I reached into my desk, my fingers closing around the white material of Jack’s panties before I released it and slammed the drawer shut.
What the hell was wrong with me? I was over thirty. I could handle seeing my… whatever Jack was to me… every day without going crazy. I could watch her spend time with other guys who didn’t know she was a Durand. Ones who wouldn’t be scared away and might ask her out, might kiss her, touch her.
My hand slammed onto my desk as I cursed. Without another thought, I dragged the drawer open and grabbed the panties, shoving them into my pocket before I stalked off to class.
If I couldn’t be close to her, then I could have this... proof that she wanted me too.
Chapter thirteen
Jack
Nothingletmethinkbetter than being out on the open road, and there was nothing I loved more aside from hunting than riding my motorcycle. There was a sort of freedom in it that I couldn’t find elsewhere. The wind on skin, the purr of the bike between my legs, the pulse racing thrill of controlling such a dangerous machine. All of it fed into my need for an adrenaline high.
I leaned from one side to the other as I zig-zagged around each curve. The cars were nothing more than a blip on my radar as I engaged the throttle, creeping over the speed limit and into the danger zone.
The last few days I had kind of settled into a routine. I’d wake up, go to breakfast, sometimes with Tate or Xinyi, sometimes alone. Curiously enough, Kyren never joined us. He simply sat with several other vampires — if he even showed — and watched us.
When not at a meal, I was in class and, when not in class, I was studying in the library or my bedroom, which Tate seemed to avoid like a silver bullet. I would think he was avoiding me if not for the fact that, at every chance, he had me up against a wall or on the commons couch, making my heart race and my toes curl.
I hadn’t had much time to ride my bike with classes and everything else going on. Tate had some human servant duties to attend to which he’d been very vague about. But, since we hadn’t really established whatthiswas, I couldn’t really complain about it.
It wasn’t like I was offering up more information about myself than he had asked for. What was I going to say? My family is the most powerful vampire house in the region? I was pretending to be like you when really I had all the extra bits of being a human servant without all the bonding parts? That I might or might not be immortal, and the days were counting down until I found a wrinkle on my brow, finally answering me for certain.
I didn’t think so.
Tate was… fun.
He didn’t expect anything from me. He flirted and teased. My heart warmed around him, and I felt… happy. Happier than I’d felt in a long time, and I wasn’t going to question that. At least, not right now.
The school came into view, and I slowed to roll myself carefully through the gates and then to where the other bikes were parked. A few werewolves loitering by their bikes gave me nasty looks, but they hadn’t given me shit about it after I knocked three of theirs down that first day.
The breeze brushed my face, almost apologizing for making me leave the safety of my bike and bringing me back to reality.
“Vamp whore,” one of them muttered as I walked by, my helmet in hand.
I shook my head as if their comments meant nothing. Which they did. I wasn’t what they said. Well, I was, but it wasn’t like they knew that, and it wasn’t like I could correct them. Not yet anyway.
A small petty part of me couldn’t wait until I was no longer pretending to be simply an average human servant and could shove my identity down all those assholes’ throats.
Since I only had two classes today, I had a few hours to kill before lunch. I’d used that time to reset myself with a ride. Except, even after, my skin felt tight, unsure, like something was building up to a release.
I knew the only person who could fix that feeling was the grinning werewolf waiting for me at the cafeteria doors.
“Have a good ride?” Tate wrapped an arm around my waist and kissed the side of my head.
I grinned up at him. “It was good. Ready for something… more.” I breathed out, trailing my fingers up his shirt as I fluttered my eyelashes up at him.
His hand tightened on my waist. “Is that so? Well, let’s get my princess fed and then we’ll see about more.”
I almost protested that I didn’t need food, I needed him, but my stomach rumbled loudly in protest, making Tate laugh.
We made it through the food line with little to no issues, except the occasional person complaining we were moving too slowly when we kept stealing small kisses here and there.
Xinyi sat at the table we normally claimed, stuffing her face full of rice. She glanced up as we approached, a small smile on her lips.
“You two are just so cute. I can’t even.” She shook her head, and the high pig tails on her hair bobbed back and forth.
Sliding onto the bench, I ducked my head to hide my grin. My cheeks were starting to hurt from how much Tate was making me smile.
