Read Black Moon for Free Online Page A

my lips long enough to float directly above them, waiting for my response.
    Feel what?
    “Us,” he responds.
    So, I’m not the only one. That’s good. At least I’m not losing my mind.
    I nod.
    “Well, now that the marking is official . . .” he mumbles, a low hum vibrating against my skin.
    I open my eyes wider, but this weakness for him is keeping them half-lidded. “What do you mean ‘official’? I thought we were already marked because of the pillow.”
    A devious grin peels back his lips, showcasing his white teeth. “I just sealed the deal.”
    I pull backward, away from his mouth, away from him. “What are you talking about?”
    “I figured they told you about being marked and what it means, but I doubted whether Jana told you the whole story.” His eyes flash with amusement. “Oh, we could throw possessions back and forth all day, but we would’ve had the chance to undo the enchantment. Now, because we’ve kissed—” he puffs out his chest, chin angled up in the air “—we must live happily. Ever. After.” He drops the animation immediately. “Except we can’t, because we’re enemies.”
    “The hell?”
    “Yeah, my exact thoughts, too.” He’s actually mocking me. He has the audacity to stand here and tell me he doesn’t want this, yet he chose this path for us, knowing I had no clue.
    “Um, wrong, Princess. I do want this. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t have forced you to kiss me. It was a spur-of-the-moment decision, one that’ll pay off. Trust me.”
    Stop reading my mind!
    “Can’t. Comes with our new secret power.”
    I could seriously scream right now. I’m not even joking. This means I can visualize flash images of him and the Conway’s and their Followers, while he can see me and my family and the Watchers. There’s no privacy.
    “Why’d you do it?” I ask through clenched teeth. My hands are balled into fists at my side, ready to punch him. But, of course, he can probably predict when that’s coming.
    He grins, but his look is elsewhere, someplace I can’t see. The grin fades and is replaced by a frown. His eyes meet mine, and he reaches up, twirling a strand of my hair between his fingers. “Because I don’t want to ever be away from you for any length of time.” He pauses, then says, “Unfortunately, our time’s up today.” He snatches my hand, loosens my fist, and presses his lips to my row of fingers.
    “What? Wait!” What does he mean ‘our time is up’? The guy freaking bends time, so why does it matter?
    I guess that’s what happens when someone can freeze us and disappear at will. Nobody knows he stopped everything dead in our tracks, meandering down the stairwell and out the front door. We all view it as continual, while Ben and I grasp the real truth.
    He glances over his shoulder as he leaves my room, never uttering a single word. I glance over at the clock, which still reads 4:02 p.m. Is it broken? Right as the thought crosses my mind, the outer digit rolls over to a three. 4:03 p.m. So, the whole visit was timeless. How I wasn’t stationary, I don’t know. And all of this for what? I mean, it’s been months since I last saw him. What was the entire point, to just waltz into my room and mark us? If he stopped time for this . . . this . . . whatever you want to call it, then that means restraining me on my bed was only because he wanted to, not because he was actually trying to keep me quiet.
    Ugggh ! The nerve! He better watch it; I have experience throwing guys with the last name of Conway through windows.
    The cherry on the icing will be dealing with my family. Becoming linked to Ben is one thing, but explaining this to friends and relatives—those who have protected me for months from the same flesh and blood I can now speak mentally to—is not going to be cake. It’ll be like walking on glass—full of sharp points and deep cuts, and there might be blood.
    “Candra!” Beth calls from downstairs. “Jana and Blake are here.”
    Wow, even