Read Upon Waking (Youngling Series) for Free Online

I’m glad you came up to me.” Her smile softened and she slowly lowered her arms to her sides. “I’m not usually the…outgoing type so this is all a bit strange to me.” Harper smiled and her heart melted into a little puddle at her feet.
    “Why don’t you come down from there, darling, before you get hurt.” Tessa nodded and held out her hands. Harper stepped forward to take her hand but before he could one of Tessa's heels snapped and she gave a little shriek, falling backwards off the pier and into the darkness below. There was a little splash and then silence.
    “Tessa!”
    “I fell off the pier. How…lame.” Harper gave a little shrug and sat up once again, brushing dark hair out of his eyes. Again Tessa felt the urge to do it for him but still she resisted. “So, did I drown?” Harper nodded and she fell silent.
    “I leapt out into the water and managed to get you to shore. You were breathing but just barely and there was no one else around. So I-“
    “Finished the job.”
    “Tessa-“
    “Well, it’s true, isn’t it? I almost died so you finished the job.”
    “You don’t understand. It took me several minutes to find you. The tide had washed you out to deeper waters and I was lucky I was able to get you breathing at all. At best, you would have been a vegetable. At least this way you can have a second chance.”
    Tessa didn’t know what to say to that so she moved on.
    “Ok, so I was dying and you changed me. Why did you do that? And don’t give me that second chance crap. I want a real reason and I want it now, Harper.” With a sigh, he stood and moved silently behind her, resting his hands on her shoulders.
    “Because I felt…something. A pull and I couldn’t lose you when I had just found you.” He ran his callused fingers down the slender column of her throat and she sighed, tipping her head to the side. “Is that better than to give you a second chance ?”
    “Much better,” she whispered, her hand coming up to cover his, stopping it where it rested on her collarbone.  Harper's other hand slipped under the neckline of her dress, cupping her breast in his hand and she gasped softly, eyes flying open.
    “I couldn’t let you go without finishing what we started.”
    “Harper-“
    The door banged open and Tessa jumped up, moving away from Harper and his roaming hands. The person who walked in was tall and broad shouldered, his face obscured under the hood of his expensive looking jacket. A feral growl escaped Harper's lips and Tessa shot a look at him, wondering who the stranger was.
    “What the hell are you doing here? I thought you were leaving town for a while.” The stranger gave a shake of his head, a strand of white blonde hair escaping his hood to trail down the front of his chest.
    “You know I can’t, Loki. Not with the mess you’ve made now.”
    “Loki? Who the hell is Loki?” Tessa turned back to Harper who smiled.
    “My first name is Loki but I tend to go by my last name.”
    “Always trying to be someone you’re not, brother.” The voice was distinctly male with a soft lilt to it that Tessa couldn’t place. It fascinated her but she shoved it to the back of her mind. “I can’t believe you changed her, you idiot. You swore-“
    “I swore nothing and you know it. Jealous, brother? Unusual for you, isn’t it?” Tessa threw up her hands, calling for a time out.
    “Harper, what the hell is going on? This is your brother?” The brother chuckled and reached up, throwing back the hood. Tessa gasped softly and took a tiny step back, her voice caught in her throat. “No need to be frightened, Tessa.”
    His face was sharply chiseled with a straight nose and a strong mouth. Hair the color of new snow cascaded down his shoulders, easily reaching his elbows in length. It shimmered with a light all its own, a glow that emanated from his honey colored skin as well. His aqua eyes reminded her of the time her family had gone to the Bahamas. The waters there had