Lake released a soft laugh. “Is it because I’m a wolf? You assumed my sexual urges would’ve driven me to surrender to my animal instincts and find a warm body to sink into by now?”
The heat in my cheeks? Yeah, it shot straight to my dick. “I wouldn’t say it quite like that. But. Um. Maybe?”
“I suppose it’s the one impulse Icancontrol,” he responded. “The thought of baring myself to anyone has always made my stomach turn. That is, until recently. You’re the exception once again.”
“Are you saying you’ve thought about me naked?” Could he hear the heavy pounding of my heart? It felt like the damn thing was about to burst out of my chest and join a drumline.
“Would it bother you if I said yes?”
“Um.” God, it was so hot outside. Cool summer nights? What a load of bullshit. The ground beneath me was bound to go up in flames any second. “No. It wouldn’t bother me. I just… uh…”
“You’re blushing.” Lake stepped closer, pressing his warm, hard body to mine. He slid his hand up my neck and to my cheek, the pressure so light it felt more like a whisper of air. “And it’s still just as lovely as it was that night in the woods.”
“When you kissed me.”
“Yes.” As his gaze fell to my lips, his purple eyes glowed. He definitely wasn’t angry right then. So did it happen with any strong emotion? “Is it wrong for me to want to do so again? Because you, Evan, are so beautiful you make my chest ache.”
I felt breathless. Weightless too, like my blood had evaporated, and my veins had filled with helium. If he wasn’t holding on to me, I might’ve floated away.
“You’re beautiful too,” I said.
A shadow then passed over his face, taking the burning desire from his eyes and replacing it with something fragile. “Coming here tonight was a mistake.”
“Why?” I caught his hand as he withdrew it from my cheek.
“Because it’s painful, Evan,” Lake said in a hard whisper, his voice cracking on my name. “Finally finding someone I crave, only for him to be out of my reach.”
Steps sounded in the grass behind us.
“What if he wasn’t?” a deeper voice then said.
I turned to see Maddox. He stood with his arms crossed and his chin tipped up, eyes narrowed and jaw tight. He would’ve been the picture of sexy, raw masculinity and intimidation if not for the dusting of crumbs on his shirt. Crumbs from the muffins he’d conned me into making for him.
“Were you eavesdropping?” I asked.
His lips twitched. “I have excellent hearing. It’s no fault of my own if I happened to overhear your conversation.”
“So… eavesdropping.”
Maddox glanced at me, forcing away another smile. The hardness returned to his expression as he focused on Lake. “Answer the question, wolf. Let’s assume for a moment Evan wasn’t out of your reach. What then?”
“If he wasn’t out of my reach?” Lake asked. Although he had tensed at Maddox’s arrival, he wasn’t running away. Or baring his teeth. “I’d hold on to him and never let go.”
“Then come with me.” Maddox tipped his head toward the cottage. “We need to have a chat.”
***
“Do you think they’re killing each other?” I bounced my knee as I sat in one of the armchairs in the reading parlor. “Or maybe one is already dead, and the victor is bathing in their blood.”
Briar sipped his tea before lowering the cup to the saucer. “Your imagination is frightening at times, love. Points for creativity though.”
As soon as we’d come into the cottage, Maddox had banished me to the parlor and led Lake toward the kitchen. The one time I’d crept over to try to listen, Maddox had poked his head through the doorway and said he’d tie me to the bed upstairs if I didn’t behave. And while being tied to a bed wasn’t such a bad thought—hot and heavy teasing before being fucked to within an inch of my life—Maddox had clarified he’d leave me up there alone before tickling me until I pissed myself afterward.
So there I was now, in the parlor, behaving like the good boy I was. Not even thinking about standing up and tiptoeing down the short hallway and to the kitchen to listen—
“Evan?” Briar said in the kind of tone a parent used on a naughty child about to stick their hand in the cookie jar.
“I wasn’t leaving.” I plopped back in the chair. “I was just shifting position to get comfy.”
