nick-colt

He__ fine. Every time any of us are late you imagine we__e dead. You are no longer allowed to imagine anyone is dead._____ not imagining he__ dead,_ I whisper, but I__ totally imagining him bleeding to death on the snowy forest floor. Crows circle above him. A pixie arrow juts out of his beautiful chest. It__ the same thing I imagined about Devyn last week when he forgot to check in.__ou are such a liar-liar pants-on-fire._ Is kisses my cheek in her sweet friend way. __ut I love you.___ just worry about people,_ I whisper back. __f I__ not the one out there I feel so helpless.__oach Walsh notices we__e talking. __irls, pay attention. And no kissing.__veryone starts snickering. I let go of Issie__ goose-bump covered arm. My face gets hot, which means I__ in insane blush mode. Nick thinks insane blush mode is cute. I bend down and check on my ankle bracelet that Nick gave me. It__ gold and thin-chained. A tiny dolphin dangles off of it. The dolphin reminds me of Charleston because they swim right off the Battery. Next to it dangles a heart, which just reminds me of love__orny but true. I__ so afraid of losing the anklet, but I can__ take it off. I adore it that much.

I just run faster and hit the slowest of the lead boys. I wink and race by him. He smells like onions and he has big, wet circles in the pits of his shirt. He speeds up, but can only stay with me for a tenth of a mile before he drops back. Then it__ Nick.I cruise next to him. He__ some sort of running god, because he isn__ close to being winded. His stride is long, powerful, and quick.__i.__hy I said this, I do not know. He__ cute. Okay. I am a sucker for cute boys and he was nice to Issie. Plus, he has good hair and he isn__ as pale as most Maine males. He looks like he works in the sun, or at least has seen the sun once, maybe many weeks ago. Plus, life is all supposed to be about making love, not war. My dad listened to John Lennon; I know this stuff.__ou__e fast,_ he says, easy. No huffing. No puffing. No blowing the house down.__o are you.__e run together, keeping pace. The only one ahead of us is Ian, who is loping around the track as if it__ nothing.Nick shrugs at me while he runs, which is really something, because when I__ running full tilt it__ hard for me to speak, let alone break form to shrug.__ou can go faster, can__ you?_ I huff out.He just gives a little smile again and then his eyes shift into something cold, like gravestones with just the barest information about a life etched onto them.__ara,_ he whisper-says.I lean in closer to hear him. __hat?__y voice is not a whisper. It matches the thudding beat of my heart, the bass of the music that blares out of the speakers.__wesome job, new girl!_ Devyn yells, clapping.

Nick bumps my shoulder with his, playfully. He kicks up some extra snow on purpose, whishing it onto my knees.__ou__e lucky you__e cute,_ I tell him.__eally?___specially with that doggy breath.__e scoops up some snow, makes it into a ball, bounces his hand up and down. __ake that back.__ giggle. __ope.__ bend down to grab some snow and topple headfirst. The cold of it bites into my cheeks. I try to push myself up, but I can__. I__ all awkward and clumsy with the snowshoes on.Nick laughs.I struggle some more.He grabs me under my arms and hauls me up. Smiling, he sticks out his tongue, and with tiny little movements starts licking the snow off my cheeks. It should be disgusting. It__ not. It__ all warm, and good feeling, and amazing. I close my eyes and let him.__ou smell good,_ he whispers.__ haven__ showered.___oesn__ matter, you smell good.__is voice, sensual and warm, mellows me.Our lips touch and part, touch again. I breathe him in. He moves his face away a little and studies me. I smile. I can__ help it.__ like you,_ I say. __ lot. Even with the whole werewolf thing.__e smiles back. __ like you too.___ lot?___m-hmm,_ he says, leaning in for another kiss. __ wicked lot.

Nick stands behind me. He puts a hand on my waist.I yank in a breath. The world seems to swirl around me.__re you going to faint?_ he asks.I back into him and blurt, __ut you__e so cute. Werewolves aren__ supposed to be cute. Vampires are, I think. They are in the movies. But the werewolves are pretty much ugly and they wear leather jackets and are all dirty with these monster sideburns.___hat__ all you have to say? That I__ cute?_ He takes a stray piece of my hair and curls it around his fingers. __ost people faint or shriek or never talk to me again.

I push my thigh against his. __ell, thank God.___hank God what?_ he asks. His hand slowly rubs up and down the place where my shoulder meets my arm. It makes me good shiver.__hat I don__ have a neck brace. It__ hard to rock a neck brace, especially if we__e still going to that dance.__e leans in and kisses my nose. __f anyone could do it, you could.__ tilt my head so our lips meet.__ormonal ones, I am right here. Me. The old lady otherwise known as your grandmother,_ Betty says.__orry. He__ just irresistible,_ I say, settling back against him.__ell, try to resist the irresistible,_ Betty says knowingly as the truck bumps over a pothole.

