“I think it’s obvious but if you need a run down, I will oblige. I’m getting naked. If I’m going to stay here with you because you refuse to give me space, if I’m going to have to continue to endure my unsated desire for you, then, my dear mate, you are going to endure the same. I will remain naked until you get over your ridiculousness and stop refusing me.” A minute later, her clothes were all piled on the back of the chair, and she stood before her mate in only her flesh. This idea was probably a product of her newly acquired irrational emotions, but she was rolling with it because nothing else had worked.
Drake’s wolf was practically foaming at the mouth as his body shuddered and fur rippled over his arms only to disappear again. “Put your clothes back on, female. Now.”
There was a knock at the door before she could respond to his demand. Bethany turned and reached the door in two strides. She turned the knob and opened it, standing with one hand on her bare hip and leaning her other arm against the door.
“Holy gypsy babies, you are naked,” Jen said as she stood wide-eyed, taking in Bethany’s body. Jen turned quickly to the side and held up a hand. “STAY.” She was, no doubt, speaking to her mate. Jen turned back to Bethany and opened her mouth to say something else, but she was cut off by a loud roar.
Jen was jerked back by large hands just as the door slammed closed in her face.
Bethany stumbled as she lost her balance from the loss of the door’s support and turned to find Drake staring at the door with crazy, glowing eyes and a mouth open in an elongated-tooth snarl.
Okay, so maybe opening the door naked had been unwise.
“I don’t know what’s going on in there, but I approve, Bethany. You’re my new hero. And way to go on those curves. You don’t look like a twig anymore,” Jen called through the door.
Bethany emitted a small laugh and then slapped her hand over her mouth as if to capture it back.
Drake’s head snapped around to her, and she froze under the intensity of his gaze. To her surprise, his eyes never left her face. Bethany wondered briefly if maybe she should jump up and down and see if that broke his resolve but quickly dismissed it because she wasn’t quite that confident in her own body. Being naked she could do, but jiggling stuff on purpose? Not so much.
“Get. Dressed. Now.” His voice was guttural, and his words were a tad garbled because his teeth were no longer those of a human.
“Get. Bent.” Bethany turned on her heel and strode to their bedroom. She’d have to thank Jacque for that come back.
“Where are you going?” Drake called out, his voice still growly.
“To take a shower and get ready for my girls’ night.”
“You’re not going to hang out with your friends, naked.”
His switch to speaking in her mind surprised her, but she recovered quickly.“I’m sure the other three won’t be naked,”she responded, purposely misunderstanding him.
“You are not going to be naked and walk out our door.”
“What are you going to do, Drake? Spank me?”Bethany paused for a moment as she retrieved a towel from the cabinet and a revelation hit her. She was holding her own against a male Canis lupus. Maybe it was because she’d lost her ever-loving mind. Regardless, she had to admit she was proud of herself. When she’d been rescued from the vampires, Bethany had wondered if she’d ever regain her confidence and, because of Drake, she had. They had spats quite often—his fault—because he was pigheaded, but never did he belittle her or make her feel unimportant. He listened to her, even when he disagreed. He always wrapped her in his arms once the argument was over. But he did deny her make-up loving, so she had to knock him down a peg for that.
Bethany climbed into the shower and enjoyed the hot water pouring over her body. Showers had been something she missed dearly while in captivity.
As soon as she was dry, she exited the bathroom and was ambushed by her mate. He wrapped her in a sheet like a burrito so fast she didn’t even have time to get her arms up to keep them from being trapped. When he was done, she looked down and watched him fasten seven safety pins—she counted—to hold the sheet in place. She wanted to ask where he’d gotten the safety pins, but her jaw was clenched too tightly to speak.
He stood up, appearing way too smug. Drake turned and picked something up from the bed, and she realized, as he wrapped it around her shoulders, it was a shawl. He fastened it in front of her neck and then stepped back to look at his handiwork.
“Now, you may go,” he said.
She did. Bethany began her slow shuffle toward the front door, her back ramrod straight as she attempted to keep her pride intact. She was unable to speak because she was worried she’d say something she couldn’t take back. When she got to the door, she stood there staring at it, willing it to open.
She heard Drake’s chuckle as he stepped beside her and pulled the door open. “I love you,” he said as she shuffled past him.
She didn’t look at him as she responded. “This means war, wolf.”
Chapter Ten
“Just when you think you’ve seen it all, Bethany walks in wrapped up like Hannibal Lecter, but without the creepy mask.” ~Jacque
“She was legit naked?”Jacque asked as she leaned forward on the couch, clutching a pillow to her chest.
“Is there a way to be illegit naked?” Jen asked.
Jacque shrugged. “Lots of ways. She could have been wearing body paint. She could have been wearing some type of skin suit. She could have—”
