Free Untamed (Vampire Awakenings, Book 3) by Brenda K. Davies Page B

from San Francisco
and Mandy will be going to Stanford in the fall. They're hoping to
get a place together and asked me to room with them too. I'm
actually considering it, it would be fun and I'd like to see
California. I enjoyed experiencing new things while at school, I
don't think I'm ready for that to end and I'd like to travel
more."
    "Then don't let it end."
    She gave a small laugh. "It's just a matter
of finding a job so I could stay there. I waitressed for a couple
of years; maybe I could find work doing that again or a job in a
museum. I had planned to teach history but I think I'd prefer to
work in a museum or something like that."
    "You like history?"
    Ethan couldn't help but smile at her as her
face lit up. "I love it. There's just so much to learn from it, so
many lives that were once lived, so many people that walked through
these places, paved the roads, and built the world before us. They
fascinate me and I love to hear their stories, see the pictures,
and touch the things that those people once touched. I'd love to
see and explore as many historical places as I can before I
die."
    "I never really thought about it that way,"
he admitted.
    "I also really enjoyed meeting different
people while at school. Some of them weren't always so great." She
refused to let thoughts of Tristan ruin this day. "But most of them
were."
    He was looking at her as if she'd just told
him that the ocean was purple and the clouds were full of pink
giraffes. She glanced over herself but she didn't see anything out
of the ordinary and she was pretty sure she didn't have anything
hanging out of her nose. When she looked at him again there was a
strange gleam in his eyes and a small smile on his face that warmed
her heart.
    She was so different from him, he realized.
She was eager to get out in the world and to explore new things.
She enjoyed being around other people, the one thing he couldn't
stand, unless he was with her. When he was with her, he could focus
on something other than the blood pulsing through people's veins,
and the driving urge to bury himself in the release that he knew
their deaths would finally give to him.
    Unable to resist, he brushed back a stray
tendril of her silken hair. She watched him with wide eyes as her
lower lip trembled slightly. It was good to know he seemed to
affect her as much as she affected him as she leaned closer to him.
His gaze slid over the swell of her breasts that were thrust upward
in her orange bikini top, and then over her rounded hips and flat
belly. Her skin was in the early stages of a tan and a golden color
that brought out the dark gold in her hair and eyes. His fingers
slid over her shoulder and toward her cheek, her skin was as soft
as a flower petal against his and he couldn't get enough of it. He
had to forcefully pull his hand away before he forgot about
everyone else and lost himself to her again.
    "I'm sure you could find work anywhere and I
think it sounds like a great plan," he told her.
    She gave him a half-hearted smile but she
missed the contact with him. "I'm not sure my parents would
agree."
    "It's not their life, is it?"
    "No, it's not, but they expect a lot out of
me."
    "I'm sure they do but I'm sure they're
already proud of you."
    Beginning to feel a little self-conscious,
she decided to steer the conversation away from her. "So what about
you, you never really said what you do."
    He cast his pole out again and began to reel
it back in. "School's not my thing, never really was and I'm not
much of a traveler. I like to work with my hands and mainly do odds
and ends."
    "A jack of all trades?"
    "I guess you could say that. I helped to
build a house last year; I really enjoyed doing that. I discovered
that I also liked to carve things out of wood around the same
time."
    He didn't tell her that this newfound love of
his was a great way to keep himself distracted from his more
disturbing thoughts and urges. He could often lose himself for
hours amongst the smell and feel