There’re bad people on this earth, Lorelei. Men who need a woman cowed and under their thumb to feel like they have control fall under that category. Unfortunately, you married one of those men. I don’t find you disgusting. On the contrary, your touch makes me feel things I haven’t felt in a very long time.”
I wished I could tell him how grateful I was for his words but the emotion in my throat would surely drown my sentiments and I’d had enough embarrassment for one day. We climbed the steps to the nearby eatery and Luke held the door open for us to follow them inside. In a surprising gesture that sent my insides to fluttering, Jeremiah lifted my fingers to his lips and kissed my knuckles lightly before he pressed his hand on the small of my back and guided me to an empty table.
“Tell me about your childhood,” I said as we waited for our meal to be delivered.
Jeremiah’s eyes took on a faraway look as he leaned back in his chair. “I loved it. Ma and Da were the best parents a person could ask for, and my brothers and I always seemed to find just enough trouble to keep them on their toes.”
“You have more brothers?”
“Just one besides Luke. Gable is the oldest by one year.”
Luke chimed in. “He was the worst one of us. He only came up with ideas that would likely end up in us getting hurt or in trouble. Like the time he was convinced we had to follow a bear to find honey. You don’t, by the way. You follow the bees. Well, he’d pissed that bear off good and that thing had us treed and kicking at him by the time Da came and rescued us. Ma was fit to take the hide off of all three of us by the time we came in for dinner that night.”
“I bet,” I said around my own giggles. “Raising three boys? It’s no small miracle she isn’t completely grayed yet.”
“Do you have any brothers or sisters?” Kristina asked.
“No. My parents tried for years, but I was it for them. I’d always wished for a sibling though. You?”
“Single child here too,” she said. “I, however, did not wish for a sibling because I liked having my mother’s attention all to myself.”
“Why,” Luke asked, “am I not surprised by that?”
Kristina pelted his arm playfully but his dancing green eyes never left her.
Ingrained in me was the urge to eat slowly and enjoy the meal, but while the others had finished and I was only half way done, the train whistle trilled from the station.
There was no way I could eat it all, but Jeremiah didn’t seem bothered in the least. “Eat the fish and we’ll bring the rest with us. You can finish it on the train.”
It would be atrocious of me to take my dinner on the run and eat it in front of others on the train, but I hadn’t even had a bite of the bread yet as I’d been saving the best for last. I shoveled as much as I could into my mouth and my new husband finished the leftover catfish in one fell swoop. We jogged down the street with the weight of the roll beating against my thigh from the pocket of my dress. With legs like a wet noodle, I found our seats again. Jeremiah and his brother acted as if they’d taken a leisurely stroll while Kristina and I chugged breath like we’d nearly drowned. How very intimidating that they were so well conditioned for the life they led and that I would soon be required to take part in it.
My days of gentle living were over.
Chapter Ten
Jeremiah
Little by little, Lorelei seemed to warm up to me. I didn’t have a guess at what had happened between her and Daniel to create such a fear of intimacy, but if it was the last thing I did, I’d get her over it.
I needed touch. Most werewolves did. We were an affectionate breed and to secure a strong mated bond, we needed the frequent reminder of devotion. Wolves in the wild were the same and the longer I ran as one, the more similarities I found between us.
She lay against my offered jacket propped on the train window, still and breathing steadily. Sunlight filtered in
I wished I could tell him how grateful I was for his words but the emotion in my throat would surely drown my sentiments and I’d had enough embarrassment for one day. We climbed the steps to the nearby eatery and Luke held the door open for us to follow them inside. In a surprising gesture that sent my insides to fluttering, Jeremiah lifted my fingers to his lips and kissed my knuckles lightly before he pressed his hand on the small of my back and guided me to an empty table.
“Tell me about your childhood,” I said as we waited for our meal to be delivered.
Jeremiah’s eyes took on a faraway look as he leaned back in his chair. “I loved it. Ma and Da were the best parents a person could ask for, and my brothers and I always seemed to find just enough trouble to keep them on their toes.”
“You have more brothers?”
“Just one besides Luke. Gable is the oldest by one year.”
Luke chimed in. “He was the worst one of us. He only came up with ideas that would likely end up in us getting hurt or in trouble. Like the time he was convinced we had to follow a bear to find honey. You don’t, by the way. You follow the bees. Well, he’d pissed that bear off good and that thing had us treed and kicking at him by the time Da came and rescued us. Ma was fit to take the hide off of all three of us by the time we came in for dinner that night.”
“I bet,” I said around my own giggles. “Raising three boys? It’s no small miracle she isn’t completely grayed yet.”
“Do you have any brothers or sisters?” Kristina asked.
“No. My parents tried for years, but I was it for them. I’d always wished for a sibling though. You?”
“Single child here too,” she said. “I, however, did not wish for a sibling because I liked having my mother’s attention all to myself.”
“Why,” Luke asked, “am I not surprised by that?”
Kristina pelted his arm playfully but his dancing green eyes never left her.
Ingrained in me was the urge to eat slowly and enjoy the meal, but while the others had finished and I was only half way done, the train whistle trilled from the station.
There was no way I could eat it all, but Jeremiah didn’t seem bothered in the least. “Eat the fish and we’ll bring the rest with us. You can finish it on the train.”
It would be atrocious of me to take my dinner on the run and eat it in front of others on the train, but I hadn’t even had a bite of the bread yet as I’d been saving the best for last. I shoveled as much as I could into my mouth and my new husband finished the leftover catfish in one fell swoop. We jogged down the street with the weight of the roll beating against my thigh from the pocket of my dress. With legs like a wet noodle, I found our seats again. Jeremiah and his brother acted as if they’d taken a leisurely stroll while Kristina and I chugged breath like we’d nearly drowned. How very intimidating that they were so well conditioned for the life they led and that I would soon be required to take part in it.
My days of gentle living were over.
Chapter Ten
Jeremiah
Little by little, Lorelei seemed to warm up to me. I didn’t have a guess at what had happened between her and Daniel to create such a fear of intimacy, but if it was the last thing I did, I’d get her over it.
I needed touch. Most werewolves did. We were an affectionate breed and to secure a strong mated bond, we needed the frequent reminder of devotion. Wolves in the wild were the same and the longer I ran as one, the more similarities I found between us.
She lay against my offered jacket propped on the train window, still and breathing steadily. Sunlight filtered in
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