Page 20 of Salvation

“It was okay.” Well, a lot of it had been hell, but there were bright spots, too — all of which involved her. “How about you?”

She nodded, glanced down, and when she looked back, her gaze slid to his lips. And all of a sudden, all he could think of was a kiss.

Her nostrils flared, and whoa, he wondered if she was thinking the same thing.

Without thinking — because how could he think when a powerful magnet was drawing on every cell in his body? — he leaned closer, and she leaned in, too. Her mouth cracked open as if she was imagining a kiss, too, and every nerve in his body bounced up and down.

Then the towel in her hand fell, making Anna blink, gulp, and motion down the stairs. “I was just on my way to the shower. It was such a hot day…”

Hot for sure,his bear hummed.

He didn’t respond at first, because he was still imagining a kiss. But then he nodded and pressed his body against one wall. “Sure. Sorry.”

The funny thing was, she looked sorry, too.

Me, three,his bear sighed.

She smiled, though, and when she squeezed past, her sweet scent just about knocked him over. He closed his eyes and drew a deep breath, filling his lungs with it. God, she was so close. So perfect. So…so…

Mine,his bear growled.

He was still there seconds later, motionless as a statue, when she stopped at the bottom of the stairs and turned back. “Goodnight, Todd.”

He just managed to shake himself out of his daze and reply, “Goodnight, Anna.”

Even her name felt perfect on his tongue.

And then she was gone. For a while, at least. Eventually, he heard her come back up the stairs and quietly tuck herself into the bed on her side of the thin partition wall. He lay in his own bed, barely moving. Barely breathing, except for testing the air for her scent.

He caught a whiff of it, and Jesus, it was torture, having her so close, yet so far.

Bust through the wall,his bear demanded.I need her.

Like that would convince her he was a guy worth having.

Go talk to her, then.

Talking. Right. Like he was any good at that kind of thing.

Show her we’re worthy.

That only made him despair, because he wasn’t worthy. His right hand didn’t have one-tenth the range of motion it used to have, and he had burn scars down the side of his chest. Other scars, too, like the long, jagged one that went from his ribs to his hip where a rogue wolf had almost gutted him back in the ambush in Montana. He wasn’t the bear he used to be. He’d never come close again.

So he didn’t bust through the wall or talk to her or anything else. He just lay quietly, staring at the ceiling. What was he doing in Arizona, anyway?

He snorted and filled in the answer. Being screwed by fate, that’s what he was doing.

Fate had been messing with him for months now — tricking him into fathering a child he’d never get to call his own, then allowing him to survive instead of dying an honorable death. Fate had taken away nearly every member of his family.

Clearly, fate was out to make him suffer in any way possible.

Which made his blood run cold. If Anna was his mate, fate could hurt her, too. That’s the way fate seemed to work — with sneaky, below-the-belt punches aimed at the ones he loved. Jesus, if he allowed himself to get closer to Anna, what might fate do then? Strike her down with a bolt of lightning? Let her wither away with cancer?

He clutched and clawed at the bedsheets, covered in sweat. If fate was a tangible enemy — a bear, maybe, or a hellhound or even a dragon — at least then he could fight it head on. But he was powerless. Absolutely powerless against fate and its cruel games.

If Anna really meant anything to him—

She means everything,his bear growled.

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