually got.
    He swore again under his breath. The light turned green.
    “Maybe I’m being nice to you because someone drugged you and tried to kidnap you and you could’ve wound up dead. But hey, now that you’re okay, I can just go back to being an asshole.”
    “Not necessarily. I mean, I could get hit by a bus tomorrow.” She grinned wider