Chapter 14 – Lacey
Chapter Fourteen
Lacey
Wilder is a total gentleman as I exit the shower. He hands me a towel with his eyes averted, but mine have a mind of their own, circling back to how low his towel hangs on his slender hips.
There’s a chill in the air, and my face still heats to the point I must have pink cheeks. My instincts want to snatch him up and find a nest to snuggle in.
“Let me help with your hair. You’re dripping all over,” Wilder says, cracking an easy smile.
My stomach flip-flops. That look on his handsome face is dangerous. He’s always hot, but he’s especially sinful with that thick stubble. It frames his jaw to perfection.
I get myself together, and he helps me dry my hair.
I’m not sure when he ran in to grab Grim’s shirt off the bed, but it must have been when he stepped out to bag my underwear and collect towels.
“Arms up for me,” he murmurs as his short dark hair falls over his forehead. His eyes are such a deep blue that it’s a crazy contrast with his dark tan skin and black hair.
My arms fly up.
I’m lucky my towel doesn’t fall before he can pull Grim’s shirt over my head. Wilder reaches under the shirt to tug the towel off, and the warm skin of his forearm brushes against my thigh. He stands to his full height, towering over me, and it takes everything in me not to squirm.
I might be the most cliché omega in existence, but I love that he didn’t leave me to handle showering on my own. I probably would have had a breakdown or two rather than actually getting clean.
“I need to take the bag of clothes down to the garage, but I also have to run to my room and grab something to sleep in.” He smiles, tucking my damp hair behind my ear. “Why don’t you use the bathroom? I’ll meet you in bed as soon as I’m done.”
A freaking shiver runs down my spine, and I have to bite my cheek to keep from saying, “Yes, Daddy,” or something equally as sassy.
Is that weird?
I never knew my dad, so the word means nothing to me.
Jeez.
It would be really nice if my body would chill.
I’m under the covers with the blanket wrapped around my chest when Wilder walks into the room. He has a bottle of water and something else that I can’t make out.
My eyes wander down his chest, and I almost groan.
The man is in dark gray sweatpants, and based on the outline of his dick, I’m going to guess he didn’t bother with anything underneath. Seeing his bare feet as he strides across the room is surreal.
Maybe Grim never actually saved me, and I died in that alley? Shit. That would suck, but it would make more sense than what’s happened since.
Wilder comes to a stop at the edge of the bed and sets down the jar I couldn’t make out.
Extending the water, he asks, “Would you like a sip?”
I shake my head, and he nods, dropping the water on the nightstand. Once he’s done with that, he reaches into his pocket, pulls his cell phone free, and puts it down too.
“Scoot down and roll over for me,” he says. “Tuck the blanket around your hips and lift the shirt until it’s up around your shoulders.”
“Why?”
“You mentioned being sore. I found massage cream. I’m going to give you a rub down to try to help prevent any stiffness tomorrow.”
Yeah.
I’m ninety-seven-percent sure I died in that alleyway.
Is this Heaven?
If so, I’m not going to turn down a massage from the guy I’ve had a crush on since I was seventeen.
“It’ll also help you relax,” he says, like I need to be convinced.
I scoot down, roll over, and follow the rest of his instructions.
I’m not expecting Wilder to climb onto my thighs, but he legit kneels over me. He collects my hair, twirling it together and tucking it over my shoulder on the opposite side from where I’m facing. He stretches over to the nightstand, and I’m guessing he opens the jar of lotion.
Once he’s back in place, he rubs his hands together. It jostles my entire body, but I rest my face against my forearm and grimace at the tinge of pain. It’s not unbearable, by any means. I just forgot about the scrapes.
A flash of the way the man grabbed my hair, tugging me along like I weighed nothing, plays through my mind.
I exhale heavily and focus on Grim’s scent, which is just above my head from his pillow.
“It’s just me.” Wilder gently runs his hands over my shoulders and down the column of my spine. I jolt, but despite having him on top of me, it’s easy to differentiate him from the men earlier. “No one is going to hurt you from here on out. I give you my word.”
“I’m okay,” I whisper, but a tremor rolls through my body. Maybe it’s hearing how sincere he sounds, or it could be knowing how lucky I got. Tonight could have been the end of the road for me.
