Chapter 7
Ella
My world was still trying to put itself together when Axel crawled back up my body.
The sheets were twisted beneath me as I turned my head, catching the edge of his jaw with my kisses, my heart still thudding like I’d run a mile.
He looked down at me like he was trying to memorize the moment. Like he’d never seen anything he wanted more.
I curled my fingers around the back of his neck, pulled him down, and kissed him. I tasted myself on his lips and didn’t care. I wanted more. I wanted him inside me like I’d never wanted anything else before.
His cock was thick and hard, and looking utterly delicious. I reached for him, but before I could wrap my fingers around his thick girth, he moved, turning me on the bed so he could nestle me against his body.
“Good morning, sunshine,” he said in a satisfied drawl. “Feeling better?”
I blinked. “Yes. Very much so. But what about you?”
“There will be plenty of time later for me.”
Then he was rolling out of bed, his gait awkward as he headed toward the bathroom.
I sighed, not knowing what to make of everything.
He was trying to hide something, that was for sure.
And it wasn’t that he was embarrassed about the size or shape of his cock, because both were quite impressive, though I had to admit that I was surprised by the slightly bluish hue to it. What else could it be?
Could it be that he couldn’t control his shift in the spur of the moment, and he was afraid of me finding out what he was?
That might be it. Because I could swear that there was a moment when he was licking me to oblivion that his shoulder had gotten a bit furry-feeling under my thigh, like he couldn’t stay human all the way.
That must be it.
Now I was even more curious what type of shifter he was.
What if it was something really scary, like an alligator or a snake?
Didn’t snakes have two penises? I only saw one.
What if the second popped up only when we were doing it?
But Axel had been perfectly at home out in the snow, so it must be something else that could handle the cold.
Maybe it was an endangered, often poached species, and he was protecting himself. Snow leopard? The flashes of fur I kept seeing were white. But he didn’t move the way I imagined a snow leopard would move, whatever that was.
Gah! My imagination was going to get the best of me.
I was really tempted to just straight-up ask, but I was pretty sure I’d read that doing so was considered the height of rudeness. Maybe if I still hadn’t figured it out by the time they got my car fixed, I’d actually ask. Because I didn’t want to leave, never knowing.
Reluctantly, I climbed out of bed to start the day.
It was just as we were cleaning up the plates after a hearty breakfast of eggs, a whole pile of bacon, and pancakes, that my phone rang from my purse on the couch. I’d completely forgotten it existed.
I guess the line was up again. I glanced over at the router on the desk across the room, and sure enough, the little green light was holding steady.
I dried my hands on a dish towel and jogged over, digging it out just as the screen lit up with a photo of Mom in a reindeer hat.
“Hey, Mom,” I answered, already bracing for the worry. “I’m okay.”
“Oh, thank God,” she breathed. “We figured you were, but still. A nice young shifter came by last night to check on us. He said you made it to one of the rangers’ cabins before the worst of the storm hit.”
I frowned. Ranger? I hadn’t even known Axel’s job before now, but it made so much sense. A big, rugged mountain of a man, living alone in the woods. The old-school radio on his desk. Of course he was a forest ranger.
And Mom must mean the shifter from last night.
I’d already forgotten his name. I hadn’t known my childhood home bordered on a wolf pack’s territory.
No wonder Blake had always been in a rush to get home after every Christmas.
He’d also refused to “go out in the cold.” Now I saw that it was because he’d been hiding from the pack.
The guy from yesterday had said I looked familiar. But I’d been so worried about Blake finding me that I hadn’t even considered that it was because he knew my family. I was an exact cookie-cutter copy of my mom, just younger and with a few extra freckles.
“I’m glad you were able to get somewhere safe on time,” Mom continued. “You know how we worry about you now that you’re on your own. And that car! That thing needs to be replaced. You know your brothers had a bet going on whether it would make the trip. I’m glad Pete’s not winning.”
“Pete bet my lemon wouldn’t make it?”
“Yes, dear. But you made it to safety.”
I sighed. “Actually, Mom. Pete won. My car gave out on the road. I got rescued by a Good Samaritan.”
