Chapter Six #2
Rolling onto his side, he gingerly laid his arm over her. His entire body relaxed, and a sense of well-being flooded him. When she stirred, he froze, waiting for an elbow to the gut or for her to tell him to get out.
“Eli?” Her voice was slurred and sleepy.
“I’m here. You’re safe.”
“Mmm...” She fell back to sleep. He figured she wouldn’t remember this in the morning.
That was probably for the best. But for tonight, he could hold her.
He curved his big body around hers so her back was nestled against his chest and his legs were tucked behind hers. Sighing, she burrowed tighter.
If they were human, this would be inappropriate, but they were werewolves. Whether she’d admit it or not, she trusted him. Or at least her wolf did, or tired or not, she’d have come awake the second he’d walked into the room. His presence would soothe her, allow her to rest easier.
She fit against him as though she belonged there.
He nuzzled her hair, letting her scent fill his nostrils.
It was a pungent combination of earth and pine mixed with sweat, a reminder of her desperate flight.
Beneath it lingered hints of soap and the sweet and spicy scent of both woman and wolf.
With each inhalation, the tension drained out of him and a sense of satisfaction filled him.
“Good night, sweetheart,” he murmured against her ear.
With his brothers on patrol and his wolf to alert him to danger, he slept.
****
Kinley lay on a soft cloud, drifting between sleep and wakefulness. She was warm and cozy. Something about that troubled her. Frowning, she fought to wake. Strong arms tightened around her.
“You’re safe,” a deep male voice rumbled. Not just any voice—Eli’s. They were in bed together. She had a vague memory of him saying those two words to her more than once during the night.
Her eyelids popped open. She was fully dressed, so nothing untoward had happened between them.
Not that she thought he’d take advantage of her in that way.
She couldn’t say the same about Holden or other males in her pack.
They wouldn’t have hesitated to claim her as mate while she’d been incapacitated.
She touched the curve of her neck to reassure herself. No scar, which meant no mating mark.
Her wolf should have alerted her when he’d entered the bedroom. She tried to muster up the mistrust from yesterday, but it was noticeably absent. Instead, she felt rested and ... content.
“You’re not going back to sleep, are you?”
She shook her head. “No.”
“I was afraid of that.”
Her mind was filled with too many unanswered questions. If life had taught her anything, it was that the only person she could truly trust with her safety and welfare was herself.
As much as she’d loved her daddy, he’d enforced pack law, whether he considered it right or not.
She’d often wondered what he’d have done if Uncle Duke had insisted she mate with Holden when he’d been alive.
Pain stabbed deep. It was probably best that remained a mystery.
There was no way to know for certain, and she had more pressing problems to handle.
“What happened last night after I fell asleep?” Something she shouldn’t have done.
Not until she knew what Eli and his brothers had planned.
Too late to chide herself over what was already done.
She’d been running on nerves and fumes for days.
It was little wonder she’d passed out as soon as her head hit the pillow.
This was the most sleep she’d had in almost a week.
“Not much.” Tucked up behind her with one thickly muscled arm around her, he rubbed his chin against the top of her head. “My brothers kept watch overnight. The others should be here sometime later this morning.”
It was easier to talk like this, when she wasn’t facing him.
He was so big, such a solid presence, a bulwark between her and the rest of the world, if only a temporary one.
Heat radiated from him like a blast furnace.
It was pure heaven. A cool breeze wafted through the window, carrying the fresh scent of dawn.
The sky was beginning to lighten. It would be lovely to stay like this, to pretend she didn’t have a care in the world.
Unfortunately, her life was a lot more complicated. “What time is it?”
He shifted his weight, likely checking his phone. “Just past six-thirty.”
It was with more than a little regret that she pulled herself out from beneath his sheltering arm and sat up. As much as she’d like to bury her head in the pillow and pretend their relationship was normal, reality wouldn’t wait.
She blinked at the sight of his bare torso.
He’d kept his jeans on and had stayed on top of the covers, but a half-naked Eli Sin was more than enough to jolt a woman awake in the morning.
Better than a shot of caffeine. Broad shoulders tapered down to a narrow waist. Chiseled pecs and tightly muscled abs finished the perfect picture.
