Page 30 of A Hunter Cursed
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“Can you stay the night?” Keegan asked sleepily, cuddling deeper into his embrace.
Jeremiah’s growl was heartfelt as he shook his head. “I can’t. I’m on patrol tonight.”
Her brow puckered with a little frown and she made a humming noise in the back of her throat. “Tomorrow night?”
“Definitely.” Still, he made no move to get up despite the lateness of the hour.
He hated to leave her. Jeremiah had never felt so sated, so relaxed, so perfectly at ease as he did at that moment, lying there on Keegan’s bed in a tangle of limbs. This was what his future might one day look like, he thought with satisfaction. Nights spent entwined with Keegan, fingers gently stroking over skin as they chatted about anything and everything or simply indulged in comfortable silence as they drifted off to sleep, holding each other. It was an idyllic image.
Unfortunately, it wouldn’t be starting tonight. Stupid of him not to have thought ahead and swapped patrol shifts with someone. For shit’s sake, he was the one in charge of making the rotation schedule. There was no help for it now. Even if, by some miracle, he was able to get ahold of someone to make a last-minute swap, his wolf wouldn’t allow it. Jeremiah could feel the beast practically writhing beneath his skin, suddenly demanding to be let loose.
Odd that, since he’d shifted the night before, but for whatever reason, it refused to be kept contained much longer, and shifting in Keegan’s apartment was not an option. His wolf didn’t like to be indoors, would be scrabbling to get out and run and that would only have Keegan’s neighbors, and the good folk residing here in the Quarter, freaking out. The last thing he needed was to be pulling a bullet out of his hide from some trigger-happy resident playing the hero.
Sighing, he kissed Keegan’s forehead, both her closed eyelids, the tip of her nose, and then her smiling mouth. “I’ll lock up behind me,” he told her as he gently extracted himself from the warmth of her embrace.
Not bothering to open her eyes, Keegan snuggled down into her pillow and mumbled, “Good. Don’t want to get up.”
Smiling fondly down at her, Jeremiah stroked a hand over her mussed hair before pulling a blanket over her. “Sleep,” he murmured. “I’ll call you in the morning.”
“Be safe,” she said around a yawn, and a heartbeat later, she was asleep, her mouth slightly open, her breathing, deep and even.
Taking another moment to indulge his senses with the sight of his mate, Jeremiah almost gave in to the temptation to crawl back in bed with her, only for his wolf to kick into a fit of impatience inside him.
With a low growl of annoyance, Jeremiah grabbed up his wallet and his clothes and took them out to the living room to dress. Before he left, he packed up the leftovers, storing them in Keegan’s refrigerator, rinsed the dishes and put them in the dishwasher, and then wiped down the table and countertops. One last look to assure himself that everything was in order, he did as he promised, and made sure her door was locked and secure before he left.
He made good time getting back to the bayou, but Christ, his wolf was being a pain in the ass, bucking inside to be free, setting up an unholy ruckus. Jeremiah had never felt the like. “Fine, fine, fine,” he grumbled, as he pulled into his usual parking spot. “Just give me two seconds.”
As he’d done the night before, he stripped off in his rig before he got out. With the way his wolf was carrying on, he half-expected it to burst free from him before he was fully out of the Suburban, but as he attempted to shift, nothing happened.
“What the hell?”
Standing beside his rig, he tried again, only to feel the wolf shrink down as if it was afraid. With narrowed eyes, Jeremiah opened up his senses as he took in his surroundings. He didn’t sense a threat, but still, his wolf cowered. Okay. Weird.
Shaking his head, he opened the door to his Suburban and pulled back on his clothes. “Asshole,” he grumbled to his wolf as he headed into the trees. “We could be sleeping with our mate right now if not for you.”
Chapter Sixteen
Keegan woke insanely early – having had more of a nap than a full sleep – but she’d dreamed once more of that church and the angels. Wings of bronze, wings of black, wings of white. Had it been the reminder of her failed attempt at a barrier spell that had caused the dream? After all, the paranoia that had caused her to rush through her attempt to build the wards, had begun shortly after that first vision of angels. Or had simply meeting Cam triggered the dream? Regardless, it was currently spurring her into action.
Before they’d parted ways earlier, Keegan had heard Morgan tell the angel that he could stay at the training facility temporarily, since the new students weren’t due to arrive for a few weeks. Keegan had every intention of going there, waking him up if need be, and demanding answers.
Heading out into the main part of her apartment, she stopped short, her mouth falling open and then a huge grin spread across her face. Jeremiah had cleaned up, the act one of such thoughtfulness it had her heart fluttering in her chest.
Striding over to the kitchen counter where she’d left her cellphone, she had every intention of messaging him her heartfelt gratitude when she noticed she had messages from him waiting for her.
Jeremiah:You’re the most amazing, sexy, wonderful woman. Did I tell you that?
Jeremiah:I miss you already.
Jeremiah:Shit. You’re sleeping and these are probably waking you. Sorry. I’ll stop texting now. Sweet dreams.
Keegan’s grin was so wide her face hurt. Her sweet, thoughtful wolf. How did she get so lucky? Shaking her head in amazement at what fate had given her, she typed out:You’re also amazing, sexy, wonderful and I miss you too. Thank you for cleaning up.She ended the text with a heart emoji and then sent it before she lost her nerve and replaced the heart with a smiley face.
Still smiling, she slipped her cell into the back pocket of her jeans and headed out. It was time to confront an angel.
Her smile disappeared once she was in her car and driving as she pondered the best way to get the angel to talk. Speaking out loud to herself, she tried on a few different approaches, discarding one after another. She didn’t want to come off as too demanding or bitchy, that might offend the angel and leave him even tighter lipped than before, but nor did she want to look like a pushover. She needed to find the right blend of determination and entreaty.
