Is the sun dancing in the sky? That can't be right. Nor can the undulations of the earth beneath my feet. It's all I can do to maintain a bee line as I sprint through the yard of a family I do not know. Still, I jump the next fence as easily as crossing a threshold.
Taking the streets at superhuman speed is not an option, so I am sprinting through gardens, yards, and leaping over fences.
Nothing I ever faced has prepared me for anything of this scale. My thoughts are constantly blunted. My eyesight is often askew—when it isn't shifting between normal vision and infrared. All my senses are about as reliable as a broken compass. And I feel a deep nausea mounting.
These are early signs of a rebelling wolf side. It is fighting my thoughts. And whatever my wolf side thinks, I'm having none of it either.
You never saw a girl in such a hurry to lose her virgin status. I hurtle through a tree like a spear; a shower of leaves is left behind by my passing. There is but one itty-bitty problem with my Sebastian plan though: I don't know where he lives.
Okay, maybe that is a ginormous problem.
This is why I am not headed directly to Sebastian's house.
My last jump takes me over an entire property and into a corner of Cade's yard. I dust my jeans with my hands when I straighten up, then look about for people. No one. But I have made deep furrows in Cade's family's well-kept lawn that anyone would mind.
It takes great concentration and a deep breath of air; because my sense of smell is flickering like a candle flame in an Arctic blizzard, tossed everywhere by every ripple of beeeze; but I am eventually able to tell that there are four people in Cade's house.
Guilty for the damage done to the lawn, I leap extra carefully to the closest window to Cade's room. His room is on the upper level with a direct view of the lawn. If he wasn't so occupied with building—is that a taser?—he would have seen me arrive had he been looking outside, or would have already noticed the shadow blocking the window.
Lifting the window with a claw, I put a foot into Cade's room.
Startled, Cade jumps from his chair. But before further incident, I reassure him that it's only me.
'Jeez, Claire,' he wheezes, 'there's a front door for a reason.'
I stumble the rest of the way into his room. I take a quick study of it. The room could use some cleaning, but it isn't bad. The tech junk in the corner would definitely have to go though. I take a quick whiff and another just to be sure. Yeah, definitely Alicia's scent. Why it is so strong in Cade's room is none of my business.
'Claire, you feeling all right?'
I pull my hand away from massaging my temples. 'Yeah,' I say automatically.
'You look like sheet,' he observes, staring past my face.
Maybe the reason Cade is so embarrassed is because only Alicia ever takes the VIP entrance as I have. He must have thought I am her. Realizing it's an altogether different girl, me, must have supercooled his excitement whilst exploding his astonishment beyond palatable proportions.
I take the other seat in his room. 'Can you tell me where Sebastian lives?' A different day, different circumstances, and I would be interested in some of the things Cade has built. Now, I'm just impatient for information.
'Why?' Cade frowns.
My eyes burn and I see Cade's eyes widening. Belatedly, I bury my face in my hands to hide the orange glow.
'I...need his help.' This is probably the lamest excuse I have ever come up with.
'You don't seem like you should be visiting anyone right now,' Cade says as he takes his position before his project. He picks his cellphone. 'In fact, I think I need to call Alicia.'
'Don't!' I say instantly.
Cade looks very wary. Having not the slightest clue about my situation or how to help, Cade has decided that it is completely advantageous to keep a safe distance. And he isn't exactly excited to give me information that could hurt the guy threatening me with blackmail.
'Why, Claire?' He sets his phone on the table. 'And why do you seem out of it suddenly?'
'I'm not going to hurt Sebastian if that's what you are worried about.'
'Who says I'm worried about Sebastian?' Cade says gently as his vision pointedly roams to my extended claws and back to my eyes.
Before I can say anything, someone shouts something unclear downstairs.
I cock my head, as if listening. 'Someone is coming up,' I alert him.
Cade rushes out to intercept his mother or sister or grandaunt, whoever it is, at the staircase before they come in. A few minutes later, he returns.
'There was no one—' he starts.
'Right. Sebastian. Seamus' place it is. Give me five.' I hang up and replace Cade's phone where I took it.
To Cade's stunned expression, I say, 'Thank you. For being a godsend.'
'Claire—!'
