Page 53 of Knot a Tie
“Last chance to get in by yourself.”
He closes his eyes and breathes in deeply. I know he can smell her faint scent on me from being in her room and in her car.
“Jesus,” he moans and yanks himself out of my grip. He opens the car door and slides inside, slumping down as he slams the door closed.
Hastily, I make my way back around, closing the boot and then stuffing my huge frame back into the car.
“You promise me I can go as soon as I’ve seen her?” he asks quietly.
“James won’t make you stay if you are so adamant to leave.”
He nods absently and stares out of the window.
I set off and make my way back in the direction of Chelsea, neither of us saying a word, until we pull up outside the pack house.
Richard just sits there.
“Come in and clean up before you see her,” I suggest. “You’re a bit of a mess. You can use my room.” We gave away the only guest room to Rayne, so if he does change his mind and decide to stay, fuck knows where he’s going to sleep.
“Thanks,” he mutters and with a woeful sigh, he gets out of the car and slopes up the steps. I follow him, hoping that I’ve made the right decision in bringing him here. Not for Rayne, that’s a given, but for our pack.
ChapterTwenty-Nine
Rayne
After finally talking to my cousin and explaining the situation as best I could, with her promises not to tell her dad or mine, I close up the dishwasher. Bending down to see which buttons to push to set it running, I hear the kitchen door open. Inhaling the fresh pinecone scent of James, I smile.
“I’ve finished cleaning up in here. Give me a few minutes to nip to the loo and then I’ll make lunch for everyone.”
“Rayne.”
The gruff voice freezes my body, only my heart is beating faster and faster. Not daring to believe he is finally here, I turn around, half expecting James to have developed a rougher tone.
“Richard,” I breathe out when I see his poor battered face, but all nice and cleaned up, fresh from the shower it seems, going off his damp hair.
I rush forward when he stays in the doorway, but then remembering his preference, I skid to a stop and just look up at him with a smile, hugging him with my eyes, if that’s even a thing.
It must be, because his tormented face collapses into a smile and he opens his arms carefully before crushing me to him with a pained grunt.
“You’re here, safe and perfect,” he murmurs, tangling his fingers into my hair.
I wrap my arms around him, clinging to him as I inhale deeply, filling my lungs with his scent. I notice it’s just slightly different to James’s. More earthy and feral. I shiver as the lust descends on me, causing me to produce a fair amount of slick, that he responds to with a low growl. I let go of the purr that is vibrating in my throat. Running my hands up his chest, I gaze into his deep blue eyes. My lips part, but then he pulls back, making me stumble awkwardly forward.
“How are you?” I ask lamely, trying to cover up the hurt of his rejection. It shouldn’t pain me, knowing what I know about him, but it does.
“I’ve been better,” he mutters.
“Same,” I murmur, even though he didn’t ask.
“Are you okay?” His earnest expression relieves some of the tension that has been building.
I shrug. “Yep. I mean, I wish I could go home, but the whole thing with my dad…Did James fill you in?”
He nods slowly. “About your dad…look, Rayne. I can’t stay. I came here to let you know I’m okay and to see with my own eyes that you are, but now I have to go.”
I rear back as if I’ve been slapped. I don’t know what I was expecting, but outright rejection wasn’t it. Not after everything that happened, not after thebite.
“Why?” I ask, my voice breaking.
