Mine to Claim (Shadow Shifters: Damaged Hearts) Read Online Free PDF Page A

drooping only slightly from his hips. His skin, I could only see it openly on his face, was an olive complexion, smooth but for the shadow of a mustache and beard. The sun’s rays were winding down as fall had already claimed the campus and night was coming sooner, still his ebony hair glistened in the last light of day.
    “Somebody definitely needs to tell you what to do in order to keep you out of trouble. But it’s not going to be me,” he told me as if he had a right to make that type of judgment.
    “I don’t need a bodyguard,” I said even though, damn, if I did he would definitely be my first pick.
    My arms hitched upward, involuntarily, the friction against my breasts was, however, welcome since I couldn’t quite seem to calm the ache there.
    “You need something,” he said now that he was standing only a breath away from me.
    Hell yeah, I needed something, and maybe he was it. Or maybe he wasn’t. I was getting carried away. The rampant beating of my heart, the slight watering of my mouth as I stared up at him, the definite heat vibrating between us, was probably muddling my thoughts. It had to be, because this wasn’t me. I didn’t incite guys like this, I didn’t taunt them, and I definitely did not stand this close to them wanting desperately to be closer.
    “I’ve gotta go,” I muttered finally, sounding more like my normal self and definitely doing what I normally would have minutes ago.
    I turned away grabbing my book bag off the bench first and then tossing it over my shoulder. My purse was next and when I had both of them situated—which took me way longer than usual—I turned to see that he’d walked away. I looked around for him and saw nothing, like he’d simply vanished. With a deflated breath I dropped to the bench again, letting my head loll back as I contemplated my own stupidity.
    *   *   *
    Believe it or not, two weeks later I was reluctantly willing to try once again. Scarlett had run down the majority of the guest list for the party at Pierce Gregory’s place tonight. Her new boyfriend, Jordy, the one she’d danced with at the bar that night, was friends with Pierce. Jordy and Pierce were both seniors, both on their way to Yale to study law. Scarlett, who was in her sophomore year, had no clue what she wanted to major in—on paper it said psychology, but she’d yet to take any courses related to the topic. Instead she spent her class time in astrology, art, pottery, and some diversity class she’d picked up after dropping her prereq math class the second week of the semester.
    “It’s going to be a more mature crowd. Chris and his crew aren’t even invited,” Scarlett had informed me earlier in the day when I was still wavering on whether or not to go.
    By nine o’clock I’d slipped on a pair of black yoga pants and a pink thermal top. My black fleece vest and Uggs completed the casual ensemble and I’d only had enough energy to pull my hair up into a sloppy ponytail. Did I mention that I was reluctantly willing? This past week had been mega busy as I’d scored a job as cashier at the campus coffee shop. I needed the money since I refused to take any that my parents put aside for me no matter how many reminder e-mails my mother sent. So between my five course class load and the seven to eight hours a week I needed to study, I was now spending twelve hours a week ringing up overpriced cups of coffee and mocha lattes for a bunch of kids who could probably do worse than develop a caffeine habit.
    To say I was exhausted and an evening in bed watching an old movie sounded much better than heading out into the brisk night air to an apartment that belonged to someone I didn’t know, to spend the evening with more people I didn’t know, was a vast understatement.
    “That’s what you’re wearing?” Scarlett asked the moment she turned from the mirror to look at me.
    She, of course, was dressed to sexy perfection in black leggings and four-inch-heeled ankle boots,