“Still too cold?”
“It’s perfect.”
“Good.” He rubs up my sides, and my eyes clench shut.
It feels amazing, and physically, I’m exhausted.
My mind is another story. “Are Grim and Cal okay?”
The bond is intact, but outside of that, I can’t pick up much at all. I know Grim is in one piece, but I think he might be blocking me from peeking around at his thoughts. That, or he’s too far away at this moment to feel him as clearly as I did when we were right next to one another.
“I haven’t been updated, which means everything is fine. Don’t worry about anything,” Wilder says. “You’re now permanently tied to Grim, and he’s one of my best friends. I’m not going to let anything happen to him. I can assure you of that.”
“Thank you, Wilder.”
“Always. Now, tell me what you want for Christmas.”
“That was random.” I snort.
“I want to get to know you. Keeping your mind busy doesn’t hurt either.” His palm smooths up my spine and under Grim’s shirt. He cradles the back of my neck, rubbing his fingers into the tops of my shoulders. “What’s on your wish list?”
I groan as he works back down, running over a knot. “I’ll be happy as long as Grim is okay. I’m not sure how I’ll keep my apartment with no job—”
“Oh no, darling. We’re not talking about any of that,” Wilder says, gently digging what feels like his thumb into the nodule between my shoulder blades. “This is all whimsy. What would you like if you knew Santa would deliver everything on your list?”
I laugh.
There’s never been a time in my life when I haven’t greatly truncated my list for birthdays and Christmas.
I knew my mom would do her best to deliver everything I asked for, but I also didn’t want her to have to work more hours to make those wants happen.
I got to spend so little time with her as it was that even the few days off that she took for Christmas felt like a gift in and of themselves.
“Get to talking before I scoot down enough that I can get to spanking,” Wilder says with humor lining his tone.
My eyes pop open, and I glare at him over my shoulder. “You wouldn’t dare.”
“Try me.” Even the way he says it sends an unnatural thrill through my body.
So cocky.
So confident.
So Wilder.
“Thinking about these things takes time.”
“You’ve got thirty seconds.” His lips tip up, and my silly heart races.
Dammit.
“Come on, little sister. Time is ticking.”
“Comfy pajamas,” I blurt out. “Slippers and a robe. I’ve always wanted to start building a Christmas village. You know, the little pieces you can collect, like the school, post office, the town square. Whatever those things are.”
“That’s a good start. What else?”
There’s not much that I need.
“I thought about getting a kitten.” I stop myself from mentioning that I doubt I will now with everything still so up in the air.
“I knew there was more.” He chuckles. “Honestly, that’s still a pretty light list. Put some more thought into it, or you’ll drive Grim crazy when he asks you what you want. Then again, I suppose he has the bond on his side.”
“Yeah,” I whisper, still blown away by everything that changed today.
“Relax and mull over what else you want to ask for,” Wilder says softly. “And that’s not even counting courting gifts.”
My eyes widen.
It’s a little late for that, but I know how important courting gifts are between alphas and omegas.
I close my eyes, enjoying the tender way Wilder runs his hands over my back. My mind wanders, thinking of what else I might need, but exhaustion takes over, and I fall asleep before I even realize what’s happening.
“You can roll over if you’d like,” Wilder says softly, brushing the hair away from my cheek.
I’m so out of it that I just blink in confusion for a few seconds, but once my brain catches up, I follow his instruction.
My face ends up resting on his shoulder and pec as he wraps his arm around my back.
It’s like a perfect cocoon of safety. I’d love to bury my nose in his armpit, but that might be weird.
Speaking of weird, crazy things that make no sense…
“Do you have a tattoo of me on your back?”
Wilder chuckles. “The likeness is striking. Isn’t it? I added the gardenias once Grim and Callum mentioned it was one of the notes they picked up from your scent. I’ve always been able to sense something floral, but it didn’t click until they specifically pointed out what it was.”
“That’s insane,” I whisper because I have literally no idea what else to say to that. “It’s a great tattoo, though.”
“Rest, darling. I’ll watch over you until Grim gets home.”
He’s so warm and comfortable that I fall back to sleep almost instantly.