Once more, the instinct to pretend I was strong and nothing was wrong flared up, but it withered and died almost instantly. If there was anyone I could be vulnerable with, it was my cats and my boyfriend.
“I’d really like to be held right now.”
The gentle smile that spread across his handsome face was exactly what I needed. “I can do that.”
He got into bed with me, pulling the covers over us. The man awed me. He basically had a war to plan, but he still acted like it was no problem to help me with my nightmares. Realistically, I should probably take the noble path and tell him I was fine so he could go back to working on saving his pack. But for once, I wanted to be selfish. I wanted to admit that I was scared, weak, and wanted a really nice hug from the man I was in love with.
“Do you want to spoon? Or do you want to sit between my legs and lean back against my chest? I could brush your hair?”
Something so simple shouldn’t have had a fresh wave of tears coming to my eyes, but it did. No one had ever taken care of me like this, and the thought of having my head petted while surrounded by his scent was highly appealing.
“I’d really like the second one. I think I’ve had my hair up in a ponytail for two days.”
“I think so, too. Your scalp has to be pretty tired, so let’s give it a break, shall we?”
I nodded, and Leo reached over to open one of the drawers of my nightstand and pulled out my wet/dry brush. It took him a moment to arrange himself, but once he was comfortable with the appropriate amount of pillows behind his back, I crawled between his legs and settled myself.
Leaning back against his chest was so simple, yet it was so incredibly comforting. The warmth of his body combined withthe firmness of his muscles was an assurance that he would always be there for me. I didn’t know what I had done to deserve a man like him, but I would be forever grateful.
He wrapped his arms around my waist, brush forgotten, and held me while his chin rested on my shoulder. Once more, I was struck by how incredibly simple it was, and yet it meant so much to me. It was like the kiss of domesticity I’d always thought would be denied to me forever. But no. Despite losing my mother. Despite what my aunt had said. Despite the evil warlocks so eager to spread harm. Despite all of them, I was loved, and I had a future to look forward to.
Eventually, Leo shifted so he could brush my hair and, goodness, he was right about my scalp needing a break. It felt like heaven as he moved the brush through my hair, working out knots, starting from the bottom and then going up. Clearly, he had some experience with this, and I couldn’t help but wonder if it was because he’d done this for an ex-girlfriend, or if it was a pack thing. Either way, I was quite grateful for it.
Tears welled in my eyes, but I kept them from falling. While I had no problem expressing emotions, I didn’t want to deal with the runny nose and itchy eyes that usually came after tears. That meant I would have to get up to get a tissue, and I was pretty sure all the money in the world couldn’t convince me to move my ass.
“Your hair is getting longer,” Leo remarked as he ran the brush through one more time, then set it to the side. He’d probably gotten the last knot out half an hour earlier, but had continued to gently run the brush through my hair. It was pure bliss.
“Is it?” I murmured. I really didn’t pay much attention to my hair. I cut it short in the summer, then let it grow the rest of the year, but with everything going on, I hadn’t given it the usual trim.
“Yeah. If you want, I can cut it for you. But if you’re growing it out, I like it.”
“You know how to cut hair?”
“I’m a shifter. Of course, I do.”
I furrowed my brow at that, trying to recall if there was a tidbit of data I’d been told and was currently forgetting. “I don’t understand the correlation.”
“Our hair grows incredibly fast. Probably two or three times faster than a human’s, so frequent haircuts are a necessity, especially if we’re interacting with the human world. I’m not amazing or anywhere near hairdresser level, but I kept mine, Ricky’s, and even Andromeda’s hair presentable for quite a while after the usurper took out most of our parents.”
That was a lot to digest. I knew Leo had become alpha quite early, and that there was a lot of strife in his pack when he was younger, but it made it so much more real to hear how he’d had to resort to cutting his and his friends’ hair so any humans they’d had to interact with didn’t get suspicious about so many young people running around with obviously no one to take care of them. I couldn’t imagine being in their shoes. Yeah, my home life hadn’t been great, with my aunt making it clear what she thought of me, but at least I’d had ahome.I was never worried about some rival alpha coming and killing everyone I loved.
Though that was probably because everyone I loved was already dead.
“If that’s the case, I wouldn’t mind it at all. A trim would be nice. But I do wanna grow it out. Now that I don’t have work stressing me out so much, I have a bit more time to take care of my hair.”
“I’m really glad you were able to take a step back from that place. I know I’m one to talk, considering I’ve never had a job in the human world, but it did seem especially awful.”
“Oh, it was. Is. But, yeah, I’m glad, too.”
We sat there for quite a while, returning to our previous position of his arms around my waist and chin on my shoulder. It was so warm, so secure, that all traces of that awful nightmare left my mind. I was safe. I was cared for.
There was silence between us, but it wasn’t uncomfortable. No, it was the epitome of peace. Enough so that I nearly jumped out of my own skin when someone gently knocked on the door.
“Who is it?” Leo asked in a tone that told whoever was on the other side this interruption better be damn important.
It was Ricky, who sounded quite enthused.
“I’ll make it quick, boss. I’ve organized a run for most of our visitors here, so the house will be pretty empty, and those who are sticking around have some tasks they’re going to do outside. Just thought you might want to know that you’ll have this place to yourself for a little while.”
