All Chapters of Awakening - Eve Of Eden: Chapter 71 - Chapter 80

“Take off your wet things, and I’ll dry them…Or keep them on and endure the heat. I don’t care either way. I can make them dry enough to wear.” Kaelin stays where he’s stood, arms crossed, and has no intention of turning around. His snappy command riles me, and yet it also brings out the petty in me.Fine.“As you command, Lord Hex.” I stand up, start hauling and peeling wet fabric slick to my skin, aware how I wasn't actually shivering despite how blue my skin looks from the cold, although I guess lingering adrenaline or something kept me from feeling it. Last time I got this wet, I was unable to function, yet this time it’s not that bad, and I don’t have that limb numbness at all. It’s almost like it’s not affecting me, and I shrug it off.I deliberately make eye contact with him when I get to the last layer of clothing. The dress over my underwear and peel it off, not stopping there. Alm

For both being outcasts of different designs, yet not fully understanding why she, too, like me, wasn't accepted.I both envied and loathed her for the gifts she had, but also loved her for showing me that power didn’t mean acceptance in our pack. For being the only person she truly trusted or cared for, even if she didn’t always show it. For being in it together at the same time, while no one else understood what we felt as rejects.Sounds familiar. She must have prepared me for the type.The pack feared her, and remembering how our paternal grandfather and his power presented made the pack wary of Eve. Afraid of history repeating, maybe. Her behavior, her coldness, and sometimes her cruelty didn’t fit the pack at all, given their history.  They saw Juan in her sometimes, and I know my parents did too.“How did you know about the cabin? The highway reaching the most eastern line of Santo, given that you have been in the fores

“I can’t see. Get out of the way!” I push at Kaelin's back and shoulder, doing a real good impression of a wall and blocking me from peeking out where we’re half hidden in rocks and cracks, not far from the mountain base. We had to walk a long way around to get to the east side, and this rocky terrain, before he would even entertain the idea of me getting this close.Not that he’s letting me get as near as I wanted.He hisses through clenched teeth at me, pushing me back behind the huge boulder and spinning on me in a weird crouchy way.“What did I say?” he mouths it angrily, reminding me of the five hundred and one times he made me repeat a promise to him to behave, obey, and be quiet, and gets an eyeroll in response. It was a long walk, feeling a lot like being scolded by my dad, and in the end, I had to zone out from his nagging and nod anytime he looked at me. For a badass little darkling, he has some serious grandda

The cabin is a couple of miles from the base of the mountain, in thick, dense woods, and not that hard to get to. The air is fresh with recent rains, and walking away from that great growing tower somehow seems sunnier. Easier to navigate, even though a heavy silence settled between us for most of the way here. A strained, awkward feeling that we were both brooding in our own way, and coming to the realization that our journey together was coming to an end.It’s small and raised from the ground on wooden legs, making a slightly high shelter, and it isn’t locked when we try the door.It’s smaller than Kaelin's cabin, less cozy and inviting, and seems to have all the basics a wandering human would need for an overnight stay. Rustic and simple.Bed, fireplace, electric stove, and generator. Food and dish supplies, linens, and a whole manner of sealed boxes containing clothing and other essentials. Humans like to be well-prepared with home comforts

It knocks the breath out of me and makes my body sink in glorious pleasure, fingers finding their own way up his chest and around his neck to tangle in damp hair. No refusal at all, given I have wanted him this way since our first meeting.His lips meet mine in a slow, easy rhythm and a gentle manner at first. Finding how to connect, getting used to making out and teasing my lips open with his, then tongue, as though fully exploring all the sensations and angles. Even though it’s only the second time we have done this, it feels natural and easy, like we both have a complementary way of kissing that fits together. His tongue, smooth, warm, and sensual, gliding over mine, makes me press my body harder into his with this burning internal aching need that’s rising like a lava flow from a building volcano.It ignites something primal in me that pushes me into overdrive and a need to consume him. Hands twitchy and eager to explore all that skin on show, and I alm