“
Shoot.”
“
My parents have given me money to buy a motorcycle but I need a ride to a dealership to look at some. Would you mind taking me to look at some bikes?” Fane asked.
Already nodding his head yes as he took a drink, Brian said, “Yeah, that’s not a problem. If you’re ready, I don’t have anything pressing. We can go now.”
“
Ok, let me grab my phone. Give me just a sec,” Fane said as he headed toward the stairs.
When Fane got to his room, he picked up his phone and checked to make sure his wallet was in his back pocket. Then, just out of curiosity, he opened the curtains to glance out at Jacquelyn’s house.
Fane had to blink several times to get his brain to understand what it was seeing, and then he had to take slow, deep breaths to keep his wolf from growling possessively. For there, across the street to the right side of her yard, which, if she had a fence would be the backyard, was his Luna laying out in a skimpy bathing suit. That wasn’t the half of it. She was laying on her stomach and there at the top of her back, stretching out from shoulder to shoulder and up her neck to just below her hairline, were the markings that would fit his perfectly. Her markings were there on display for any male to see, not to mention her mom, if she came out. Without thinking, his mind reached for hers.
“
You do realize that they only sold you ¼ of that bathing suit don’t you?”
Fane said, trying to sound casual and not like the jealous monster he felt to be.
At first he didn’t get a response. As he was looking at her, he realized she must have fallen asleep, which was not a good thing because in this heat she’d burn terribly.
Fane focused on her and using an Alpha push, spoke,
“Jacquelyn, wake up!”
Still, she did not move or respond. Fane was deciding whether or not to walk across the street and disturb her when she finally spoke to him.
Chapter 9
Jacquelyn
heard Fane ask her if she had inadvertently bought only a ¼ of a bathing suit.
So he's a funny guy
, she thought.
Two can play at that game.
She’d been asleep up until that point, but as soon as he spoke to her she had woken up. For now, she continued to lie perfectly still, knowing he must be watching her. She didn’t want him to know she had heard him. The second time he spoke to her she felt a push that made her want to obey him.
He soooooo did not just give me command
, she thought indignantly. She was surprised when he didn’t respond to that thought. What Jacque didn’t know was that she was blocking him because she didn’t want him to be able to hear her.
It was a minute before she finally answered.
“
I know it, right? And it still covers too much to give me a good tan with as few lines as possible,”
she retorted with a smirk.
Jacque heard him growl at her. Was he actually jealous? If so, jealous of what exactly? He didn’t know her from Adam.
“
I have told you before, you are my Luna,”
she heard him answer her thought. She realized then that she hadn’t been trying to block her mind from his.
“
And I’m telling you now I don’t know what that means, and I’m not your anything!”
she growled back.
“
If nothing else could you at least be mindful of the fact that you are going to burn if you lay out in practically nothing and fall asleep.”
Fane sounded very annoyed.
What did he mean if nothing else? Was he implying that she was trying to lie out and show off her body to just any passerby? Jacque sat up and glared up at Fane’s window, and sure enough, he was standing there staring at her. Frustrated with herself for allowing his disapproval to actually bother her, she stood up and with as much sarcasm as possible, curtsied to him, then picked up her things and marched back into the house.
“
Meu inimă, did you just curtsy to me?”
Fane asked in astonishment and amusement.
“
Well, seeing as how you seem to think you deserve something from me, I thought I would indulge you just a little, but I assure you my intentions were completely rude!”
Jacque responded.
Jacque heard him chuckle at her sass.
As Jacque walked into the house, she set her things on the couch and went to the kitchen to get a drink. She hadn’t realized just how hot she had gotten while lying out in the sun, which didn’t make her happy because it only confirmed what Fane had said. “I mean seriously, who is he, the bathing suit police?”
“
No, micul incendiu (little fire). I am simply trying to look out for you. Who knows what wolves lie in wait to pounce on unsuspecting sun-bathing beauties?”
Fane said knowingly.
“
And just what is that suppose to mean? Do you always talk so vaguely?”
she asked in exasperation.
Just then she realized that their whole conversation had been thoughts back and forth to one another. Man, had her life gotten weird…no, actually it wasn’t just weird, it was bordering on bizarre.
“
Don’t you have something you need to be doing?”
she asked him as she went upstairs to take a shower. She realized that even though all she had done was lay outside, she smelled like the outdoors and sweat.
“
Actually, yes. I am going with Brian to look at motorcycles. My parents have given me the money to purchase one so I will be able to get around on my own,”
Fane told her.
“
Why not a car? And what if it rains, won’t you get soaked?”
Jacque asked.
“
It’s cold most of the time in Romania. Why would I want to be cooped up in a car when I could be on a motorcycle with the sun on my face? And they make rain gear,”
Fane explained.
“
Oh. Well, I guess if you lived somewhere cold all the time, it would be nice to ride out in the sunshine,”
she answered.
Jacque began gathering clothes to take to the bathroom. As she walked into the bathroom and closed the door she discovered she was reluctant to undress while they were talking through their thoughts. Somehow that felt way too intimate. As if sensing her discomfort, Fane asked her,
“Is something wrong? Did I do something to upset you…besides imply your bathing suit was a bit skimpy?”
Fane asked with little remorse.
“
No, no, I’m fine. Just, um, got things to do is all. People and places, you know how it is,”
she said awkwardly.
