I Don't Bite

Chapter 19: Bite Me?

I need to stop missing so much school or tell mom or something. I can't just keep running off with Zack. But Ryan and dropped my homework off over the next few days and dropped off a few coffees exactly how I wanted them and Zack hid away with me in my house or he took me to new places so I could forget about everything else.

Even tonight, on the full moon, despite Dwayne warning me and Ryan telling me I shouldn't be around him, at least not on the full moon. Zack and I sat on the couch together long after the sun had set, and the moon filtered through the window.

Ryan snaked his way back into the forefront of my mind. "Is Ryan okay?" The movies were probably wrong. He wasn't in any pain. He just shifted. He was just a werewolf. It was part of him. It wasn't a curse, was it?

"He's not so new to the shift." He shrugged. "He should have a handle on it by now."

"Why does it seem like he changed all of a sudden then?"

"That doesn't have to do with the shift. He would've shifted for the first time a few years ago."

"Then why is he acting so strange?" I pressed. "I can't tell you anymore without getting into some serious trouble myself. He has to tell you."

I nodded and dug my fingers into the couch. Ryan was fine. He said it was family stuff. Or did he mean pack stuff? I shook the thoughts away because when... if he told me... he didn't have to tell me anything. He wasn't actually mine. I wasn't his mate, and he clearly didn't need me around. I just need to quit pining after the familiarity of his presence. I glanced at Zack out of the corner of my eye. Zack was fine. He helped me and was patient and... the same realization of being alone with a boy I hadn't grown up with made my cheeks flush, but for an entirely different reason. Ryan was a safety net. I knew where we stood. Knew he didn't want anything else from me. We were friends. But Zack... he probably did want something else. Why else stick around like this? He basically said as much. Good. Echoed throughout my head at that moment. Good? Good? What else did that mean? Was Ryan more worried that I was alone with a vampire or alone with a boy? I inched my hand across the couch and slipped my hand under Zacks. Did I want more? My heart hammered against my chest. I barely talked to anyone beyond Ryan, and now I was what? Flirting? At least attempting to.

Zack wrapped his hand around mine. "Am I allowed to touch you now?"

I nodded.

"With your words please." He chuckled.

"Yes," I cleared my throat. "You can touch me now but not... too much."

"Just tell me what's too much." He slid his arm around my waist and pulled me against his side. "Okay?"

"Yeah, okay." I rested my shoulder against his side and tried to will my heart to calm down. There was no way he didn't hear my heart with his super hearing.

He leaned down to my ear. "I'm going to kiss you." He touched his finger under my chin and lifted my face so that I was looking at him. He peered down at me with brilliant red eyes but no fangs. He inched closer. Did I want him to kiss me even? We haven't even really been going out. Maybe a kiss doesn't mean that much. It was probably just going to be a light peck. Did I want him to be my first kiss?

His lips brushed against mine before I could even make a decision. It was just a light touch, barely a kiss, but he kissed me again, harder that time. He pressed his lips to my cheek. To my ear.

Heat filled me. Anxiety piling up in my stomach. Wait I willed my mouth to form the words. If I said stop, he would stop. I just had to say it. He can't read minds. He wasn't even going fast. I had time to say stop. I had time between each touch. Every peck he trailed down until his mouth touched my neck and I froze. Freaking out could trigger some kind of predatory instinct, right? Please mouth, work.