NOCB 008 - Scions 02.5 - Patrice Michelle - Perception Read Online Free Page B

murmured while he helped her step from the tub.
    The second Abby’s feet settled on the plush carpet in front of the tub, he released her hand and a thick towel settled around her shoulders. The soft cloth tugged tight in front of her and Abby quickly gripped the ends. She tried to thank him, but the words wouldn’t come, she was stil so traumatized.
    Big hands landed on her shoulders, gripping them. “Why are you shaking? Abby, what’s wrong?”
    She couldn’t see him, but his presence and the concern in his voice relieved some of her anxiety. “Li—light. Need some light.” She hated how helpless she sounded. How weak the darkness made her.
    He instantly scooped her into his arms. Holding her against his chest, he carried her to the closest bedroom. Abby’s gaze zeroed in on the faint light coming from across the room and the tightness in her lungs eased a little. Once Gabriel laid her on the chaise lounge underneath the picture window and the dim evening light began to filter into her vision. Her throat slowly unclenched, al owing her to croak out “Thank you.”
    Gabriel sat facing her, his hip touching hers. Gentle fingers brushed strands of wet hair away from her face. “Why were you so unsettled?”
    Abby was surprised by how much Gabriel’s attentive response meant to her. Without question, he seemed to instinctively know what she needed. Even now his gentle touch was an instant, soothing balm, calming her frazzled nerves. If she didn’t remember to keep her distance, she could quickly become addicted to this man.

Chapter Five
Abby shuttered her eyes from him, casting her gaze toward the window with a halflaugh. “I was just disoriented.”
    She had no clue that Gabriel’s wolf senses had alerted him to her distress. He’d picked up her erratic heartbeat a few seconds after the power failed and he instantly flew up the stairs to the bathroom. Up until that point, his mind had been fighting his body’s physical response to Abby and the idea of a human as his mate, but the way he’d automatical y responded to her fear, the moment he sensed it, obliterated every mental doubt. This woman was undeniably his mate. By the time he’d opened the bathroom door, she’d managed to turn off the water, but her pulse rate had skyrocketed and deep fear coated every droplet of steam, permeating the entire room.
    Al Gabriel’s Lupreda instincts told him to yank her from the shower and pul her into his arms, but he didn’t know how she would react to a wolf’s natural response to protect his mate. Instead, he’d clenched his jaw and held a rigid, quiet stance, waiting for her to ask for help.
    When she whispered his name, the pleading in her voice undid him. He’d never moved so fast in his life, nearly ripping the curtain rod off the wal . Abby’s hunched, trembling shoulders tore at his heart. Tears fil ed her gorgeous green eyes while she opened and closed her mouth in silent screams. The look of sheer terror on her face etched in his mind, burned into his memory.
    Once he’d helped her out of the shower and draped the towel around her shaking body, it took every ounce of wil power not to wrap himself around her and offer his warmth and words of reassurance that he’d never let anything happen to her. Abby had no idea what he’d seen or how deeply instinctive his feelings ran. And now she laid on the lounge, trying to downplay her reaction. Cupping her jaw, he turned her face toward his and frowned slightly. “You were real y shaking.”
    “I was cold.”
    Heart-wrenching vulnerability lurked in her eyes as she stared at him in the semidarkness. She opened her mouth as if she were going to say something more, then her lips curled into a tremulous smile.
    Lifting her fingers to his eyebrow, she gently brushed his piercing. “Where did you get that scar?”
    Gabriel felt his eyebrow being raised under her fingers. “Quid pro quo?”
    Abby bit her lip and tilted her head, then nodded. “I’l