The light dusting of hair on his chest arrowed downward, the slim line disappearing into the waistband of his jeans.
It wasn’t as though she hadn’t seen a half-naked man before, or a fully naked one for that matter.
She’d lived her entire life in a wolf pack filled with heavily muscled and fit males.
And while people were discreet, it was impossible to grow up and not glimpse a bare human body from time to time.
It was totally natural, not anything noteworthy.
So why did seeing Eli affect her so much?
She hugged her arms around her knees to keep from reaching out to touch him.
He’d caught her attention from the start.
Watching him in the fight ring, the way he’d been in command of the bout with his bigger opponent, had stirred longings deep within her.
She hadn’t been looking for a champion, and she wasn’t ready to believe she’d found one.
He might be telling the truth when he said he wanted to protect her, but when it came down to it, family would come first. She’d witnessed how close the brothers were.
For all intents and purposes, they were a pack and she was an outsider. She’d do well to remember that.
They stared at each other, the silence broken only by the sounds of the world waking outside the window. There were other wolves in the house, but they were alone. His hair was tousled from sleep, but his dark eyes were sharp.
“Your eyes are unusual.” The words slipped from her lips.
He shrugged and sat up, stretching his arms over his head. His biceps rippled. The muscles of his shoulders and torso flexed. “We inherited them from our father.” The heat in those spectacular eyes amped up as he lowered his arms. “Black as sin, my mama used to say.”
They certainly were. They invited a woman to have all sorts of sinful ideas. Not smart, given her situation.
“Your blue eyes are unusual, too, for a werewolf.”
Werewolves predominately had brown or yellow eyes in varying shades from light to dark, sometimes hazel, or occasionally green.
While blue was widespread in humans, they were something of an anomaly in her world.
Some of her childhood friends had shunned her when it became apparent the color wasn’t going to change as she grew older.
For some, like Holden, it made her exotic, more desirable.
Eli trailed his fingers along the curve of her jaw. “Beautiful eyes.” His thumb brushed her bottom lip. “Soft lips.”
“This isn’t a good idea.” That acknowledgment didn’t stop her from yearning for his touch.
“Probably not.” He leaned closer and paused a whisper away. “Do you want me to stop?”
“No.” The single word was a mere puff of breath.
It was barely past her lips before his mouth covered hers.
This was all kinds of wrong, but she couldn’t bring herself to care.
Life was precarious, hers more than most. She could die today, tomorrow, or next week.
Didn’t she deserve one moment of pleasure?
Giving a guttural groan, he slipped his tongue inside.
Oh God, she’d known it would be good but hadn’t expected the explosion of heat that radiated out to the tips of her fingers and toes.
A heavy pulsing began deep in her core when their tongues tangled.
Her nipples hardened, making each brush of fabric against them pure torture.
He tasted hot and inviting and male. She couldn’t get enough.
The only place they touched was their lips, yet her entire body was alive, every nerve ending sparking with pure lust and longing. Eli Sin was dangerous to not only her safety but also her heart.
A hard rap came on the door. “The others just rolled in. Breakfast in thirty,” Cyrus called out.
Kinley lurched away as if they’d been caught red-handed.
And they had. There was no way his brother didn’t know what they’d been doing.
Werewolf hearing ensured there was no privacy in a house this size.
Heat crept up her cheeks. She refused to feel shame.
They were both single adults and hadn’t been doing anything wrong.
Still, it bothered her that what should be a special moment between them was now public knowledge.
Eli’s breath teased her ear as he whispered, “All the rooms are soundproofed. It’s why he had to bang on the door and raise his voice to be heard.”
She nodded, feeling relieved that his brothers wouldn’t be aware of their kiss. Of course, Cyrus had witnessed them kiss before, but that had been what she’d thought was a goodbye kiss. This was different. She was in Eli’s home, in Eli’s bed.
“Of course, the window is open.”
Groaning, she buried her face in her hands. “I might as well throw myself out of it.” She was only half joking.
The teasing expression disappeared from his face. “It doesn’t matter if anyone overheard. None of them will say anything to you.” He stood and held out his hand. “There’s time to shower. I’ll get you a clean shirt. I should have washed your clothes last night. I’ll do it later.”
She didn’t want him taking care of her. It would make it that much harder to leave.