I sob and clutch my stuffed bunny. Nick leaps up on my bed and squashes his body against mine, nuzzling my face with his muzzle until I lift it enough for him to lick away my tears.While the pixie rages downstairs, I wrap my arms around Nick__ furry body and cry into him. My shoulders quake from the effort of it. He whimpers once or twice and tries to lick my face some more, but mostly he watches the door, and eventually I stop with the pathetic sobbing stuff and just keep crying.

Daddy?_____ right here, baby.__umps form in my throat, going all the way down into the core of me.It__ his voice. His. Right there. I reach toward the doorknob but I don__ get to turn it.Nick smashes at me with his head, pushing against my lower jaw and cheek, like a blow. His muzzle moves my head away from the door. He presses his face in between me and the wood. Fur gets in my mouth. I spit it out and push at him.__hat__ my dad. My dad._ I slap the door. __e__ on the other side. The pixies will get him.__ick shows me his teeth.__ can__ lose him again, Nick.__he wolf snarls like he__ ready to bite. My head jerks back and away, but then I steady myself.__et . . . out . . . of . . . the . . . way.__ushing against his thick neck, I slam my hands against him over and over again, pummeling him. He doesn__ budge.__ove!_ I order. __ove.___ara, is there a wolf in there with you? Do not trust him,_ my dad__ voice says, calmly, really calmly.I grab a fistful of fur and freeze. All at once it hits me that something is not right. My dad would never be calm if I was in my bedroom with a wolf. He__ be stressed and screaming, breaking the door down, kicking it in like he did once when I was really little and had accidentally locked myself in the bathroom and couldn__ get the lock out of the bolt because it was so old. He__ kicked that door down, splintering the wood, clutching me to him. He__ kissed my forehead over and over again.____ never let anything happen to you, princess,_ he__ said. __ou__e my baby.__y dad would be kicking the door in. My dad would be saving me.__et me in,_ he says. __ara . . .__etting go of Nick, I stagger backward. My hands fly up to my mouth, covering it.Nick stops snarling at me and wags his fluffy tail.How would my dad know that it is a wolf in here and not a dog? How would he know that it isn__ pixies?I shudder. Nick pounds next to me, pressing his side against my legs. I drop my hands and plunge my fingers into his fur, burying them there, looking for something. Maybe comfort. Maybe warmth. Maybe strength. Maybe all three.

Nick spreads cream cheese on my bagel for me because it__ hard to do with one hand. You need to hold the bagel and everything.__ou are the nicest boyfriend ever,_ I tell him and kiss his cheek.__ag,_ Devyn says.__ou__e just jealous,_ Nick teases him and points his plastic knife at Devyn. __hich is ridiculous because you are the star of the school now that the wheelchair is totally gone. Everyone is talking about you.___tar of the school?_ Devyn asks. He takes a swig of Gatorade.__ll the girls._ Nick gestures to the girls giggling behind them. __hey like miracles. It__ sexy. Remember how much play Jay Dahlberg got when he came back from being abducted?_ He does not add by pixies because he does not have to.__eally?_ Devyn does this cheesy and really fake eyebrow wiggle thing so he looks like some sleezy porn dog.

My fingers try to grab onto the net. I__ pulled away too quickly, dragged through the snow. Everything is white and flying and painful.__ick!__ claw at the snow, trying to slow down. There__ nothing to hold on to. I kick and kick. The hands clutch my ankles. Flipping my torso over I get one quick glance of their backs. They__e wearing parkas and hats and look normal, like people, but faster. I smash onto my face again and lift up my head just in time to see Nick snarling inside the net. He__ transformed again.__ick!_ I yell, but snow pours into my mouth. Sharp cold pain smashes through my teeth and into my skull. I cough and try again. __ick!__e raises himself up onto four legs and howls, a long, searing cry of anguish and rage.My heart breaks for him, caught there. I have to help him escape. I have to get free.I kick again. __et me go.__ain shoots through my head. Fireworks. Explosions. All inside my brain. The white world goes dark and I know what__ about to happen. I__ the one leaving. I am the one gone.

How does that put me in danger?_ Nick asks. It__ the first question he__ asked the entire time. Devyn, however, has been Mr. Nonstop Wondering Question Guy.__ecause . . ._ I don__ know how to say it, struggle for the words. __ecause you and I are a thing and you__e a threat.___ou better believe I__ a threat,_ Nick growls. The entire car seems to shake with his energy. Little hairs on my arm lift and vibrate.__e__ going macho again,_ Dev says, totally nonchalantly, while he unlocks the door.__e__ always going macho,_ Is adds. __t must be the wolf thing.___ am not going macho. I am always macho,_ Nick says, and for a moment the tension ratchets down, but then his face muscles become rigid again.

