The next few pages were songs, hopeful ones. Love ballads, as if her entire mood had changed. One talked about seeing the real side of a person. But the next was about a man with too many secrets. Dustin swallowed hard and turned the page. It was a picture of him in his human form, striding from the woods, naked, eyes glowing blue and green, face looking intense. He was reaching out. This must’ve been how she saw him the night he’d Changed in the woods, but had come back to her, needing to touch her to settle the wolf inside of him. At the bottom, she had written, I know you’re still good.
The next song was about falling for a man who was too good for her.
Shit.
He didn’t want to trick her into thinking he was more than a monster. Here he was sent to betray the Blackwing dragons. And now, if he did what Axton and Jace demanded, he would betray her, too. He wasn’t better than her, no. Dustin wasn’t worthy of a woman like Emma.
He could never bite her, never give into the urging of his wolf. Love didn’t work like that, and he couldn’t allow himself to take her chance to sing away, or to tether her to a man who would drag her down into the shadows with him.
Maybe it was a good thing she would turn vamp on him. Then she would be strong and able to defend herself from the trouble that followed him. Maybe then, they would be on the same level, and she could handle his demons. Emma the human was too, vulnerable, easily injured. Emma the vampire, though… She would be a force to be reckoned with. He fucking hated vamps, but he would still love Emma when she Turned.
And she would finally be able to sing all these songs she’d written.
“What are you doing?” Emma asked from the open doorway of the bathroom.
He didn’t jump. Dustin wasn’t startled because he’d heard the door open. “Reading your journal,” he answered.
She looked upset, but he didn’t give her the chance to filet him. He blurred to her and wrapped her up in his arms, rocked her gently side to side. “I get it now, about you wanting to be a vampire.”
Emma froze against him, but softened in seconds and slid her hands up his back. “So you aren’t mad about it anymore? You won’t try to talk me out of it?”
Dustin shook his head.
“Will you stop being my friend if I’m a vampire?” she asked.
The worry in her voice ripped his guts out. Emma eased back, and her forest green eyes were so earnest and full of hope.
“We’re past that, Shortcake. Vampire, human, or werepickle, I’ll still be your friend. I’ll be more if you let me.”
“What are you saying?”
Dustin leaned forward and kissed her lips, softly like she deserved. As he eased away, he murmured, “We’re not pretend anymore. Not to me.”
She looked mushy and made a high-pitched sound that made him hunch at the pain it caused to his ears.
“Sorry,” she said softer, placing her hands over his ears like that would fix it.
He laughed and pulled them away, kissed both of her palms and jerked his head toward the door. “I have surprises for you.”
“What surprises?”
A home cooked meal prepared by him. He’d listened when she told him she was tired of fast food. Telling her would ruin the surprise, though, and for the first time in his life, he cared about stuff like that. “You’ll see.”
“What should I wear to see these surprises?”
He plucked the tucked end of her towel and let the fabric slip to the ground. God, her body was beautiful. “Nothing is good.”
“No one would appreciate that but you,” she said, still too loud as she gathered the towel back to cover herself. She was so fucking cute when she giggled to herself like this.
And also she was dead wrong. Any red-blooded, heterosexual male would be tripping over his own boner to see Emma naked. She had the perfect curves, full tits, hourglass shape, grab-able ass, and a confidence that made her so damn attractive.
And her skin was so soft he wanted to bite it. We should.
Dustin shook his head hard to punish the wolf for such thoughts, cupped her cheeks, and lifted her gaze to his lips. “I’m gonna go load up the car. Come out when you’re dressed.” He smirked. “Or not dressed, whatever.”
Emma shocked him when she suddenly went to her tiptoes and threw her arms around his neck. She rubbed her cheek against his like a happy feline and sighed. On a whim, he lifted her up until she wrapped her legs around him and sat on the bed with her on his lap. And there they sat, rocking back and forth gently, as he stroked her wet hair and hugged her close.
This was the moment his life changed. Oh, he’d been heading here for a while. With his wolf paying attention to her, the kiss in the woods, the easy laughter, the budding affection, sex, and wanting to bite her…the I love yous. Somewhere along the way, he’d begun to change his mind on what was important. No…Emma had changed his mind. She’d changed him from the inside out, and now he wanted to be a better man for her. One she could rely on. One who wouldn’t hurt her.
This right here was the moment that he decided he couldn’t betray the Blackwings.
For Emma, he was going to betray his pack instead.
Chapter Eleven
Tugging her hoodie over her head, Emma stepped outside and froze at what she saw. The D-Team was all loading up the back of Logan’s truck. Dustin’s gaze immediately collided with hers as he shoved a giant blue cooler in the back. He gave her a charming wink that made her stomach flutter.