Free Beasts Within by Lexi Lewis Page B

damned cute. It made her look younger than she was, but when she stretched, her curves were on display and it was impossible for Karic to forget that she was a woman. “Mm, yes. I didn’t mean to sleep so long, but I guess I was just worn out.”
                  “Makes sense after all you’ve been through.” He held a hand out to her. “C’mon. Let’s get out of here. I’m making messy sandwiches when we get back to the house.”
                  She beamed at him but didn’t take his hand, instead sliding off of the couch on her own, putting her weight on her wrapped ankle slowly. “Alright, let’s go,” she said, and the two of them headed out to the car.
                  It was a clear night, and Karic tipped his head back to look at the stars, breathing in the warm summer air. He glanced over at Camilla to see her looking around at everything.
                  “This place is really nice when it’s not pouring down rain,” Karic remarked. “Not a lot to see, but it’s friendly and a good place to make a home.”
                  “Is that why you stay here?”
                  He nodded. “I like being settled. Dr. Dearborn wants me to go on some grand adventure to be a doctor in New York or something before I get too old to enjoy something like that, but I don’t want that. I’m happy here.”
                  “Happy is good,” she replied. “How old are you?”
                  “Twenty-six.”
                  “So not too old, yet. ”
                  Karic grinned at the teasing tone of her voice. “Older than you, whippersnapper.”
                  Her laugh was clear and bright, and suddenly Karic couldn’t be in denial anymore. They had known each other for an absurdly short length of time, but he was interested. She made him feel like he had known her for ages, and he’d never had a reaction to anyone that was as strong as this. When he looked over at her again, she was looking back at him, those amber eyes big and open in her pretty face.
                  “I’d like to find a place like this to end up in,” she said with a little smile. “You’d think that with how I grew up I’d want adventure and to travel and stuff, but really…all I want is somewhere to belong, you know? Where I’m not a tool, but a person and people like me and want me around. That’s all I want.”
                  “You’ll get it,” Karic told her. “I mean, I can’t see anyone not liking you, no matter where you end up, and there are places like this all over. You just have to find them.”
                  The conversation stilled for the drive back to the house, the radio providing the only sounds in the car. Camilla was looking out the window as the night zipped past, and Karic focused on the road. It was better to do that than to focus on how good she smelled and how soft her hair and skin looked and how much he wanted to tell her that she could belong here. Even if nothing ever came of the strange attraction he had to her, she would be accepted and wanted here; he was sure of it.
                  But he couldn’t say that to her. It wouldn’t be fair. She needed to get away to feel safe, and as long as her pride was just across the river, that wasn’t going to happen. He could tell from the way her eyes darted to the side every so often that she still wasn’t completely comfortable, and that more than anything kept him quiet until they were back at the house.
                  He put on more music and went into the kitchen to pull out all the things he had bought for sandwiches: thick sliced ham and thin cut roast beef, lettuce, pickles, chipotle mayo, tomatoes, honey mustard, potato chips.
                  Camilla was leaning against the opposite counter, one hand pressed over her mouth,