Black Wolf's Revenge (13 page)

“Oh, I heard scratching at the back door, and I thought it was you telling me you had Lana, so I opened it. It doesn’t have a window or I would have looked first. A wolf jumped on the door as soon as I turned the knob and I fell backward. He was careful with his teeth, like he wasn’t trying to hurt me, only restrain me, but I still fought him. Marshall kicked in the front door and I fought him too, but he hit me over the head with the corner of the metal key box on the hall table. And the rest I don’t remember. I woke up in the basement.”

Grey turned off the water to the tub, unwrapped her ribs, and she stepped in, groaning softly as hot water hit sore muscles. Grey gently shampooed her hair, careful to avoid her injuries.

By the time she was finished scrubbing her skin raw the bath water had turned brown from all of the dirt and dried blood that had washed off of her. Grey pulled one of the robes from a hook on the door and wrapped it around her.

“Can you still smell him on me?”

A flash of anger flooded Grey’s face before he snuffed it out. “A little.”

A wave of devastation and helplessness washed over her and she dropped her gaze. How could she still smell like that psychopath? She’d practically scrubbed the top layer of her skin off. Where was her breaking point? Surely she was close to it.

A soft knock sounded against the room door.

“I think the food is here,” he said quietly.

He didn’t say much over dinner, though whether it was from anger at her poor decisions or his obvious inability to look directly at her maimed face, she couldn’t tell. She threw another longing glance at the king-sized bed with its clean, turned-down sheets and pillow mesas. She could sleep for a week and still wake up tired.

Even the energy to cut up her steak seemed to drain from her, so she stood. “I need sleep.” He sat across the table but there might as well have been an ocean between them. Longing to kiss his cheek and melt into his arms brought shame and warm creeping into her cheeks. Anything--she would give anything for this to be some romantic vacation. But the truth of the matter was she’d broken both their hearts months ago, and they had both just been through hell. Until her mind and emotions were clear, she couldn’t torture them with affection neither of them would know the meaning of. And worse, he could push her away. “G’night,” she said, turned and eased into the bedroom. The door clicked a lonely sound as she gently shut him out.

* * * *

From his seat at the table, Grey watched her until the door was closed, letting his gaze linger on the door handle. He stood, wincing as the stitches pulled, and sat on the couch, his back to her room. Morgan was crying. She was trying to be quiet about it, he could tell, but he could still make out the soft sighs and sobs of a breaking heart. He would never know even part of what she’d lost down in that room, and he wouldn’t ever be able to fix this for her. It was his fault. He should’ve protected Morgan and Lana better. Every tear she shed gutted him. Even Wolf had withdrawn, feeling shame and loss over his inability to protect her from this. If only he could find a way to take her pain and put it onto himself, he’d gladly do it.

When the sound of her breathing steadied and deepened to that of sleep, he grabbed his wallet and left to buy her clothes. Tomorrow, he’d take her home, but she needed a few things for the trip. And filling that need took away from the sting of his failure.

The store was a short walk away, just a couple of blocks. Large and well stocked, he would find everything he thought she would need there. If he forgot anything, he would simply come back later. Less pressure that way. She wouldn’t want clothing hugging too tightly on new injuries, so he found a light green vintage soft T-shirt with dark green, cartoon flying saucers. The caption read
They Do Exist
. When he got to the jeans, the sizes threw him off, so he picked forest-green cotton shorts instead. They had small, medium, or large, and his odds of hitting the right size were greatly improved. A bin of flip flops had him guessing at her size and picking out a pair of black ones.

Victim shoes, Wolf called them. How will she run away from danger in them?

Grey picked out some dark blue and white sneakers from the bin right next to them instead. Next he grabbed a couple of toothbrushes and some toothpaste. He had saved the hardest part for last. He knew she needed underthings.

Simple was best. He grabbed the first comfortable-looking small-sized cotton panty and bra set he could find. On second thought, he put the white one back and grabbed the same kind in hunter green. Might as well stick with the theme. He held it up. The color would look nice with her eyes. He looked around, embarrassed, and moved to the checkout before anyone else noticed he’d lost his danged mind.

