All Chapters of Kill Me Alpha, Before I Do (Beast Of Flames Book 1): Chapter 71 - Chapter 80

RomyI woke slowly, keeping my eyes shut and my jaw locked tight.Something heavy lay across my legs, pinning me in place. One of my boots was still on, pressing painfully against my toes beneath the blanket.A warm thumb rested at the base of my neck, rough against my tangled hair whenever it moved.Rowan was behind me.His chest rose and fell against my back with every breath, the heat of his bare skin bleeding through the thin fabric between us. He smelled faintly of smoke and rain and whatever hell the Hawthorne ruins had dragged him through.I stayed perfectly still.I moved my fingers first, testing the mattress. Then I slowly dragged my hand toward my waist until I found the button of my trousers, still jammed through the hole with dried mud packed into the fabric.My jacket was gone. I was in a loose undershirt I didn’t recognize, the seam under one arm already coming apart.I kept my breathing even, then I tested the weight behind me again. He was Still asleep.Of course he wa

Rowan povBy the sixth morning, I was leaning against the bedroom doorframe, watching Romy drag her thumb along the edge of the washstand.A thin line cut through the dust beneath her touch.The bruising on her neck had finally started to fade. The deep purple beneath her jaw was turning yellow around the edges, like an old bruise finally giving up the fight. The marks from my fangs were almost hidden under her hair now. She thought the bond was nothing more than a desperate measure to keep her alive, well that was exactly what I wanted her to believe.If she learned the truth too soon, she’d run. She’d climb over the orchard wall, disappear into the forest, and keep running until the poison finished what it had started.She thought I’d only bitten her to pull the silver from her body and keep her alive. That was the story I’d given her, and for now, it was the one she believed.Romy reached for the tin cup on the shelf, but her hand missed the handle. Her knuckles tapped the wall w

Romy povThe hamper handles dug into my palms. The rough fiber caught in the small cuts I’d got at the cistern that morning, pulling them back open with every shift of my grip.Pamela did not look me in the face when she gestured to the bottom steps. Her chin was buried in her wool collar, and her fingers moved through a set of brass keys that didn’t belong to the pantry lines.She told me to go down and sort the winter wools in the lowest cellar because the damp from the stone floor would damage the fibers if left any longer. Her shoulder was angled just enough to block the main hall behind her.My boots wouldn’t move from the floor. A house like this did not leave three crates of northern valley wool in a lime-wash cellar where the river mud came through the mortar every time the frost broke. Pamela knew a great deal about rot. So did I.I cleared my throat, my thumb still moving over the rough twine on the hamper’s handle. “Esther usually handles the winter linens, Pamela.”Pamela’

Romy povThe gauze on my palm kept splitting at the stitching every time I pressed the stylus down to log the barrel numbers. The kitchen was quiet except for the ice maker in the corner, dropping cubes into the bin with a dull thud every few minutes.The heavy oak door behind the counter clicked open and Rowanwalked in, his broad shoulders filling the frame before he even stepped through. The smell of freezing rain and wet wool hit the small space instantly, coming off the dark collar of his coat in a faint, cold mist.He didn’t drop his keys on the hook by the door or even look toward the pantry logs. He just moved straight to the desk, leaned over my shoulder from behind, his chest briefly pressing against my back as he reached past me. The cold brass buttons of his jacket brushed my upper shoulder through the thin cotton of my shirt. He didn’t take the stylus, neither did hetouch the tablet.His left hand came down on my hip,

Romy POVCaleb leaned forward, his forearms flat against the table. The wooden frame gave a small, dry creak under his weight. His eyes dropped toward the edge of my collar, exactly where Rowan’s mark sat hidden under the heavy cotton of my shirt.“You really think those teeth changed what’s inside you, Romy?” His voice dropped to a rough whisper. “Or are you just playing the stray until you get close enough to put your old Viper steel in Rowan’s neck?”He didn’t wait for me to answer. He reached across the small gap between us, his thumb came down on the split skin of my knuckle and pressed hard on the raw skin, his rough fingers catching the torn edge of the gauze.The bond hit before my brain caught up, a burning cramp behind my collarbone, the skin under my ear going hot. My head knocked back against the booth slats. I couldn’t pull a full breath.My elbow jerked back, my left hand reaching under my coat toward the empty space where my blade belt usually sat, but the movement was c