Keeping Secret (Secret McQueen) - By Sierra Dean Page 0,43

hair. Also, where was his shirt? “Eyes up here, Princess.”

“Well, stop it with the dramatic pauses and get to your point. I was falling asleep.”

“Sure you were.”

“Moonlight’s ticking away, Chancery.”

He rolled his eyes and clucked his tongue at me. “I’m not trying to ruin your little summit. There’s a pigeonnier near the main house. The windows have been sealed, and it doesn’t look like it’s being used. I can hide there during the day without being exposed. But at night, I need to know where you are.”

“Can you be subtle about it?”

“I’ve been here all night. Has anyone noticed me yet?”

I raised my fist and tapped the wall behind us. “Knock wood.”

“And did anyone notice me follow you here?”

I dropped my hand. “How did you manage that, exactly?”

“I actually didn’t follow the cars.” He tapped my chest. “Good old sentry-warden connection. I could have followed you across the country if I’d needed to.”

“Well let’s hope we never have to test that theory.” I chuckled, but was distracted by the notion that our connection acted like a homing beacon.

Holden smirked then darted in when my guard was low. The kiss started out the way all stolen kisses do, with a brief press of the lips that acts as a beg for forgiveness and request for permission all at once. I was too startled by how he’d gone in a second time that I didn’t immediately push him off.

When I didn’t respond with violence, his lips firmed and forced my mouth to open, his tongue slipping in and curling along my own like a finger beckoning me to come-hither. Once more I arched against him.

Traitorous vagina.

His fingers dug into my hair, pulling my head close and angling my body towards the front of his. My lips felt almost painfully hot where they met his cool ones. When he pulled back, his fangs were exposed and his eyes had gone inky black.

I let out a shuddering sigh and tongued my own canines. Sharp as the devil’s wit.

“That’s not what I meant when I asked if you could be subtle.”

He pecked me on the cheek. “It’s okay. That wasn’t part of my job. Completely pro bono.”

“Oh, so if it’s free, it can be as in-your-face as you want?”

I knew how poor my word choice was when his lips found mine again. He kissed me until I was breathless and panting all at the same time, and when his fang grazed my lip, I didn’t fight it. He lapped at the thin stream of blood and let out a growl that made my insides twang like a plucked guitar string. If I didn’t wise up, I was going to let this go much, much too far.

It had already gone too far.

“You need to go,” I said.

“I do.”

When I opened my eyes, he was gone, but the taste of him lingered on my lips.

I was in serious trouble.

Chapter Twenty

It took two days before Callum called me in for a private audience.

By that point I’d explored most of the grounds and had run out of busywork to keep Magnolia occupied. She seemed to get worried when I didn’t have a task for her, so I’d started asking for random things to make her feel better. But I could only request so many newspapers or coffee filters before I started to look crazy.

I was starting to feel crazy.

In New York there was no shortage of things to keep me entertained. Even if I wanted a quiet night, I could still go for a jog in the Park or visit Calliope if I had a craving for some otherworldly company.

In Louisiana my options were limited to reading, sitting on the porch swing or wandering. The pack was as cliquey as a prime-time high school, and I felt like an oddity when I spent time with them. Sure, the prodigal niece returns and all that, but they weren’t fooled. I wasn’t their princess in anything more than title because I didn’t own the position. I didn’t feel like a princess, so why should they respect me as one?

When Magnolia came to get me after dinner on our third night, telling me Callum wanted to speak to me, I almost hugged her. It wasn’t that I was dying for alone time with my uncle. Quite the opposite. But I was dying for a break from the nothingness of my night, and she’d brought me a reprieve on a silver platter.

Lucas and I had dined in the main house twice now, often