By the time he made it back to the room, it was dark. The painkillers had worn off long ago and he was exhausted. When was the last time he’d slept? Definitely not since he’d left for Montana. The couch’s thick cushions looked inviting, calling to him. He retrieved a blanket from the closet and lay it down over the couch, protecting it in case his bandages seeped. He grunted as he sank into the lush seat pillows and let his muscles relax one by one. Visions of Morgan chained to the floor battered the backs of his eyelids as he drifted to sleep.

Morgan screamed and tried to escape the dream, but it had its clawed talons sunk so deeply into her she’d never be whole again. She was sinking into the grime of the basement floor. Only her nose touched air and she was losing ground. She struggled to suck as much air into her lungs as she could. How long could she last before she didn’t exist anymore? Before she was buried in that prison grave, never to see light again?

Two gold pinpoints in the dark anchored her.

“Morgan, it’s okay. You’re in the hotel, remember? You’re safe, you’re safe,” Grey crooned as he wrapped his arms around her.

She gasped for air, clutched onto his warm skin. It wasn’t real. “I’m so sorry,” she said. “I guess I was dreaming.”

“Do you want to talk about it?” His voice sounded strange, almost monotone, and she eased back. With his fingertip, he moved a long strand of damp hair out of her face.

“No, I’m okay,” she said shakily. “It seemed so real. I’m okay, really. I’m all right.” Who was she trying to convince? She was so completely not okay.

Yellow eyes watched her steadily as he crouched over her. The planes of his chest were smooth and firm around his bandages and the muscles of his arms and shoulders flexed as he stroked his knuckle up the side of her neck, following its movement with his inhuman gaze. He was warm and alluring, and while the vent blew cold air across her skin and raised gooseflesh, his stayed smooth, as if he were unaffected by their surroundings. His eyes were pure spun gold with no trace of the blue she breathed for.

“Grey?”

Moonlight drifted through the oversized balcony door and bathed one side of his face in soft blue light. The other was shadows, but it was enough for her to see a slow smile crook his lips. “No.”

The air seemed to seep from the room and her breath shook as she tried to breath. “Wolf?”

He gave a slow nod.

Survival instincts screamed to flee, to live, but he wouldn’t hurt her. Not her. He’d killed for her, but Wolf would never hurt his mate. But then he didn’t know she was still his mate, and what if he sought revenge before Grey came to? Oh God. She tensed and pressed into the pillows behind her until she was cornered. He followed, arms on either side of her.

“I can smell your fear.” Leaning forward, he scented the air against her neck. “I’d never hurt you.” He brushed his lips against her skin, and she closed her eyes as fear melted into a wanting so deep, it consumed her. “Talking about what happened won’t help animals like us, Morgan. We’re creatures of action.” He pulled back, inches from her lips and she opened her eyes to swim in the lupine color of his.

“There she is,” he whispered, brushing his thumb just below her lashes. “Those men scared you, made you feel out of control, made you feel violated.” Warmth branched out from her stomach downward as he slid his hand up her bare leg. “I can make you forget about them for a while.”

Oh, that tempting oath. Confidence dripped from every word and made it hard to think clearly. Clenching the pillows beneath her hands as he grazed his finger up her hip, she bit her lip and tilted her head back. Invited his lips to drink her in again.

This was wrong. Grey was still asleep in there somewhere and their relationship was about as complicated as it got, but Wolf’s touch stirred wants she hadn’t dared to have in so long. Escaping the remnants of that awful nightmare, that horrible basement that was meant to be her grave, suddenly overwhelmed any thoughts of right and wrong. She loved him. What else mattered?

His touch turned her molten as he brushed her stomach, then lower. His body blocked out the moonlight, the room, everything, and a flash of the basement ran across her mind. Squeezing her eyes closed, she concentrated on his touch, on his finger as he slipped it slowly inside of her.

She had another flashback, this one of Marshall’s hand coming toward her face as the chain held her helpless. She tensed.

Wolf eased back, question reflecting in his churning eyes.

“I feel trapped,” she breathed.

