Transparent by Soccerluv4 (: (best classic books to read txt) 📕

To say my stomach was grumbling would be an understatement. It roared like a lion, which just so happened to be the thing that woke me up at oh – 4 in the morning.

Rubbing my sleepy eyes, I willed my stomach to stop rumbling like a jackhammer, but it was to no avail.

I groggily got up, stepping into my furry slippers and crossing the threshold of my room.

Before I knew it, I was in the kitchen, making myself a bowl of the most sugary cereal I could find. Luckily for me, it was chocolate too.

After crafting my craving masterpiece, I hoisted myself up onto the counter and dug in. I would’ve chosen to sit like a decent human being in one of the many kitchen table chairs or bar stools that lined the island in the center, but I wasn’t feeling it. Plus, the counter was cold, which helped my hot skin.

I remember my skin being insanely hot when I’d gotten up from dinner, but I just passed that off as a delayed consequence of that uncomfortable evening. Now, though, I was beginning to think otherwise.

I ignored that thought, telling myself I’d figure that out later, and instead dug into the bowl with a purpose that would’ve rivaled most teenage boys. I was that hungry.

“Slow down or you’ll choke on it,” a voice came from the dark, causing me to stop shoveling food into my mouth, but not before it seemed that a piece of cereal lodged into my throat.

I sputtered, coughing violently as I dropped the bowl and spoon down on the counter.

Suddenly, a hand was hitting my back, and another was handing me a glass of water.

I drank the water down greedily, feeling the stupid piece of cereal that caused this entire drama whoosh down with the current.

I breathed out, placing the glass down next to my cereal, while a hand rubbed my back softly.

“Jeez, I didn’t mean it literally,” the voice continued, chuckling slightly.

I looked up at the person who just so happened to be also rubbing my back and felt a shock travel to my core.

Reece stared up at me with those gorgeous eyes, a slight twinkle in them, presumably from my humorous encounter.

Willing my hormones to stop rushing out like a raging river, I rolled my eyes.

“Well if someone didn’t scare the hell out of me, then maybe I wouldn’t have choked in the first place.”

Crossing my arms, I looked down at the man. Well, I wouldn’t say look down, considering he was face to face with me at the moment.

I was suddenly aware of how close his body was to me, judging that his body was touching my knees, and the hand that had once rested on my back was now softly grazing my exposed thigh.

I saw him follow my eyes down to his hand, and heard a sharp intake of breath.

He glanced at me again, this time his eyes blazing gold, causing a different kind of blazing feeling to travel down my body.

“Why aren’t you wearing any pants?” He mumbled out gruffly, his voice dripping with desire.

Never in my life have I been that turned on by a voice that much in my life. I was so afraid that my hands would grow a mind of their own and grab his face to kiss him senseless.

“I, uh –“ I stammered, looking down at my lap.

Unfortunately, he seemed to as well, which – judging by his deep breathing – had only turned him on more.

I felt his other hand on my other thigh, stroking it slightly. The feeling was amazing, as I felt strong currents travel from his hand to my body.

His face inched closer, placing a tender kiss on my exposed collarbone.

My damn hands did seem to grow a mind of their own, as they grabbed the back of his head and moved it slightly closer to my skin. He seemed to oblige immediately, gripping my thighs tighter as he placed tender kisses all over my collarbone, inching up to my neck.

I arched my head back, exposing more of my neck to his soft lips. He placed more kisses up the expanse of my neck, until I felt a sort of sucking feeling on the lower left of my neck. A thrill of hormones surged in me, as I realized what just happened.

Suddenly, I pushed as hard as I could on Reece’s chest, causing him to stumble backwards a little. He looked shocked, to say the least.

I jumped off the counter, and crossed my arms in front of me to stop the shaking my body was doing.

When Reece had kissed me there, effectively leaving a hickey I assume, it seemed to bring me back to that horrible night, and I felt the fight or flight response in me.

My body shook badly, but I tried to make myself seem steady, crossing my arms impossibly tighter in hopes that it would magically cure my frazzled nerves.

“Hey,” Reece said softly, his eyes zeroing in on my quivering body.

He placed a tentative hand on my shoulder, which I pulled out from underneath his grasp. Although the touch registered as a nice feeling, I was still insanely shook up, which gave my mate instincts a backseat.

“Please, please, don’t touch me,” I whispered, mentally cursing at how pathetic my voice sounded.

