agilebrit | Well, what with the computer woes and all... (Reply)

And the fact that I don't actually have the last version of the novelthing here with me (PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE LET ME GET IT BACK), all I'm going to do for the Weekly Word Count this week is post what I did in the new doc that I've been religiously saving to my thumb drive:

And the number is...

2085

*tilts head, squints* Not bad.

And, you know what? While I'm here, have the snippet, which I picked out for you last night. Language warning? We're all grownups here, right?

The chair creaked, and Ben heard Perez kneel next to the cage. “I need you to know something. Look at me.”

Ben cracked his eyelids open. Still heaving for breath.

“If you hurt her, I will kill you myself with my bare hands. Are we clear?”

“Is that what this is about? You're a fucking idiot.” In general, Ben moderated his language around people he cared about. Perez didn't qualify. “I would never hurt her.” Getting air now. He managed a glare. “She's safer with me than some vamps I can name. And if I did hurt her, even by accident, you wouldn't have to kill me. I'd do it my-damn-self.”

“Just so we understand each other.” Perez unclipped the carabiner.

And that's when Ben grabbed his wrist and wrenched his arm into the cage. “Ange is safe around me,” he said. His lips skinned back from fangs, and his claws pierced Perez's skin. Blood welled up around them. Ben felt his eyes change color as his vision sharpened. “You aren't, necessarily. The only reason I don't rip your arm off and shove it up your ass right now? Is because I'd end up back on the table and that would make her sad.”

Perez held himself still. Now he was the one not breathing, Ben noticed. Not that he needed to. Saliva dripped from Ben's teeth onto the pinioned wrist, and he continued, “You want to talk to me, that's fine, we'll talk. I'll buy you a beer. You don't knock me out, stick me in a cage, and fucking handcuff me.”

He released Perez then and shoved himself backwards until his back hit the wall, closing his eyes and panting, pressing his fist against his aching chest. “Just so we understand each other.”