My thoughts were consumed with Noah as I drove home. I had never seen Noah so distressed. I hadn’t been scared when the children swarmed around me during snack time, but it was as if Noah had been frightened for me. Paulette had been so quick to shift and take Noah away, and I knew that was likely to avoid the risk of Noah biting a human child and causing a big media mess, but I wished I’d had the time to try and help him. I hoped the incident—being taken away for shifting to protect me—wouldn’t hinder or damage him in any way. I didn’t like the thought that he might associate shifting with punishment. I heaved a sigh as I turned down my street. I had to trust that Bratt would take care of his son and make sure Noah didn’t feel bad about himself. After parking in my driveway, I got out of my car with my things. I scanned my thumb with the biometric scanner and realized suddenly that it was the first time in a while that I hadn’t felt scared or had that sensation of being followed.

Aroused Bratt was so unlike what I was used to. When Wyatt and I made love, it was always so aggressive and demanding. He threw me around like I was a toy for him to play with. But when I pulled my shirt off and revealed myself to Bratt, it was like I was a painting in a museum that he was trying to interpret.His brows were low and heavy, his lashes almost shining in the low light. He stared for so long that I almost felt the need to hide myself away from him again. I almost did, lifting my arms from my sides to cover myself in a show of modesty. Even though I was still protected by my bra, I felt like he was staring right through me.“No. No,” he muttered. He reached up, circling my wrists, drawing them away from my breasts and pinning them to my sides. “Don’t you dare hide away from me, Marley. Don’t tease me that way.”“I’m just… worried that I… didn’t look right,” I said.“You look exactly right. There’s not a single thing wrong about you.”The intensity of his gaze was overwhelm

Bratt sank down to the grass next to me, stroking my back. “You saw him?” he asked me. “What did he look like? Are you sure it was him?”“Oh, I’m sure,” I sputtered. I hated that I couldn’t get a grip on myself. “I think I’m sure. H-his hair is a little shorter, but he’s still getting that stupid tan and—and…”I rubbed my shoulder where the pain had suddenly become overwhelming, a searing heat that had sensed his arrival.“I was watching you guys have fun on the ride. Everything was fine, and then it was like I felt him—my shoulder started hurting. When I turned, he was standing ten feet away.”“Did he see you?” Bratt asked, barely contained rage lacing his every word. “Did he come after you?”“I don’t know. I don’t think so. I was so afraid that I didn’t think. I just ran as far and as fast as I could,” I said.“Marley.” His voice was steady but cold. “I have to ask you a question, and I don’t want you to jump to conclusions before I explain everything.”The sudden intensity, the see

Bratt.My weekend was euphoric, filled with love, laughs, and amazing sex.Really amazing sex.Marley was an active and generous lover, taking an interest in what I liked and what I didn’t care for. Though, that second list was growing shorter and shorter by the day. I was starting to realize that many of the things I thought I disliked were only because of Olivia’s piss-poor attitude when it came to pleasing me.I derived a good portion of my enjoyment of sex from making it good for my partner, so it had never been a deal breaker when Olivia wanted to be a pillow princess—but I’d vastly underestimated the enjoyment of sex with a partner who cared about my experience as much as I cared about hers.I woke on Sunday tangled in Marley’s perfect, naked body. I didn’t move, simply admiring her until she woke.She couldn’t stay long, citing the need to go to Paulette’s house to work on lesson plans and make calls regarding a field trip to the library at the end of the next week. She seemed

“You all right?” Travis asked me as we drove over to the new office building. There wasn’t much left to do by way of demolition, so I was bringing Travis in to go over the budget for the infrastructure in the office: hardwood floors, cabinetry, swatches—stuff like that.“I’m fine,” I said. “Just been a stressful couple of weeks.”“Yeah, no kidding,” Travis said. “What even happened that night at the carnival? Lana and Paulette seemed to know something, but they wouldn’t tell me.”“It’s Marley’s business, and I don’t want to divulge information she might not be ready to share,” I said.“Fair enough,” Travis said as he pulled down the road our new building was on. “I wasn’t trying to pry.”“Nah, I know. How are things going with Lana?” I asked, trying my best to change the subject. “Did you pass quality control?”“I think so?” He sighed. “To be entirely honest, Lana’s kinda tough. Like I’m not trying to get into her pencil skirt or anything, but she treats me like I am all the time. Som