“Okay, okay,” Reece answered quietly, holding his hands up in surrender and stepping back a foot. He eyed me suspiciously, and I cursed quietly. He was going to find out.

“I – I can explain,” I quivered, my voice cracking slightly.

“I’m just, I don’t know, I-“ I stumbled over my words, as a wave of tears blinded my eyes.

“It’s okay, you don’t have to explain it,” Reece whispered, his hand outstretching over to me before he realized his mistake and pulled it back abruptly.

“Let me take you upstairs,” he offered, motioning with his hand to go in front of him. I obliged, walking slowly across the kitchen and dining room and up the stairs, till we were standing in front of our respective doorways.

“Will you be okay from here?” He asked cautiously, half expecting me to drop on the floor and quiver in fetal position if he left me. I didn’t blame him though. It was an understandable reaction. After the incident, most of my guy friends acted the same way when they saw the complete 180 of my behavior, and reluctantly I told them. Since then, most knew how to handle my episodes, but Reece clearly didn’t.

I nodded, mumbling a quick thanks before ducking my head down and walking into my room. I shut the door slowly, watching Reece’s worried face disappear from my line of sight as the door finally clicked closed.

I stood there for a few seconds before I heard the distinct sound of footsteps retreating and a door clicking softly.

Though I was extremely touched by how much he cared, I couldn’t let it blind me.

When my guy friends found out what had happened, they were furious to say the least. I don’t know what would happen if Reece found out. And I especially didn’t want my mate hauled off to werewolf jail for killing a bunch of humans.

“No,” I said firmly.  I couldn’t tell him the truth. I wouldn’t tell him the truth.

My bitchiness would have to be taken up a notch if I wanted him to stop caring about me. He couldn’t know what happened.

As long as my name is Cassandra Knight, he would never get to know.

My eyes cracked open roughly, a steady stream of light hitting them from the open window beside my bed. I placed my hand tenderly on my forehead, as it throbbed incessantly.

Stumbling to my feet, I found my way to the bathroom. I quickly brushed my teeth and washed my face, hoping to rid the zombie look it was currently portraying.

I leaned my hands against the counter and closed my eyes, but the pounding in my head still continued. Not surprisingly, I suppose, considering the amount of sleep I got after last night’s slip up.

Oh god. My brain took on a whole new level of pain as I remembered the embarrassing details of what happened last night.

A warm feeling spread in my chest, traveling down my torso. Just the thought of what he did made shivers travel down my body. I felt like I was in some erotic novel, thinking of how effortlessly he turned me on.

Breathing in shakily, I opened my eyes, and looked at my reflection in the mirror. I concentrated on my eyes, a warm brown, almost caramel colored, from my mother of course. I kinda wished I could’ve inherited my dad’s bluish green eyes, but sadly genetics wasn’t in my favor. I shook that thought away, focusing my mind back to my previous thought.

Today was the first day I would train with Reece, for real this time. It felt like déjà vu, considering just yesterday I was having these exact same thoughts in the exact same place.

Grudgingly, I pulled myself away from the countertop and out the bathroom to the closet. Pulling out my favorite sports bra, purple tank, and black workout shorts, I quickly slipped them on and walked over to my wall mirror.

After grabbing a hair tie, I walked downstairs, throwing my hair in a ponytail and swinging it over to my left shoulder, much to my migraine’s distaste. If I wanted to sneak in a quick pill to relieve this horrible pain, I needed to fill my stomach up.

My mom was at the kitchen yet again, preparing an array of breakfast food fit for an entire pack.

“Hey mom,” I greeted, hugging her from behind.

“Morning sweetie, how did you sleep?” She asked after placing a quick kiss on my cheek.

“Could’ve been better,” I muttered, my brain throbbing in agreement.

“Oh sweetie, still a bit jet lagged?” she asked me.

“Yeah, I guess so,” I agreed quickly, pushing the butterflies in my stomach down. Like hell it was jet lag. More like the hunk you have living across from me.

“Well I know exactly how to make you feel better,” she smiled, maneuvering me down to the kitchen island to sit on a bar stool. Less than a minute later, a heaping serving of eggs, bacon, and diced fruit sat in front of me, along with a steaming cup of medium roast coffee with cream – my favorite.

“Thanks mom,” I smiled gratefully, before digging in like I hadn’t had a meal in months.

I was halfway through my scrumptious meal when I heard a pair of footsteps enter the kitchen.

A groggy looking Reece came in, his brown hair shuffled around haphazardly in a way that made him look incredibly sexy. He was in