Page 63 of Wolf's Redemption

For all that she’d moved on, turned her back on Spider, the crew and that lifestyle, her ex-lover’s betrayal still burned fiercely.

“One day, to avoid getting caught with this substance, he slipped it intomybag and claimed I was the one who’d had the stuff all along. I paid the price for his wrongdoing.” Her throat tightened and her chest burned. That he’d never paid for that, or any other crime he’d committed, and had willfully let her and others take the rap for him, made her blood boil. “They locked me up for eighteen months and he didn’t even look back when he walked away.”

Bek blinked away the unshed tears in her eyes, certain Ulrik would see them.

“Ah, baby.” He cradled her face.

She leaned into his hand. “When I got out, I was determined that I would never go back to him or that life. That, like a phoenix rising from the ashes, I would get my life back on track and make something of myself. Every day I spent in that prison, I promised myself never again would I make that mistake. Never again would I put myself in the hands of a man who’d allow someone else to suffer for something he’d done.”

Ulrik stiffened and pulled back, his hand dropping from her face. She reached for him, but he rolled away from her in a splash of water. Bek sat up, the night air suddenly cold against her skin now the warmth of his body was gone. She stared after him as he strode toward the bank and snatched up his shirt.

What the fuck?

“Hey!” She followed him, stomping through the water, coming to a halt right in front of him, naked and dripping. “What’s your problem? No, gee Rebekah, I’m sorry you got stiffed by your lover? Or, man, that sucks? What an asshole?”

He picked up her clothes and thrust them into her arms, leaving her no choice but to take them.

She gaped at him. “Surely a little sympathy is in order? It’s not like I was the one who did the wrong thing. I just have lousy taste in men.”

He stilled, a muscle ticking in his jaw. With a snarl, he shoved his arms into the sleeves. “Get dressed, Rebekah. It is late in the eve and we must get back.”

She swallowed, shoving down the hurt that had blossomed at his retreat. “Fine.”

She turned her back on him and threw her dress over her head. It clung to her wet body, but she was too angry, too stung by his rejection to give a damn. Her jeans, she rolled up intoa ball, contemplating pegging them at his head.Why waste the effort?

Instead, she concentrated on getting her boots on and laced up. “Now who’s being the asshole?” she mumbled under her breath.

“Come.”

He took her by the arm and led her back down the path to the cottage, the intimacy of a few moments ago shattered. For a second, she’d considered staying in the tenth century. Imagined it wouldn’t be all that bad. Erin seemed happy. Clearly,shewasn’t going to get an invitation anytime soon. Typical, now that she’d just begun to wish for one.

They reached the cottage and Ulrik wrested open the door and hurried her inside. Neither of them had said a word since they’d left the pond, but each of Bek’s footsteps had fallen harder than the last. So what if she’d spent time in prison? Even if the coke had been hers, it would’ve been her first offense. Notwithstanding the shit her family had dragged her into when she’d been too young to know better. None of that had resulted in a record, thank God. She’d never claimed to be an angel.

Bek glared at his profile. First Spider, and now Ulrik.I’m an idiot. My man barometer is truly broken.

Ulrik released her arm. “Stay here, Rebekah.” He turned on his heel. “I need… I will take first watch.”

He stormed out of the cottage and slammed the door behind him.

Erin was on her feet. “What’s going on?”

Bek threw her jeans onto the seat. “When I first met him, they had him chained to a wall in a dungeon. Nowhe’supset because he found out I’ve been in prison? For something I didn’t even do?” She clasped her hands in her hair. “Argh! Infuriating man.”

Erin came around the table and gave her a hug as Gaharet slipped out of the door after Ulrik. “Oh, honey. We’ll sort this out.”

Bek pulled away from Erin and plopped down onto a stool.

Erin patted her shoulder. “Here, let me get you something to eat. You’ve had a long day and…” She glanced at the door. “I’m sure Ulrik will cool off and you can talk it out with him.” She set a bowl of stew in front of Bek and handed her a large chunk of bread. She inclined her head to the door. “What exactly happened out there between you two?”

Bek didn’t think she could eat right now, but she nodded at Erin and gave her a half-hearted smile of thanks.

She tore at the bread, breaking it up. “I don’t get it. Everything was fine. We had sex. Goodsex,greatsex. More than once. Hell, the man knows his way around a woman’s body. We were lying in the shallows, post coital bliss and all that, and he asks me about my tattoos. He wanted to know what they meant and why I’d got them. I was telling him about the phoenix on my shoulder blade—”

“A phoenix? Doesn’t he have a—”

“Yeah, yeah. I know.” Bek waved her hands at Erin. “It’s Ulrik’s family crest. And before you say it’s kismet, or fate or something equally ridiculous, it’s not. It’s just a coincidence.”

An amused gleam entered Erin’s eyes. “A coincidence? Maybe. What made you choose a phoenix, may I ask?”

---