Page 21 of Shifters' Fated Summer
A beat passed as he let me take in the sight.
“Do you want to stay here with me?”
There was so much meaning in those words, and I wasn’t sure if I fully grasped his intentions. Stomach clenching, I cleared my throat. “I’d better go back to my room. Cade didn’t seem thrilled I was here.”
A low growl rumbled from Luca’s chest, vibrating through my arm.
Would he go against Cade for me? Did I even want him to?
I tensed, and his grip tightened as he turned away from the window and took me back through the hallway to my assigned room.
The two small windows in this room seemed insufficient after seeing Luca’s room and that amazing view of the forest and stars above.
Luca settled me in the bed and disappeared briefly, and I took that opportunity to change into a clean set of stretchy pants and a loose t-shirt.
He returned with the second half of my dinner, gently reheated. As I ate, he ran a brush through my hair. The tines of the hairbrush on my scalp sent shivers down my spine.
“Cade is…” he began, finally answering my earlier complaint. “I think he was surprised, that’s all.”
“Really,” I said, unable to hide my sarcasm.
With a rough exhale, Luca tried again. “He is slow to trust, but once he realizes you are a safe person, he is loyal to a fault.”
An image of Cade, the muscles of his bare chest straining as he did filthy things to me, flashed in my mind. Why did I dream of him? Sure, Luca was there, but it was Cade’s starring role that surprised me.
“What are you thinking about?” Luca interrupted my ruminations on my dream. He leaned forward, speaking into my ear. “You smell really good.” His suggestive tone made my toes curl.
“Yeah, you washed my hair. Shampoo and stuff,” I mumbled, refusing to acknowledge my arousal. My cheeks flamed.
His eyebrow arched slyly. “That’s not it.”
“Well, Cade is kinda a jerk,” I managed to say, trying to change the subject. Luca ignored me.
The hairbrush clinked as he set it aside. Tension coiled in every one of my muscles as I wondered what he would do next. His fingers wove into my hair, now damp, and fluffed it out to help it dry.
I barely caught my moan in time at the feeling. Instead, I clenched my jaw, ignoring the throbbing in my core at his nearness.
“Summer, you’re really on edge, aren’t you?” he whispered.
“Yeah, you’re kinda…” I swallowed, forcing myself to continue. No use in ignoring it. He knew. “Hot.”
Luca let out a laugh, jolting me forward. I twisted to look over my shoulder at him. He grinned, those full lips spread wide, lip ring glinting, emphasized by the dark tattoos under his jaw. His bright eyes twinkled as black hair tumbled over his brow.
“Warm. Your hands are really warm,” I amended, narrowing my eyes at him.
“Maybe I think you need to be heated up after being stuck with those cold vamps for so long,” he whispered, running his hands over my arms. I resisted the urge to melt back into him.
“I don’t know…” I managed to say. I barely knew this man, but he carried me when I was weak and washed my hair. Moreover, I wasn’t lying when I said I felt safe with him. Something in my soul responded tohim.
I'd never felt that way with Evrin, I realized in the back of my mind. It took venom to make me relax with my patron. Luca could do it with a touch or a few words.
His request for me to stay echoed in my thoughts. He couldn’t be serious.
“Here, lie down,” the werewolf said, his velvet words as soft as his touch. I was so damn tired, and curling up in that feeling of safety was so tempting.
His hands ran up my arms, stopping on my shoulders. Despite my better judgement, I allowed him to guide me down.
My heart raced, the pulse drumming under my skin. He stood, unraveling the blanket from the foot of the bed and tucking it over my shoulders.
