Chapter 12
Chapter
Twelve
Iwoke up with a sore neck, though that was hardly surprising. Wood armrests didn’t make for great pillows after all. It was a miracle I’d managed to fall asleep at all.
The best I’d hoped for was a few hours of fitful rest, eyes closed but mind still whirling away, as I tried to figure a way out of the mess I’d made.
But clearly, fighting for survival was more exhausting work than I’d realized. Soon after closing my eyes, I’d fallen into the deepest sleep of my life—a dark, dreamless void of absolute silence.
And waking up, I offered up a prayer of thanks for the dreamless part. The last thing I needed after everything that had happened the night before was to start moaning Kyre’s name in my sleep.
I didn’t want to imagine how he’d react to that.
With seething anger was my guess—just like everything else that had to do with me.
I knew I should be grateful that the real Kyre was nothing like the fantasy version of my dreams. In the long run, it was better that he couldn’t stand the sight of me. Better that his touch was laced with barely controlled rage instead of lust.
Mutual attraction would have been one more complication in this already screwed-up situation, I told myself. And that was the last thing I needed.
I was already in over my head…and still sinking.
Today I had to meet some kind of ferus king and convince them to help me rescue Felicity. Never in a thousand years would I have guessed that would be an item on my to-do list—right between avoid wolves and don’t get killed.
God, once I got back home, I was never leaving LA again.
I tried rolling the stiffness out of my neck as I pushed myself upright in the chair, but it was no good. The muscles were as cold as the ashes of last night’s fire in the hearth. I lifted my hand and tried to rub some life back into them.
“Are you hurt?”
Kyre’s voice rumbled from across the room. He was still in the same chair as when I’d closed my eyes. The same position, even. I got the feeling he’d slept sitting up.
“Just sore.” I tried to shake my head, but winced as the tight tendons fought the movement. “It’s been a long time since I’ve slept somewhere other than my bed.”
“I understand,” he said, rising from his seat. I thought he was off to wake our hosts, but he ended up moving behind my chair instead. “Here.”
Before I could say a word, he swept my hair over my shoulder and cupped his palm around the base of my neck.
Oh, wow.
His hand was so large, it nearly stretched the full span of my shoulders. The skin was rough and calloused, a working man’s hand, but his touch still sent shivers rolling through me like the brush of a feather.
“Where does it ache?” This close, his voice rumbled through me.
Lower. Much lower.
Nope. I wasn’t going there.
I was determined to keep my thoughts clean.
“Just right here,” I said, pointing to a higher spot, right where my spine connected with my head. “But I’m fine. You don’t have to—oh…”
Words left me the second he started to move his fingers.
Up to this point, I’d only felt Kyre’s anger. I knew the steel grip of his hand closing around my wrist and the unforgiving prison of his arms. I’d felt the solid crest of his shoulder cutting into my belly. I’d started to think that kind of stony connection was all he was capable of.
So I wasn’t prepared for the almost tender movement of his hands against my tight muscles. Stroking and rubbing with masterful precision, his touch soothed away the tension and warmed the frozen parts of my neck.
I closed my eyes as he focused his attention on the deep knots that had formed below the surface. The tension in my jaw melted away, and my mouth fell open as I found myself leaning back into his touch.
Damn, he was good at this. He knew exactly where to knead and the perfect amount of pressure to use as he slowly drew the ache down out of my neck.
I’d never had a better massage in my life. Not even from my friends back at the hotel spa.
“You’re amazing,” I said once I’d acclimated to the stupor-inducing pleasure. “Where did you learn how to do this?”
“My mother is a great healer,” he answered. “Over the years, I’ve learned a few of her tricks.”
“You must be a devoted student.” It was hard to keep my voice steady and not moan the words as his hands slowly moved down to my shoulders.
“Not really,” he said. “I didn’t inherit her skill with medicine.”
“You could have fooled me.” Stress was practically pouring out of me as his hands squeezed the tops of my shoulders. “What is your talent then?”
“Hunting.”
No surprise there.
“Deer?”
“Sometimes,” he said. “And sometimes other alphas.”
“Like Lash.”
“Exactly.”
I raked my teeth against my lower lip, weighing the benefits of keeping this almost cordial conversation going against the satisfaction of speaking my mind. But there was never any real doubt which side was going to win out.
“So, you could help me track down my friend,” I said. “You just don’t want to.”
But to my surprise, he didn’t pull back. His temper didn’t rage. Instead, his touch stayed calm and steady on my shoulders. And when he did speak, his tone was almost apologetic.
Almost.
“It’s not a matter of want,” he said. “I don’t get any pleasure out of telling you she’s dead, but I know Lash. I know what he’s capable of.”
“I understand that.” I nodded. “But you don’t know Felicity. She’s a fighter. A survivor. If anyone could have made it through the night out there alive, it’s her.”
“Not with an alpha like Lash. There aren’t many ferus alive that hate the kirre more fiercely.”
“But why?”
I was so drawn in by the combination of our conversation and the magical feel of his touch that I didn’t consciously notice the tips of his fingers slipping beneath the neck of my shirt. His skin just felt so right against mine.
“He sees you as a threat to our way of life,” he said.
A soft chuckle shook my chest. I couldn’t help it. I’d never heard anything so ridiculous.
“How in the world are we a threat?” I asked. “Kyre, I couldn’t even scare off a few wolves with the help of a loaded gun last night. There’s no way someone like me could topple a whole culture. Especially not one made up of people that are practically half wolf themselves.”
“Don’t be so sure,” he said, his tone as solemn as ever. “You’re far more powerful than you think, Sophia.”
Oh, damn.
The way he said my name sent a warm wash of awareness all through my body. Without thinking, I rolled my head against his hand, which was now fully under the cover of my shirt, his fingers in smooth, hypnotic circles over the top of my bra strap.
“Because of the dreams?” The question slipped from my lips before I could stop it. “The ones your friends were talking about last night.”
For a second, his hands stilled. A hush settled over both of us. And just when I was about to give up on him answering, he opened his mouth.
“Yes,” he admitted. “Do you know what they are?”
“No.” I shook my head. I could already feel the sting of embarrassment burning in my cheeks. “I’m not sure that I want to…and I definitely don’t want to talk about them.”
“Good.” Another tense pause, then, “The less we mention them, the better.”
Agreed.
The trouble was that even talking about not talking about them made the memories start playing like a movie in my mind.
A very dirty movie.
Suddenly, my head was filled with thoughts of Kyre tossing me down on the vast expanse of his oversized bed. Of his tongue tasting the most intimate parts of me. Of my nails raking against his shoulders as I begged for more.
In just a few seconds, the heat from my blush had spread over every inch of my body. Tingles tickled up from my toes to the top of my head. Every part of me flushed with a heady sense of anticipation.
“I won’t say a word. I promise.” I’d meant to reassure both of us with my words, but my voice came out far too deep and sensual. “Especially not to your pack leader.”
“I’m sorry, I missed that,” An amused voice interrupted from the hall, startling me so bad that I nearly jumped out of my seat. “What aren’t you going to tell the Lykaon?”
Pivoting to the side, I saw Hannah leaning against the side wall, a smile teasing the corners of her lips. Tauren stood behind her, his expression as hard as it had been the night before.
In a flash, Kyre snapped his hands from underneath my shirt and down to his sides. “Nothing that concerns you.”
But his stiff answer only caused Hannah’s smile to widen.
“Right,” she chuckled. “Though something tells me that line isn’t going to work very well with the new Lykaon.”