Her shirt looked fragile in his grip as he pulled it gently over her head. He trailed kiss after tender kiss down her arm as he rolled her to the side and lay behind her. His erection pressed against the small of her back as he slid his hand in between her legs again. Rocking against him, she groaned and pressed his hand more firmly against her, guiding him, setting the rhythm. Each stroke brought her closer to the edge of a cliff, and as he pulled her tighter against his chest, bucking and biting into her shoulder, she fell. Felt like she’d fall forever and happily. Pulse after pulse rocked her as warm wetness exploded against her back.

She lay panting and shaking. Ecstasy and regret pulled at her in turn. It had been perfect. Exactly what she needed, but she wished more than anything that Grey had been the driving force behind the comfort, not Wolf.

She relaxed into the comfortable mattress and found a cool spot on the down pillow under her face. The fan whirled lazily above her in the dark and she tried to match her heartbeat to it. Grey was still behind her, his breath the only sound besides the motor of the fan. If she asked him to stay, he would say no. And if, by chance, he did say yes, it would be out of pity. She pursed her lips and swallowed the unasked question.

“That uncertainty you’re feeling?” he said in the dark. “That’s my revenge for you leaving me.”

She stared at a watercolor painting of a man in a sailboat that hung on the wall. She watched Wolf’s shadow in despair as he stood and left the room, shutting the door behind him.

The living room sofa creaked as he settled into it and his breathing slowed like he hadn’t a problem in the world falling asleep.

It brought her comfort to have him so close.

It brought her agony to have him so far away.

* * * *

A pounding headache woke Morgan. She stretched and squinted at the blackout curtains pulled tightly closed over the window and then to the alarm clock that read ten o’clock. She had slept for over fourteen hours. She reached up to scratch the side of her head and jerked her hand away as the side of her fingernail grazed her stitches. Hopefully, that would be her worst decision of the day, but hey, it was still early.

Naked as the day she was born, she sat and listened for any movement outside the door. Would Grey remember last night? Would he regret touching her?

A small pile of clothes lay on the corner chair and she slid out of bed. She smiled, picking up the UFO T-shirt and holding it up to herself. All of the sizes were close enough to hers to fit her comfortably. She picked up the bra and panty set and would have smiled with relief if the split in her lip wasn’t trying to reopen. Dark green. Did he like that color? Would he like it on her? Her stomach fluttered at his thoughtfulness. Even if Wolf had misbehaved the night before, Grey still cared for her.

She inhaled and her happy moment was gone. John. She could smell him faintly. If his smell clung to her stubbornly after soaking in his dirty shirt for so long, what would she smell like if she claimed a mate? Would she even smell like herself anymore? It wouldn’t be so bad if she smelled like Grey when he wasn’t around. She shook her head and sighed. Grey could’ve claimed her last night and she wouldn’t have done anything to slow him down. His wolf chose not to make love to her, so what did that say about his intentions? Maybe he really didn’t want her for a mate anymore.

She turned the shower on and bravely looked at herself in the mirror. Her eyes had dark purple smudges underneath them, and she brought a gentle finger up to them and then to her swollen nose. “Well, that’s new.” She was fairly sure that in a few days she would have every color of the rainbow on her body.

She smelled different and looked different and some fundamental shift inside of her was different. Would she ever be able to recover her old self? Or if not all of her, at least the parts that she had liked? That Grey had liked?

She showered, forgoing conditioner to spend all of the hot water on aching muscles. When she was finished, she toweled off, dressed in the clothes he had picked up for her and then brushed through her hair as best she could one handed. She’d have to take it day by day and look forward to little things. Like using both arms again.

“I look like a human again at least,” she muttered. “If you ignore my skin.”

The smell of bacon wafted under the door and she inhaled the tantalizing scent. She opened the door and Grey stood there, leaning against the frame and looking every bit the young god in his fitted T-shirt and jeans that hung from his trim hips just so.

Scratching his lip with the side of his thumb, he said, “I talked to Wade and Brent this morning. They already left. Dean told them to visit Alexis before going back home.”

“Why?”

“We think everyone found out about you through her. They’ll talk to her alpha about laying down an order to keep her trap shut from here on. Anyway, Wade and Brent will be caught up with that for a while, so it’ll just be you and I for the return trip home.”