Tom had wanted to come back at first light. “The councilors won’t be arriving until later in the day, but if I were looking to get into your territory unnoticed, I’d move before dawn. Light enough to navigate but not light enough to draw attention.”
He wasn’t wrong. And even if he had been, Bryce wouldn’t have wanted to put him off coming back. His dreams had been disturbed last night, a mixture of sex and some other kind of restlessness. He wasn’t sure exactly what it had been, but he did know all of it was centered on Tom Barrington, and he was impatient to see him again.
Tom had sharp instincts and a quiet presence and competence that reminded Bryce—painfully—of Matt. But under all that control, there was warmth and humor. Kindness, too. Things that were dangerous in a man tasked with peeling away layers to get to secrets. Bryce liked him more than was smart in the circumstances, and his wolf had picked up on that interest immediately.
He leaned against the porch rail, mug of coffee warming his hands, and let his eyes track the SUV that had just pulled in beside the house.
Tom was in jeans and boots this time, not slacks and polished shoes, with a charcoal jacket zipped up tight against the cold, and dark hair mussed slightly. Like he’d just gotten out of bed maybe. Nope, not going there.
He looked relaxed, but his eyes swept the yard with the quick precision of someone who didn’t stop assessing his surroundings for a second. He nodded at Bryce, a smile lightening the seriousness of his face, just as Matt stepped out the front door.
Matt walked toward Tom, not even glancing Bryce’s way. Evidently, he wasn’t needed for this conversation.
Bryce couldn’t hear their words as they spoke in low tones, but the way Matt stood said everything. Broad stance, his arms folded, guarded. A little defensive for Matt, but perhaps not surprising right now.
Bryce sipped his coffee and watched, keeping his face unreadable.
After a moment, Matt stepped back and headed to his truck. Tom gave a polite nod and turned toward the porch.
“Morning,” Bryce said.
“Morning.” Tom’s smile was small but real. “Hope I’m not too early.”
“Right on time,” Bryce said. He tilted his head toward the barn. “Got a couple of horses saddled, unless you’d prefer the ATV?”
“I’d love to ride,” Tom said warmly. “I haven’t ridden since college.”
“In that case, I disclaim any responsibility for your aching thighs tomorrow.”
He hadn’t meant it to be suggestive, but just the mention of Tom’s thighs short-circuited his brain for an instant. Tom’s too, from the way his eyes flared.
Bryce was certainhe was going to shoot some sort of innuendo back at him, but it appeared professionalism won out. “Noted,” was all he said.
Bryce put his mug to one side and took Tom around back, toward the barn.
“I gave you Dave’s horse,” he said. “He could do with the exercise while Dave’s away.” He was also as placid and kind as his owner, and Bryce had thought him the safest option when he didn’t know Tom’s ability in the saddle.
“You said Dave and Christian have taken off on a trip,” Tom said. He didn’t say anything more, but the question waspractically asking itself—what the hell kind of time was this for pack members to go missing?
Bryce shrugged, keeping himself relaxed as leaves crunched under their boots. “Christian’s not good with strangers, and they’d been talking for years about taking a vacation, so it seemed a good idea all around.”
“Fair enough.” Tom shoved his hands in his pockets against the early morning chill. “Where’d they decide to go?”
Tom was evidently suspicious, but he could hardly dispatch an investigative team on vague conjecture. Especially if he didn’t know exactly where they’d gone. And in another few days, the entire Council would know about Jesse’s past anyway, so Bryce saw no problem in telling him.
“New Mexico somewhere,” he said.
The barn loomed into view, a dark shape in the weak light, and a horse nickered as they approached. Bryce didn’t miss the way Tom’s eyes scanned the barn doors, the paddock beyond, even the roofline. Always assessing. Always on.
He also saw the moment Tom’s shoulders eased, as he noted all points were clear of threat. Like being here let him breathe.
He pushed open the door and the familiar scent of hay and warm animals hit him.
“Yours is the chestnut,” he said, nodding toward a compact gelding already saddled and tied up. “He’s a sweetheart, so long as you don’t encounter any drains.”
“Am I likely to?” Tom asked with a raised eyebrow as he held his hand out to the gelding, letting him scent this new person.
“That’d be a no, but it seemed best to warn you since that’s how he ended up here. He came from a place that taught first-timers. Great temperament, but he couldn’t deal with storm drains. Dumped three kids in a row when he saw the thingslurking terrifyingly by the curb, and they decided he’d be better off out here.”
