Page 50 of Wolf Bane
He cut me a tired glance.“I couldn’t say.”
“Won’t.”
“It’s not as easy as that.”He sighed.“Clan politics, how they mesh in with the human world…” He trailed off.“Eh, fuck, you already know.”
I did.Didn’t mean it didn’t make me uneasy, wondering just how much manipulation Ethan had been privy to, getting weres in positions of power or at least protection, not just in Belmarais but further afield, too.
Another stop light.With the late (or early, really) hour, it was eerie to sit at the empty intersection, waiting for the light to turn.I felt watched.A good portion of that was paranoia, I was certain, but knowing Garrow was out on the loose made me double down on that anxiety.Ethan was staring out of the passenger side window, unconcerned, but I took that moment while we waited to look behind us with the rearview mirror and give a good hard stare into the dark beyond the light on either side.
An old dog—really a dog, not a were or a shifter—and the guy who ran the cell phone repair shop doing inventory with a single light over the counter illuminating his labors.I took the next turn into the clinic parking lot and, shaking from exhaustion and more than a little paranoia, got out of the truck with Ethan on my heels.He followed me inside and waited while I put the samples in our special fridge and locked the place up again.Back in the truck, I let out a long, groaning sigh, unable to shake the sticky feeling of being watched from my skin.
Ethan raised a brow when I glanced back at him.“We good?”
I nodded.“Just paranoid.Garrow…”
“He’s not going to come down here,” Ethan said gruffly, firmly.
“You can’t promise me that.”
Neither of us spoke for the rest of the drive to our house.
The tires were loud on our gravel drive, making me glance worriedly at Mal’s house.Was Mariska still improving?I didn’t want to wake them, not if he was finally able to get some rest.A single light shone over the front steps, and it looked like the light over the stove was on, but everything else was dark.Our own house was darker still—I hadn’t thought to leave any lights on before being kidnapped.More fool me.Ethan followed the direction of my gaze, and wordlessly reached out to lay his hand atop mine where it rested on the steering wheel.
And just like that, the weight of the day pressed down again, squeezing the life out of me.
“I want to lie down,” I muttered, closing my eyes.“I want to go to bed, and when I wake up, everything is all fixed up.”
Ethan laughed softly, quietly.“I’ll see what I can do.”
He helped me out of the car, going ahead of me to unlock the door.The faint funk of food left out too long—since my aborted lunch attempt nearly eighteen hours before—hung in the air.Traces of Mal, of Tyler, of someone else I belatedly realized was Justin—wove in and out of the familiar scents of the house, of Ethan and Me, and wood polish, and Pine-Sol, and laundry soap, and old wood and everything that you never notice till you come home after being away.My own horrible odor crept in as Ethan half-led, half-carried me back to our room, helping me strip down for the shower.
“I got this on my own, big guy,” I yawned.“If you get in with me, I’ll want to do more than shower, but I’m so tired I’ll just end up disappointing everyone involved.”
Ethan kissed the top of my head, giving me a gentle nudge towards the shower.“As if you could ever.”
ChapterThirteen
The sun had barely considered peeking over the horizon when Ethan woke me with a kiss to the back of my neck.
“Oh really?”I gruffed, tired in a way I knew sleep would barely touch but definitely interested in what he was suggesting.
His smile against my neck tickled.“Really.”
I started to turn in his arms, but he held me fast, though not so tightly I couldn’t get free if I wanted to.Nodding, I scooted back against him, the hard length of his morning wood slipping through my cleft, bumping against my balls as we just held still for a long moment.Then, he rocked his hips just a little, and that’s all it took to wake me up.It wasn’t a wild and passionate coming together after days—weeks, really—apart.
And it wasn’t life-affirming movie sex.It wasus, moving in the weak dawn light, the sounds of a neighbor rattling trash cans and someone’s dog barking in the distance overlaying the rough breath and soft gasps as we moved together.Ethan’s hands, broad and strong and a little rough, splayed across my chest and stomach, holding me tighter now as he moved faster.I wiggled my good arm free, reaching for my own erection as he buried his face in my neck and breathed me in.A little shifting, a wiggle, and his leg was over my hip, making the channel for his cock a little tighter as he pressed me down and into him.I stroked myself faster, gasping when his hand closed over mine.Not directing, just feeling me as I brought myself off, his thumb slipping out now and then to brush over my damp cockhead.
It was messy, lazy, and perfect when he came first.The spill of his hot release between my thighs was the final push for me to reach my own end a few minutes later.He bit down on my neck, right where it met my shoulder, when I panted his name, gasping my release.Adda little feralto the list, I thought.I never knew if it was an Ethan thing or a were thing, the way he’d sometimes bite down on my neck just enough to feel risky, not enough to really hurt.Like he was marking me, claiming me even though he knew I was already and always would be his.
Hm.Maybe it was a little more life-affirming than I’d thought.
After a few sticky minutes, when things got too uncomfortable and gross to stay snuggled up on damp sheets any longer, Ethan moved away to get a washcloth as I scooted towards the other side of the bed, pulling the sheets with me to wash later.The dog stopped barking and someone started up their godawfully loud truck.
Morning in semi-rural Texas.I smiled to myself, feeling weirdly relaxed, all things considered.In a little bit, the wheel would start churning away again and I’d be neck deep in the bullshit, but for now it was an ordinary morning.
Nice.Safe.
Ethan handed me the cloth and took the sheets.We shuffled around, getting ready for the day with a quick breakfast and a large pot of coffee as the laundry got started and showers were taken.It wasn’t until I was scrubbing my hair dry that I thought to plug in my phone, retrieved from Benoit by Ethan.I made a mental note to ask Tyler to check it over and make sure no one had done anything to it.Grabbing my phone out of habit and opening the messaging app, a scrolling litany of messages that had arrived overnight appeared: Reba, Tyler, Reba, Reba, Reba, Reba, Tyler, Tyler… Easily two dozen in just a few hours.There were so many voicemails my box was full, and a video message was waiting for me from Gina Perrin.
