A Howl In The Night by Lorelei Sutton (best novels for students TXT) 📖

was the only way I could get you to let me down.”I shrug, trying to hide my shakiness. My face is a seemingly permanent shade of red.

“Doesn’t matter if you meant it, I’m taking it for what it is.”He suddenly whips out a thin rope and before I can blink he grabs my ankle. My eyebrows knit in fury, the blood rushing to my head.

“What. Are. You. Doing?!”I growl menacingly, trying to step away. His hold is too strong, however, and now not only do I feel like an idiot, but I also feel like a dog.

“I don’t care if you lost your memories, I don’t care how you feel about me or Griffin,”he declares grandly, all the while focused on my ankle. “I’m taking you for myself.”

“I’m not something to be owned,”I snap, jerking my ankle as hard as I can. It does no good, his vise-like grip restrictive in the worst way possible.

“Keep still, Mona,”he commands, his voice strict and authoritative. I find myself unable to defy him when his words have such an imposing timbre. This hold he has on me—horrifying on so many levels—seems to be all-encompassing and absolute. I wonder how this has happened to me, and whether these lost memories hold the key to the madness.

A scratchy material rubs against my feet as Xavier’s hands suddenly start to fly with immeasurable rapidity and finesse. Unconcerned, I stare into the depths of the golden flames, drawing back in surprise as Xavier’s eyes peer back from the midst of the burning embers.

In alarm, I glance at Xavier, who is at my feet, doing something I can’t see due to his big blue head blocking the way. I must be crazy, just seeing things I shouldn’t even be thinking about.

My gaze snaps back up to the fire, and this time I don’t see anything. A visible sigh of relief leaves my body as I lean heavily against the wall. It’s alright. I’m just crazy.

“What’s wrong?”Xavier asks calmly as he puts the finishing touches on whatever he’s doing to my ankle. I peer down at my feet and see his elaborate knot by which he tied the two of our legs together.

“Really, Xavier? Really?”

“It’s the only way to show you I’m serious. And I don’t want you to be getting any silly ideas.”He defends himself with more grace than I expected, and then grabs my ankle with sudden ferocity. I find myself losing my balance, about to topple from where I am standing. My t shirt almost starts ballooning out, so I grab the ends furiously with my hands. Xavier’s arm touches my back, stabilizing me easily. “I’m sorry, did I catch you off guard?”He asks lazily, smiling at me brightly and then returning his attention to my foot.

“It’s your freakin’fault I almost fell! I couldn’t stabilize myself normally because, I don’t know, my foot was tied up?!”I could feel the rage building, as if waiting for the imminent explosion. Everything was frustrating me; our situation, my strange fascination, and feelings that should never, ever resurface.

He says nothing in response, and if I didn’t know better, I’d think he didn’t hear me. But that isn’t possible.

The flashlight flickers and diminishes slowly in intensity. Soon it is only the glow of the small fire, which itself is dwindling due to the blowing rain, that illuminates the small alcove.

“I wonder when the sun will come up,”I say wonderingly, staring into the formless, cloudy void that is our night. Right now the low fog seems almost immeasurable, stretching across miles and miles of the visible skyline. What is this place? If it is a spirit world of some kind, how are we even going to survive here? This land is depleted, either naturally or otherwise, of the basic resources we need to keep going.

Xavier murmurs something, his words so unintelligible that even I can’t understand him. “Speak up,”I prod, looking down at him awkwardly. Chills race up and down my legs as he started tracing his finger across my ankle.

“I don’t want to repeat myself.”I try my best not to be distracted by the constant movement of his fingertips, spinning an intricate web with each and every touch. Somehow both irked and enraptured, I’m frozen in place as he explores the contours of my ankle and calf.

“You are my sun,”he says quietly, his face still turned downwards. Is that…a little red on his cheeks? “I’m lost without you.”

I am crushed with desire as his long fingers trail higher, around my kneecap and lower thigh. Slowly I lower myself to the ground, unable to maintain my awkward position any longer. My fists clench at my side, and I cautiously push on the wall as I try not to trip over the rope. It is pretty long, but not long enough so that I can move properly.

His hands leave my moving feet and snaked around my waist, pulling me down with more speed than intended. I land with a definitive thud, though strangely unhurt. Looking around, I realize that I am captured within his arms, with no way out.

"Let me go," I say nervously, trying to prevent my blushing cheeks from getting even brighter in color. My thoughts naturally wandered to the strength of his arms, and the warmth that emanates from his torso. The safety I feel in his arms both ease and disconcert me.

The only thing I can hear is Xavier’s low, curiously heavy breathing as his sinewy arms squeeze almost all the life out of my body. “You should… finish eating,” he whispers softly. “I think you need some rest.”

As soon as he says this, I realize just how tired I really am. “I’m not really all that hungry,” I say cautiously, all the while peering at the rest of the blue fruit on his knapsack. “I’ll just sleep now.”