And do you admit that you have a bad temper, a cute car, and a nice girlfriend?__ hold my breath.__ have an amazing girlfriend,_ he says. And then he kisses me, which is, you have to admit, the perfect boyfriend thing to do. The kiss is soft and speckling like star promises in a night sky. I stretch into it, wishing that I could hold onto it forever, even though I know that kisses can__ last forever__an they?

Oh._ I touch my cheeks. __ou licked me.__e laughs and leans over, giving a tiny tongue swipe to my hand. __ou__e very lickable.__ try to hit him. He laughs harder and grabs my hands.__o fair! Mere mortal against werewolf,_ I complain.__ine.__e lets go, but first he kisses my fingers, each of them. I sigh happily.

My eyes meet his eyes.__ou were a jerk,_ I say.His hands move to my cheeks. ____ sorry.__ pull away, but I can only go an inch before I bump into lacrosse sticks, not that I really want to go any farther. __ope. No way. You do not get to kiss me yet.__e pouts.

His eyes are so beautiful and dark and they do look like that dog____ mean, that wolf__. They are kind and strong and a little bit something else and I like them. I like them a lot. No, I like them way too much. Something inside me gets a little warmer, edges closer to him.The fire crackles and I jump again, jittery, nervous, but I don__ jump away from Nick. I jump toward him. Nick in the firelight with just a blanket on is a little hard to resist, no matter how crazy he might be. His skin, deep with heat, seems to glisten. His muscles are defined and good but not all steroid bulky. He is so perfect. And beautiful. In a boy way. Not a monster way. Not a wolf way.__re you going to kiss me?_ My words tremble into the air.He smiles but doesn__ answer.____e never kissed a werewolf before. Are were kisses like pixie kisses? Do they do something to you? Is that why you never kissed anybody?__e gives a little smile. __o. It__ just I never kissed anyone because I never thought I could be honest about who I am, you know? And I didn__ want anyone to get attached to me because . . .___ecause you__e a werewolf.___ecause I__ a werewolf,_ he repeats softly. Watching his lips move makes me shiver; not in a scared way, in more of an oh-he-is-too-beautiful way.I put my hand against his skin. It is warm. It__ always been warm. He smells so good, like woods and safety. I swallow my fear and move forward, and my lips meet his, angel-light, a tiny promise. His lips move beneath mine. His hands move to my shoulders and my mouth feels like it will burst with happiness. My whole body shakes with it.__ow,_ I say.__eah,_ he says. __ow.__ur mouths meet again. It__ like my lips belong there . . . right there. One tiny part of me has finally found a place to fit.

Do you admit that you are not the only person, or half-person genetically, that can save other sentient beings?__e crinkles his nose. __ do.___nd do you admit that you have a bad temper, a cute car, and a nice girlfriend?__ hold my breath.__ have an amazing girlfriend,_ he says. And then he kisses me, which is, you have to admit, the perfect boyfriend thing to do. The kiss is soft and speckling like star promises in a night sky. I stretch into it, wishing that I could hold onto it forever, even though I know that kisses can__ last forever__an they?

So there__ this annual dance in a couple of weeks.___he Winter Ball,_ I interrupt. __here have been signs up everywhere.___ou want to go?__ think about it for a half second. __ill you dress up?__e nods.I move forward so my hands are flat on the towel and my face is much closer to his face. Something inside my chest warms up like a nice kind of heartburn and I say, __nd will we slow dance?__e nods again. His bottom lip turns in toward his mouth for a second, just disappears and then comes back.Stretching out my spine so my lips are nearly touching his I say, __nd will you press yourself against me and we__l move really close together and then your hand will stretch out across the back of my head and your fingers will wrap into my hair and then . . .__e doesn__ nod. He just tilts his head down, moves his fingers into my hair, and his lips touch mine in a forever kiss. His lips are soft and hard all at once. His breath mixes with my breath. Everything inside of me whooshes out.

Nick leans down and kisses my eyelids. __oving you, Zara, is a full-time job. It__ a great job, don__ get me wrong. It__ the best job in the universe. But it is not easy, because you tend to . . .___et hurt?_ Betty suggests. __ind trouble? Pass out? Break arms?___ll of the above._ Nick laughs.My hand finds Nick__ wrist and I grab onto its thickness. __ou know, I__ the patient here. Where__ the bedside manner? Where__ the sympathy?___ara, sympathy is just a good excuse to buy greeting cards and make sorry eyes and secretly gloat over how glad you are that you aren__ the person whose crap is hanging out there for the world to see,_ Betty says.

We__l fight them. We took down my dad. We__e taken down so many since then. We__l take down these jokesters too.___ will never let anything happen to you,_ Nick growls into my hair. __ will die before you get hurt again. So help me God, Zara. I will die."__e too.___hat?___ will die before I let anyone hurt you or Issie or Dev or Gram or . . ._ I stop and pull my head away from his chest so I can look up at him. __his list is getting kind of long and melodramatic, isn__ it?__e laughs. His hand moves slowly up my spine. He starts leaning down for a kiss. __eah. It is.