Page 31 of Been There Dragon That
The rest of dinner went as smoothly as he could’ve hoped. Penny didn’t say anything else about the lion. And no one else made a crack about theirs or anyone else’s inner beasts.
The only thing Wrath could think about was getting Rylee back to his cabin and having her all to himself. She couldn’t go back to her house. It would take days, maybe a week to get a crew out to remove the tree and fix the hole in her house. Until then, she had no reason to stay anywhere else. There weren’t any hotels in Mystery. Only one B&B and it was usually booked out for months.
She’d eaten about half the food on her plate before she leaned back and started listening to the different conversations at the table.
Kann and Penny were telling a funny story about one of their babies pooping everywhere. Wrath wasn’t sure why it was funny, but Naomi and Penny were cracking up like it was the funniest thing they’d ever heard.
“Can I get you anything?”
Rylee shook her head. “It’s nice listening to them all laughing and talking about their kids. It’s crazy storming outside, and they’re all sitting around a table like they can’t even hear the wind howling around the house.”
He leaned closer, touching his shoulder to hers. “They can hear it. But these cabins are made of trees, not planks. You couldn’t be anywhere safer.”
“Do we have to go back out into the storm?” The fear in her voice made his chest tighten. Maybe it wasn’t really that she didn’t want to be around him. Maybe it was that she was really scared of the storm.
“Wrath can take one of the snowmachines, Rylee. It’s a quick five-minute ride.” Naomi said, raising her voice a little above the group volume.
“Thank you,Mahadhri.” Wrath gave Naomi a grateful look.
Rylee slumped into her chair, obviously disappointed that she was, in fact, going to have to brave the storm again.
“I’d offer you a spare room, Rylee, but it’s already taken.” Naomi got up from her chair and went into the kitchen. “I’ll get you some food to take back with you. I know Wrath doesn’t keep much in the fridge.”
A few minutes later, his mate was wrapped in one of Naomi’s coats and holding a stack of Tupperware full of leftovers.
“Thank you,” he whispered to Naomi before stepping outside into the storm ahead of Rylee.
“Move slow, big guy.” Naomi gave him a knowing look and locked the big front door behind them.
It would’ve been easy enough to tell Liam and Sean to sleep in the living room and give the extra space to Rylee. Naomi had really come through for him so that he had the evening alone with Rylee.
Had Naomi not packed them up and shooed them out, they easily could’ve been there for dinner and drinks and dessert most of the night.
Sometimes the evenings with the tribe stretched into the wee hours of the morning. Likely, they would all be there talking and carrying on for many hours longer before they slowly started excusing themselves and making their way back to their own cabins for the night.
He guided Rylee down the steps and into the light snow drifts forming on the side of the house. Naomi had found some boots that fit his mate and a few other essentials to make her more comfortable. The wind whipped loudly, and he gently turned his mate toward the covered carport where several covered snowmachines were parked.
“Is it safe?” Her voice was lost in the wind, but he could see the fear creeping into her eyes.
He leaned down. “You’re safe with me. I promise.”
ChapterNine
Rylee
He’d put her on the snowmachine in front of him, wrapping his massive body around hers on the ride back to his cabin. Had she really agreed to go back to this man’s empty cabin? Granted his family or tribe or friends were only a half mile through a blizzard.
The ride was over very quickly. He parked under his carport, and before she could dismount the machine, he scooped her up and carried her bride style into the cabin.
Wrath set her down gently and pulled the blankets away from her face. His face was so close she could see golden flecks in his brown eyes. Smell the warm spice of his aftershave. Then she made the mistake of letting her attention drop to his mouth. His lips.
She licked hers, and a dark rumble vibrated from his chest. Not a growl. More like a purr. An aggressive purr. She forced her gaze up and back to his eyes. There were more golden flecks in them than she remembered seeing at first.
Strange.
“How are you? Was I gentle enough,shuarra?”
“Stop calling me that. And yes, I’m good. Thank you.”