I sigh, mildly irritated by Cade's behaviour; his alarm, which I deem unnecessary. By the way, I'm only going to give Sebastian the me he wants. 'Sebastian will be fine. I promise. So don't fret. Besides,' I smile sheepishly, 'I think you should be worried about this.' I indicate the ruined lawn below.
Cade, after stepping towards me, pokes his head through the window. His eyes expand like wheels. 'Dad is going to kill me,' he whispers.
I leap off the window ledge. In mere bounds, I am off the property and following Sebastian's directions to Seamus' place. A part of me wonders if I am doing the right thing, it tells me from within my core that I am making a grave mistake, a recent one in a growing list of hasty decisions I shouldn't have made.
I pound on the doorbell.
Instantly, it opens. Sebastian is holding the door, looking desirable and surprised.
'That was fast,' he comments as his eyes travel over me.
'I know how a blackmailed person is supposed to act now.' I even offer a smile to that.
'Right.' Sebastian offers an uncertain smile in return, clearly undecided how to take my newfound willingness. He opens the door until there is enough room for me to come in.
Compared to Cade's place, Seamus' house is lavish. The plush living room has enough legroom for a second one. Seamus himself is lounging on a sofa, a leg draped over an edge. He waves a beer bottle at me when I appear. He looks positively approving.
I nod brusquely and turn away from him. Nervously, I twist my fingers in the pockets of my jacket. 'Where do we go?' I say softly to Sebastian.
'Do you want a drink?'
I fight a wave of clashing werewolf will. My toes curl inwards and I have to bite my lower lip to keep my eye colour and prevent a subtotal transformation. On a different day, I could have meant that reaction for, 'I'm too far in the mood, so can we dispense with the formalities and just screw like is foremost on our minds?' And this is exactly how Sebastian interprets my discomfort.
Sebastian grins. 'Up.' He leads me to the stairs.
'Yo Seamus!' He calls. 'Give me a few minutes,' he snickers.
'All right. Don't make the girl cry!' Seamus chuckles.
Sebastian laughs as he takes the lead. We ascend the stairs and, dreamily, I find myself before a door with him. I take a deep breath. My only instinct is to run, claw through the walls, burst through a window. But I walk through the door with Sebastian.
Despite my uneasiness, I can't help but admit to myself that this is a beautiful bedroom. I pause to survey the place in a slow circle.
Sebastian watches me, saying nothing, pleased by the faint look of approval I register.
My heart gives a sudden, dull thud and stops. The quietness in my chest brings back the imperativity of my business in that room with Sebastian.
Abruptly, our lips find each other. His are warm and mine are cold.
'Vlar—' I smother Sebastian's complaint with raw urgency. Boom! Every complaint—no, every reasonable thought, flees his mind. I only needed to tug on his desire a little with my appealingness.
Sebastian could as well be trying to win a battle. His hands want to master me, and his single mindset is to subdue. And so be it. I give up control. I guide his hands everywhere they want to go. His whole body is on a quest; if he were a werewolf like me, it would count as a hunt. Each time he pushes an advance, I yield a step to him, until the foot of the bed nudges me in the calf.
As he wraps a hand around my waist, Sebastian bends over me. We have never stopped kissing. I arch backwards, and we go down slowly. And the huge, soft bed with its silky and velvety sheets spreads out its arms to receive us.
A shred of my mind faintly registers that my wolf side is quieting. Hesitant though it may be, it is gradually warming up to the mood. I still have to stomach a lot of pain, but there is a lot of pleasure now to go with it.
Sebastian despoils me of my shirt. Flung carelessly, it sails away from us. Before his hands return to my body, I have ridded it of the underlying tank top. So Sebastian's hands pounce eagerly on my bra.
He murmurs something against my cheek as his lips track desire down my face to the cliff that is my chin. His kisses climb down my neck, cross the ridge of my collarbone, onto the bulging expanse of my chest. I am playing a Beethoven on Sebastian's back, and it is in every conceivable way the thrill to feel his muscles pulsing beneath my fingers. I clench my teeth in a cocktail of pain and pleasure as I fumble for his belt—
'That's it, slut. Good, that's good,' Sebastian moans.
Slut? As in Claire slut? That did it.