Free Reverence by Shelly Crane Page B

skin. She was so breakable and had no idea the sadistic things Marcus was capable of.
    “He grabbed me when we tried to walk away. But as soon as he knew that I- you- we...”
    “That we imprinted,” I supplied, my grin now fixed back into position. I held back my growl of satisfaction. Barely.
    “Yes. He left. I didn’t see this until this morning.”
    “It’s what happens to warn them that you don’t belong to them.”
    “I know, I felt it, but why didn’t it do that when Kyle touched me?”
    “Kyle touched you?” I asked and once again felt my blood begin to warm to uncomfortable levels in my veins.
    “He held my hand a couple times,” she explained. “Mostly to make me keep up with him, but it never did that with him.”
    “It only happens if the person’s actions aren’t of pure intention. Your body can sense it when someone means you harm.”
    “So, that Marcus guy wanted to hurt me?” she said all breathy and vulnerable.
    “Don’t worry about that just yet.” I got bold and brought my hand to her cheek. My big ugly hand next to her gorgeous face seemed strange…but right. “One thing at a time. I’ll explain it all to you, but right now, I need to get you over to Kyle’s. My family is all there, waiting for us.”
    “Eh,” she groaned. “I don’t like crowds.”
    “You’ll like this crowd." I smiled to reassure her, and the thought of my family meeting her and this becoming seriously real was the best thing I could think of at the time. "They were so happy last night when I told them what happened. They can’t wait to meet you.”
    So she took me downstairs, I met her father who barely spared her a glance and then walked with her to Kyle's. Even though I wasn't touching her, I knew she was scared. Her heart was beating fast in my chest. And I was scared. What if she met my big, crazy family and bolted? What if once she knew all the facts, she wanted nothing to do with any of it. Or me? What if Gran's inappropriate comments were too much for this girl whose mom left and dad checked out of her life?
    She stopped on the lawn and I knew she was freaking out. I had to fight my hands to stay where they were while she ranted and tried to convince me she was a nobody, nothing, worthless. I'd never wanted to strangle anyone as badly as I wanted to strangle her parents for making her feel that way about herself.
    I stepped to her, and on a wing and a prayer, put my arm around her lower back, lifting her face with a finger under her chin. I waited for her to push me off, or slap me even for being bold, but she just looked at me and waited for whatever I might have to say. It was enough to inflate my ego a little bit, I'll admit, but I kept my grin to myself and explained to her about imprints, about my family, about how I chose her and had no regrets.
    "There is nothing that can change or break that. And even if there was, I wouldn’t want to. Not for the world.” I moved my hand to her cheek once more and felt along her cheek bone with my thumb. I could have stood there all day with her looking at me like that. “I’ve seen you. You can’t fake or glimmer what’s inside your mind. And you are sweet and caring and absolutely lovable in that head of yours. I promise you my family will love you. In fact, I’m sure they already do. You’re one of us now and they can sense how I feel about you.”
    “How you feel about me,” she repeated and smiled like it was private. I felt her…joy… Oh, man. I smiled, too. “This is all so strange,” she said breathlessly.
    “Just wait,” I leaned in to whisper in her ear. “It’ll only get stranger.” I heard my husky chuckle and once again thought maybe she'd revolt and push me away. But no, she just waited, her heart thumping for more reasons than one. And I frigging loved it. “Come on. If you’re ready, let’s go on in so everyone will stop staring out the window.”
    After she knew we were caught, the blush that crept up her cheeks was