“You have to get your nutrition, Mona,” Xavier insists, reaching for the fruit and handing it to me. “Here, we have only a few hours of sleep. “I’d like to feed you some more, but your droopy eyes tell me that you need to get to sleep as fast as you can.”

“As if I’d even let you feed me after how rude you’ve been,” I mutter as I grab the fruit, swallowing it almost immediately.

“That’s not a way to treat your savior,” he teases, making my blood boil. I try to escape once more, shifting my body so that my feet pressed against the floor. “Whoa, did I tell you that you could get up?” He asks, pulling me towards him with irresistible force.

“Xavier!” I can feel myself melting, and this realization frightens me more than anything else. “You said I could get some sleep!”

“Well, I guess so. But I didn’t approve your moving, so there is really no helping it. I may have to keep you a minute longer.” He shows no signs of giving in.

“What’s the point of this?”

“No reason at all. Just my selfish desire…” I turn and see his face, his eyes squeezing shut. “I just want to believe.”

“Believe what?” I ask, half-mesmerized by the closeness of his facial features and his abnormally long eyelashes. As he opens his eyes again, I am lost in the sweet meadows of his eyes, with no hope of regaining my sanity.

He doesn’t answer me, staring outside solemnly. I turn back around, leaning into his embrace. We sit in silence, observing the gradual decrease in thunder as the storm travels farther and farther away. Even though I am in one of the strangest circumstances I have ever experienced in my lifetime, I don’t feel very nervous or scared any more.

“Let’s rest,” Xavier finally says, and gently releases his hold on me. A strange sense of loss swells in my chest.

He quickly grabs the t shirts and lays them upon me. “Use this as a pillow.” The knapsack is shoved into my arms. Within seconds, I’m officially ready for bed.

“Okay, before we go to sleep,” he says slowly, “solemnly swear that you are not going to try to murder me in my sleep and run away.”

I stare at him unblinkingly in response. That’s probably the most viable option for me if I plan to get out of all this mess. But something tells me that not only do I not have the means to do so, I also couldn’t bring myself to kill him no matter how hard I tried.

He watches my unblinking face, and then grumbles to himself as he slides to the hard ground. His back is facing me, yet his hair is close enough to touch.

Close enough to touch.

In fright I turn away from the tempting hair, lying with my back to the ground. There is a sudden crackle from the corner of the cave as the flashlight flickers to its death.

Now that it is just us, the dying fire, and the total darkness, I feel alone on the cold floor, shivering in the ferocity of the wind. My eyes slip to a close, but all I can feel is restlessness, keeping me from staying still and focusing on what’s important. Which is sleeping. Of course.

As I stare at the ceiling, a pair of jeweled emeralds appear before me. They float, following ever move I make. This may be the scariest thing I have ever seen in my life, and not simply because of the suddenness of its appearance.

The jewels morph, frighteningly transforming into a set of hypnotizing eyes. Oh crap. No. I can’t take this. Not him again.

I twist and turn, as if trying to hide from this horrifying reality. It stares me in the face—quite literally—and I can’t help but feel uncomfortable and even nauseated about this. What I truly can’t understand is why I don’t… why I can’t hate this big loaf sleeping next to me.

There’s something different about him; something I cannot place but also cannot ignore. His mere presence has caused a strange sickness to take over my body, huge quantities of irreversible damage inflicted as a result. I have lost my mental health and good judgment; all because of a stupid boy.

I ponder my plausible cure for the illness that plagues me. If I can only indulge in these illegal desires, fulfillment will lead to a permanent release from the curse. I have no reasoning for this, no logical evidence that this will be the case. But I need to free myself from these chains, no matter the cost.

But it’s better to show restraint. Maybe training myself to ignore these animalistic impulses will help more than giving in to this emotional nonsense. I always thought I had a better-than-average control over my impulses—well, at least until I entered this new world.

I cast a tentative glance at his broad back, my eyes sweeping over the golden expanse of smooth, flawless skin. It’s just… a physical fascination. Magnetizing attraction that pulls me in with such force that it is absolutely impossible to deny.

I can’t.

I tilt my body to the side, biting my lip. I can taste the bitterness of blood.

I can’t.

My eyes squeeze shut as I beg myself to not sink this low. Don’t do it, Mona. Be stronger.

But… I really want to.

What the heck. Might as well try Plan A before sticking to Plan B.

Before I can stop myself, my finger lashes out and brushes the top of his shoulder. There is a rustling as Xavier shifts his body to face me. I could tell he wasn’t sleeping because of the quickness of his movements without any hesitation. His face is slightly contorted for some reason, from what I can make out.

“What is it, Mona?” He whispers, and that alone is enough to set me on edge. I gape at him, my mind wiped clean as a slate. I didn’t really plan out what I was supposed to do after I finally touched him. How do I properly seduce a man? For once, I wished I had some form of experience and wasn’t an antisocial freak.

He brushes my hair away from my face in