Reads Over Novels & Stories

"Two hours is more than sufficient." "Goodnight, Mrs. Pelham," I say. “Good night, Alpha.” She leaves me to eat, which I do while working. I read the same paragraph of the Strathfield report four times and get different information out of it each time, which is not how my brain usually operates, and I close the file and open it again and read the paragraph a fifth time and get the same result. ‘You could just admit it,’ my wolf huffs. "Admit what?"

On his screen, I could see part of the Hargreave correspondence file. I stood in the hallway and watched him. He worked through the documents the same way I did. That was what hit me first. Not what he was reading, but how he read it. He opened one file and kept it on screen while he pulled up another. He did not read straight through; he compared them and looked for places where things did not match. He went back and checked again. He flagged something, then removed the flag, then flagged it once more. He was being careful. He refused to trust his gut alone; he wanted real proof.

“Ahhh Reed. Yeeesss.” “That’s it. That’s a good girl cum all over my cock. You are so tight. This feels amazing. Oh, Goddess, I can't last any longer. Ahh, Heather Yesss” Reed grunts out just before a growl of pleasure erupts from him, shaking the whole room. Reed stares at me. There is so much emotion in his eyes and not just from him. I can see glimpses of Rory too.

Composed. He was reading.

Several minutes later he turns it toward me. The standing invitation works because it is sincere. Leo Mantel read it fourteen times before believing it truly included him. His account belongs in the archive because someone else will read the invitation once, twice, perhaps fourteen times before believing it belongs to them. They deserve to know that fourteen readings are perfectly acceptable if that is what belief requires. I read it twice. "The right number is whatever it takes," I say. He nods. "That is what the appendix needs to explain." Then he returns to the archive room.

I forward it to Celeste. She reads it in her study, at her desk, with the lamp on because the November afternoon is already dark. I watch her from the doorway. She reads the transcript twice—once quickly, to absorb the shape of it, and once slowly, line by line, the way she reads things she's analyzing rather than merely consuming. When she's finished, she sets her phone down. Pick it up. Read something else—the comments section, maybe, or the list of forum members, or something Hana has added in a follow-up message.

Ryan threw the papers to her before she could say anything. "Read it" He ordered , standing in between her and the chair. She gulped heavily trying hard to control herself...her mind blanking "Aurora...look at this..." He pointed towards the report again "Read it" She nodded silently obeying his instructions...she picked up the paper and started reading it word by word. Her eyes widened in shock, she read the letter four times, until the last line made her eyes widen even more in horror. He smirked. "Ryan...it's not..it can't be....no.."

Adrian's POV He had read the essay four times before his assistant arrived that morning. The first time quickly, standing at his desk before the city had fully woken, his coffee going cold beside the laptop while he moved through each paragraph with the controlled attention of someone assessing damage before deciding how to respond to it. The second time more slowly, sitting down, the coffee abandoned entirely, each sentence landing in a slightly different place from where it had landed the first time through. The third time he had printed it and read the physical pages, which was something he had not done with a document in years - as though the weight of paper might make the words feel mor

Khali said. "You want me to check it?" Rye asked Khali said nothing, but she blushed. Rye was staring at the sea. Since it was dawn, the breeze was cold. They were silent for a few minutes and did not talk. "Am I boring?" Rye suddenly asked Khali turned to him. "Of course not. Why did you come up with that?" "I just thought about it." Rye just said. Khali wasn't saying anything; she averted her eyes from Rye. She loses control of her ability. She could read Rye's thoughts; it was as though her thoughts were breaking her heart. Khali's tears came out of thin air.

I couldn’t help but smile, staring at Rachel’s face as she digs in without even a second thought and starts devouring her food. “It’s always a pleasure seeing you devour yours with so much pleasure,” I mumbled, too low for anyone to be heard. “You said anything?” asked Rachel, looking at me. I shook my head with a smile. But out of nowhere my attention goes to the drizzle of sauce that is slipping slowly from my lips, but before it can spill down further I move my hand gently, gliding my thumb over my lips, wiping the sauce from her and taking it to my mouth, devouring its flavor. “Delicious,” I hummed.