Total pages in book: 123
Estimated words: 119846 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 599(@200wpm)___ 479(@250wpm)___ 399(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 119846 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 599(@200wpm)___ 479(@250wpm)___ 399(@300wpm)
She stood for a moment on shaky legs, realizing with surprise her thighs didn’t ache even after squatting for so long. In fact, nothing ached. Her knees, her back, her hip—usually stiff from too much standing or walking—all felt… fine. Better than fine, actually.
What the hell?
She took a step. Her joints moved smoothly, fluidly. Nothing creaked or cracked. Even her vision seemed clearer somehow—sharper.
I feel… young.
She stared down at herself. Her skin had a luminous glow, and her legs—always one of her best features when she was in her 20s—looked impossibly smooth and toned. It reminded her all over again of the strange rejuvenation treatment—apparently the effects were long lasting—possibly even permanent.
But that wasn’t the only difference she felt in her body.
Her breasts felt heavy, almost swollen. Her nipples ached with a deep, persistent throb that hadn’t gone away since the suction cups had been used on her. And below, her pussy felt way too sensitive—every step, every brush of silk against her inner thighs made her wince and twitch.
Even deeper inside, there was a strange, warm ache—low in her belly, like the crampy feeling she sometimes got during ovulation.
What did Lupin do to me? Am I really younger now? Younger forever?
The thought both thrilled and terrified her—it also brought more questions with it.
What if they changed more than my looks? What if they altered something inside me—turned me into something I don’t recognize anymore?
There was no time to dwell on it because the guard was clearly tired of waiting for her. He turned around, bearing his horrible teeth again and motioned sharply.
“Time’s up—back to the cell.”
Noelle walked carefully, her mind spinning, her body still tingling with confused sensations. Every step reminded her of the changes she’d undergone. Every breath reminded her that something inside her had shifted.
I don’t know what’s happening to me… but I don’t think this is over yet.
She only hoped Burn and Bright could help her through whatever came next.
23
BURN
The lights had gone out ten minutes ago, plunging their cell into total blackness.
Burn lay on his side, his chest to Noelle’s back, the cold of the floor pressed along one part of his body and the warmth of her soft curves against the other. It was like being caught between two worlds—one of comfort, the other of pain.
They’d taken off their shirts earlier—he and Bright—despite Noelle’s protests. She hadn’t wanted to accept the makeshift bedding, hadn’t wanted either of them to be cold. But of course, Bright had deflected her objections with charm.
“You’re much too delicate, my lady,” the Light Twin had said, his tone playful but gentle. “We can’t have you freezing to death.”
“And besides,” Burn had rumbled, “Kindred run hotter than humans. We can keep ourselves warm.”
Eventually, she’d relented, and now her slender frame was nestled between them, cocooned between their heat and their bare chests, Bright curled around her front and Burn was behind her. Her breathing was slow now, her head tucked under Bright’s chin. She was asleep, or close to it. Burn could feel the rise and fall of her curvy body with every breath she took. The soft press of her backside against his stomach and her scent, warm and feminine and sweet, filled his nose and wrapped around his thoughts.
She’s safe now. She’s safe, he told himself over and over.
But the words were useless. The past which he had carefully buried had been unleashed in his mind and he couldn’t cover it again.
His body was rigid with tension. His fists clenched. His teeth ached from grinding.
Don’t think about it, he ordered himself. Don’t go back there. Don’t think about it…
But the dark invited old memories like open wounds invite flies.
Burn pushed and pushed…cramming the memories away, like shoving unquiet corpses back into the soil.
At last his big body relaxed and sleep claimed him.
But with it came the nightmare.
It was supposed to be a family holiday.
They were all together—Burns Hot, his twin, Speaks Wisdom, their mother, and both of their fathers. The shuttle was gliding through the upper atmosphere of Twin Moons, headed toward Chi’let—the smaller of the planet’s two moons.
“The water is supposed to taste like basslam nectar,” their mother was saying as she leaned over the seat, her dark hair swaying like silk. “You two will probably like it so much you’ll drink the streams dry and we’ll have nothing left to swim in!”
Burns laughed, even though he was twelve and just beginning to feel too old for kid jokes. Speaks Wisdom laughed too, bright and golden, elbowing him with a grin that made his heart lift.
He loved his mother—goddess, she was beautiful—and his two fathers were the strongest men he knew. As for Speaks… well, Speaks was like the air he breathed. Like gravity. He was just always there—Burn’s other half. Burn never took time to appreciate him because would a person think about how much they loved their own hand? Their own breath? Of course not. They just took it for granted.