Page 1 of Hart's Redemption

Chapter 1

Elijah

Josh’splushmouthmoldedto mine, stealing my soft moan as his tongue slipped past my lips. His fingers, always slightly cooler than my normal body heat, dipped beneath my shirt to trace enticing patterns across my back.

I pressed him against the wall and kissed him harder.

His hands gave up their mapping so he could wrap his arms around my neck and pull me closer. He arched off the wall, angling his hips forward to rub against me.

I groaned and dug my fingers into his sides, already desperate for more. I’d never met ‌anyone who could wrap me up so tight, so fast, in my entire life. Joshua Hart had a gift.

He let out a deep moan of his own as my lips traveled down his neck to taste his skin. His heavy breathing was a passionate caress on my ear, while the smell of him wrought havoc on my control.

I inhaled deeply, loving his true scent and the way it simultaneously put me at ease and drove me completely wild. The sweet smell of earth and subtle hints of bergamot played beneath my skin, lighting me up from the inside.

“Werewolves and smell.” Josh’s light chuckle accompanied the tease.

I groaned at the sound. I loved his laugh, loved when he was carefree and playful. Stars, I loved everything about this man, and I never told him.

And now it’s too late.

The thought stalled my pursuit of tasting every inch of him. His fingers slipped through my hair and gently guided my mouth back to his. He dragged out several sweet kisses, but the damage was already done, the spell broken.

I sighed and rested my forehead against his.

His lithe fingers danced along my jaw and brushed the hair back from my face. “What’s the matter, baby?”

My chest tightened painfully at the concern in his voice. “It’s nothing.” The hollow deflection came out thick, further betraying the emotion fighting to overtake me.

“Need we revisit the unfairness of lying? Look at me.”

I begrudgingly met his gaze, already knowing what I would see. His dark hair cast a shadow over his eyes, but it couldn’t hide the sadness there. The same sadness that had been there when…

No. Don’t think about it.

Despite my desperate attempts to ignore them, images of red colored my vision. Thick crimson painting Josh’s natural pout ashe gasped for air. The gruesome hole in his chest. The rattle of his last breath.

Suddenly, his cool hand cupped the side of my face and brushed away a renegade tear. He gazed at me with steady eyes so like the forest I’d grown up running through. “Talk to me, baby. What’s the matter?”

A sob caught in my throat. I had to push it down in order to speak; even then, the words were barely intelligible. “I miss you.”

He blinked slowly, and his image swam before my eyes. “Then come find me.”

I jolted awake. The room was dark, though a faint blush of light from a streetlight hinted through the kitchen window. With a groan, I sat up and wiped angrily at my face, unsurprised to find it wet.

I can’t even fantasize about the man properly.

This too came as no surprise. I hadn’t been able to have an indulgent dream or even a halfway nice one about Josh in weeks. Scratch that, months.

Not since…

I squashed the persistent thought that had soured my fantasy like it had all the others and got up. My back ached from sleeping too many nights on the couch, but I couldn’t bring myself to sleep in the bed.

Our bed.

My sigh came out heavy as I glanced at my bio-clock. The blue numbers beneath my skin rudely read four-twenty-one. Barely even a few hours. I’d have to take sleeping aids at this rate.

I changed mechanically, splashed water on my face, then pulled my hair back into a tight bun. An outrageously stout cup of coffee later, I shut the door to the hover pickup Eric had lent me. The same one we’d used to take Josh to the hospital. I still couldn’t look at the bed without seeing smears of his blood coating the alloy. Once again, I contemplated getting my own car just so I wouldn’t have to drive it anymore.