There’s something about his tender scent that settles something deep in my bones. Of course, I’d kill to have Tansy here as well. I’d kill to have both precious little matesbeside me, snuggling and nuzzling, but Tansy isn’t ready for me yet. And that’s okay.
I’ll wait forever if that’s what she needs.
A soft creak hits my ears, and I lift my head, looking at the bathroom door. It doesn’t sound like Beck…I don’t think. But it’s hard to tell over the sound of water.
The bathroom door opens slowly, the steam curling out into the cooler bedroom air. Through the frosted shower door, I catch Tansy’s unmistakable shape.
Relief hits first.
I am fucking happy to see her, it’s almost painful, but then I instantly feel bad. Did I wake her up?
"Warren?" Tansy whispers, her voice barely audible over the spray. She clearly doesn't want to wake Beck. "Are you okay?" The glass blurs her to soft outlines and muted colors, the curve of her shoulders, the fall of a pale pink nightgown against her thighs.
"I'm fine," I whisper, then I rinse the soap from my face, wiping the water away. "I was getting in a late workout."
Tansy pauses and I hear her sniff the air. "I can smell blood," she says softly. I can’t see the details of her face, but it looks like she’s staring right at me. "It's…strong."
While her sense of smell isn’t nearly as good as an alpha’s, there’s no sense denying it.
"Oh," I scramble for a decent excuse. "I, uh... I cut myself on some equipment at the gym. It's nothing. A scrape."
“Really?” She doesn’t sound convinced. “Can I see it?” she asks quietly.
I hesitate, water beating down over my shoulders, steam filling the space between us. My instincts are pulling in two directions at once. Part of me wants to suck it up and command her to go back to bed.
The other part of me wants to wrap my arms around her and feel her lush warmth against me.
“Warren?”
The sound of my name on her lips does it for me.
I turn the water off. The sudden quiet makes everything sharper. I slide the glass door open and step out, the water dripping from my skin onto the bath mat.
Tansy is standing right there. Her dark red hair is rumpled from sleep, strands sticking out at odd angles, her eyes wide as she takes me in. Her gaze immediately drops, sweeping down my chest and abs before landing squarely on my cock. I watch her face flush a deep crimson red as her eyes go wide, before she looks away.
A swift, satisfied thrill moves through me.
Seeing her react like that, all shy and flustered, makes the tension in my chest loosen. For a moment, I don't feel like a monster who beat a man to death. I feel like an alpha who has his omega's full attention.
“S-sorry,” Tansy clears her throat roughly as she reaches for a towel, thrusting it toward me. Her gaze darts toward the far wall, then my cock, then the floor, and back again.
I can’t help but smile as I dry myself off.
I keep my eyes on her face, on the way her ears have gone pink and how she keeps shifting her weight like she doesn’t know what to do with herself. Every time she risks a glance in my direction, she catches me already watching and snaps her eyes away again.
It’s fucking adorable.
“Alright,” I say as I wrap the towel around my hips, tucking it in securely. When I look up, Tansy is looking right at me. Really looks. Her cheeks are still pink, but her eyes are steady now.
“Can I see where you cut yourself?” she asks softly.
I nod and lift my hand for her. She steps closer, carefully taking my hand in hers. Her brows draw together as she takes it in, the cuts, the swelling, the way the skin is already bruising. The concern on her face does something to me that nothing else tonight has managed.
“This isn’t a scrape,” Tansy says softly.
“I know,” I admit.
She looks up at me, her brows pulled together in confusion. I want to pull her in. I want to tell her everything that happened tonight, and nothing all at once. I want to tell her that the fucker that touched her is dead and rotting in a hole, six feet deep in the middle of the woods.