“
Jacquelyn, why are you acting so strangely?”
Fane asked.
Jacque rolled her eyes. Could he just leave it alone? If she had to spell it out for him she was going to be mortified. She could just hear herself explaining how she was sweaty from the sun and needed a shower and the thought of talking to him through their thoughts while she was butt freaking naked was just a tad beyond her comfort zone.
Fane must have caught her passing thoughts. Man, she really needed to learn how to block him out somehow.
“
I will leave you alone since you have things to take care of. Just so you know, I may be a teenage guy, with teenage hormones, but I assure you I am not dishonorable, nor would I abuse our thought connection,”
he said with firm conviction.
“
I know you can hear my thoughts, but can you like, ‘see’ through my eyes?”
she asked apprehensively.
“
No, but I can see the things you think. Just as you can see what I think if you want. When your emotions are strong I feel you and hear your thoughts very loudly, even when you aren’t trying to communicate with me. You might want to bear that in mind,”
Fane told her.
“
How do I keep you out of my mind?”
Jacque asked.
“
All you have to do is imagine a wall in your mind between mine and yours. I will not be able to get past it. The same goes for me if I don’t want you to hear my thoughts.”
Jacque was surprised to find herself a little hurt at the idea of him not wanting her to hear his thoughts, but then she thought how absurd that was because everyone needed privacy.
“
Okay, I'll keep all that in mind. And since we are in mind reading 101, could you answer me this? Who else can you do this with?”
Jacque asked, not realizing how jealous she sounded.
“
No one, meu inimă, only you. You will not be able to do this with anyone else as well,”
Fane stated possessively.
“
Talk to you later, be safe,”
Fane told her.
And just like that she “felt” him leave her, and fell instantly bereft. She undressed and, without looking into the mirror, got into the steamy hot shower, letting it wash the feeling away. It was silly to feel so empty without him in her mind, she knew that, and yet she couldn’t shake it off. It just seemed so natural to talk to him, like she had done it all her life. She found it so odd that she was jealous at idea of him talking to another girl through her thoughts. She had only known him a day, after all, but the thought irked her to no measure.
Ok, Jacque
, she told herself,
move on to another topic
. She hadn’t heard from Sally and figured she’d better call her to make sure she was still going to be able to come over.
She got out of the shower and toweled dry, flipping her hair over and drying it first, then standing upright to dry her body. Turning to look into the mirror, she froze. Then, without realizing she had done it, she reached for Fane’s mind.
“Fane, what the hell is on my back!”
No answer.
Slowly calming down, she began to examine the design that looked like a tattoo. The thing ran from shoulder to shoulder and up her neck. It was scrolled lines arching and curving, coming to a point at the nape of her neck, with definite places that appeared would fit into a puzzle. It was very beautiful and feminine – it was also very not there before she tanned. Had Fane done some Romanian voodoo on her? ‘Cause she would so do some voodoo up on his ass if he had.
He still hadn’t responded to her after a few minutes, so Jacque got dressed and combed out her wet hair and put mousse in it. She went back to her room, still trying to think about how the marks could have appeared on her back when her phone rang. For a fleeting moment she hoped it was Fane, but that would be ridiculous when he could just talk through his thoughts. Shaking her head in frustration, she answered the phone.
“
So I’m thinking bikini, towel, tunes, and catching rays. You in?” Sally’s cheerful voice came through the phone.
“
You’re a little late, Charlie Brown. I’ve already cooked, rotated, and cooked some more. I just got out of the shower. So I assume you are going to be able to come over soon?” Jacque asked, relief in her voice.
“
That’s the rumor. You free?” Sally asked.
“
Free, crazy, completely deranged…take your pick.” Jacque answered.
“
I’m on my way over now, be there in five.” Sally hung up.
Jacque looked around her room and decided to pick up from the impromptu sleepover. She folded the blankets and laid them on the bed. No sense in putting them away since the girls were staying the night again. She picked up the dirty clothes on the floor and threw them in the laundry basket. Her mind was restless and she decided to write her thoughts out. Sometimes writing down what was floating around upstairs helped her put things in perspective.
She got out a notepad from school and opened to a blank page, grabbed a pen off her desk, and sat down on her bed and began to write.
I’ve met a guy. Not just any guy but a really unusual one. He’s from Romania. He is beautiful, and he can talk to me through my thoughts, and I can talk back. It’s so unreal. To top it all off, I have these strange markings on my back that came out of nowhere. I don’t know what to even begin to think about the whole thing. But I know for the sake of my waning sanity I need to talk to him face to face and see if he will answer any of my questions. My other problem is I seem to be…
Jacque’s phone beeped. She had a text message:
Sally: @ star bcks, frap moca?
Jacque: def.
Grateful that her friend could recognize a much needed caffeine binge when it was called for, Jacque turned back to her writing.
…
jealous over a guy I barely know. I feel like we are somehow connected, like we’ve known one another our whole lives. I also feel like my mom knows something. She’s been acting a little weird, or maybe I should say she’s been feeling weird since I can feel her emotions. Funny, I haven’t felt Fane’s emotions when I’ve been around him – which has only been one time – and I haven’t felt them when we’ve been “talking” either. I don’t know if it can possibly get any stranger, but I'm thinking that it likely will
….