“Ha!” shouted Pete from the background. “In your face! You owe me ten bucks, Kyle!”
I rolled my eyes. Those two would never grow up if Mom and Dad made it so easy for them to stay acting like teenagers forever.
“I’m going to be a little late getting back. As soon as we hang up, I’ll call the garage in Darlington and see if they can tow it.”
“Do you need us to come get you?” Mom said, the worry growing in her voice.
Before I could answer, Axel’s voice rumbled from behind me. “No. I’ll make sure she gets to the garage in one piece.”
There was a pause. Then, from the background, my brother’s voice cut through, loud and clearly suspicious. “Who the hell is that?”
I closed my eyes and groaned under my breath. Here we go.
“Nobody,” I said way too fast, voice pitched higher than I liked. “Anyway, I need to call the garage now. I gotta go. Bye!”
I hung up before my brothers could start barking orders or demand I pass the phone to Axel so they could interrogate him.
“Sorry,” I muttered, turning back toward him. “My brothers are a handful.”
His brows lifted, his arms still crossed over that broad chest. “Are you embarrassed that you stayed the night here?”
There was something in his voice that made me pause. Was that disappointment flickering in his eyes?
“What? No!” I stepped closer, reaching out to touch his arm. “It’s just… my brothers can get intense. They’re protective, and they don’t know when to back off, especially after the mess with my ex. And Mom’s the opposite. She’s going to take one look at you and start planning the wedding.”
“I can handle them.”
“Are you sure about that? What if Mom started asking when we’re giving her grandbabies even though you’re just dropping me off?”
He laughed. “I think our kids would be adorable.”
I rolled my eyes at the ridiculousness of our conversation.
His voice dropped. “You’re coming back after for that date, aren’t you?”
“Of course I am.” Was that what he’d been worried about? That I’d just ghost him after the amazing evening and the even better morning we’d just shared?
He stepped forward, closing the space between us, and slid his arms around my waist. His body was warm, solid, and the look in his eyes made my knees go soft.
“Then I’ll have to deal with your family eventually,” he said.
“You say that like you think we’ll be a thing for the long term.”
He swallowed hard, and I could tell that there was something he wasn’t telling me. “I’d like us to be,” he finally said.
“I don’t even really know who you are. And you don’t know me either. I didn’t even realize you were a forest ranger until the phone call.”
He passed a massive hand over his hair. “Actually, I’m not that type of ranger. I mean, I do similar work, but I’m not working for the state. I work for the EA, in their Natural Resources division.”
I gawked at him. The EA was short for Secret Enforcement Agency—they’d dropped the secret when The Wall fell—which, from what I knew, kept monsters and magical folk in line.
“Does that make you something like a cop?”
He laughed. “No. Those are enforcers. I’ve made arrests before, but as I said, I do similar work to a normal park ranger, just for the EA.”
“I didn’t know.”
“To your credit, my car wasn’t marked; I was on a personal trip to town to grab supplies. And I didn’t have my badge. And in my experience, telling someone I’m an EA ranger without either of those things usually just gets them even more suspicious, and you were already skittish.”
“Okay, that’s fair.”
He cupped my cheek. “But about the whole relationship thing, I understand if you’re not ready for anything serious yet. We’ll take it slow.”
“Thank you.”
But if I had to be completely honest with myself, I wasn’t sure what I was ready for. It was true that the divorce had only been finalized recently, but I’d had a whole damn year to get over him. Maybe I was more ready than I gave myself credit for.
He stepped over to his desk, unpinned a flyer from his bulletin board, and held it out for me.
“Here’s the number to the garage in Darlington I use.
Just let them know you’re with me, and they’ll take care of it.
I need to do a quick survey of the area and make an initial report now that the storm’s over. I’ll be right back.”
He pulled me in close again and kissed me on the forehead.
As I waited for the call to the garage to go through, I peered out the window to watch him disappear into the woods.
There was a click, and a cheerful female voice with a southern twang said, “Grind and Shine Garage, how may I help you?”