He’s getting close, she thinks, from the way his hips are stuttering and his breath is hitching. He pulls off, rolling over onto his back with a big smile on his face.
“I don’t want to...I don’t want to come in my pants.”
“I don’t mind,” she says with a sly smile.
He looks at her and laughs, a big, bellowing laugh that has her smiling broadly. He leans over and pecks her sweetly before rolling her on her side and tucking her back to his chest. She could get used to all the manhandling, might even be a new kink of hers.
She should leave and get him to help her back to the lodge. They’ve finished their makeout session for the night, and he probably wants his space, wants her out of his bed.
“Stay,” he says softly in her ear, like he knew exactly what she was thinking. So she snuggles backwards into him, and he rumbles again in his chest.
The sun is blinding her. It’s bright and shining right on her face, and she wonders why she didn’t close the curtains in the room. She buries her face into the pillow and starts to roll onto her stomach when she feels a jolt of pain in her leg. Opening her eyes, she realizes she’s not in her room in the lodge but inAxel’s bedroom. Where they made out last night like teenagers. She rolls back with a huge smile on her face. A moment later, he’s in the doorway like he knew she’d woken up.
His hair is wet and soft, and he has a shirt in his hands. He’s got on thick canvas tan pants and wool socks. He’s getting ready to leave.
“I should get going,” she tells him, sitting up in bed.
“I was just making breakfast,” he says shyly, thumbing over his shoulder.
“Oh yeah?”
Once he’s carried her down the stairs and set her up at the table, he places a platter of eggs and tortillas in the middle. They help themselves to their breakfast tacos, and when she moans after the first bite, he tells her the secret is pork fat. He serves her coffee and pours the milk for her. He’s a true gentleman, and she wonders if all men in Montana are like this or if it’s just him.
“I made you something,” he tells her after they’ve finished breakfast. It’s a long stick that’s been carved with a flat part on the top. It’s a crutch. He carved her a fucking crutch. How early did he get up to do this? Did he even sleep? He helps her up, and she moves around his living room on her own. Kissing him softly when she stops in front of him. He smiles big like all he wanted to do was help her.
Chapter Twenty-One
Axel
After Axel has helped Chloe limp to the lodge and gotten her settled, and after he has had his third cup of coffee, Raif pops into his office.
“What’s up, little brother?”
Raif growls in annoyance and drops himself into the chair across from Axel.
“I wanted to say...I know you think...Look, I’m not good with words. But I wanted to tell you that none of us blame you.”
Axel drops his eyes to his lap and fiddles with his coffee cup.
“It’s my fault, we’re going to go under, and it’s because I trusted someone I shouldn’t have.”
He hears Raif huff out a big breath.
“It’s not wrong to trust people. We all trusted Maury. Hell, I even cleared some trees off his property a couple of times. It’s...you should trust people. It makes you who you are, makes you a good man, makes you Axel.”
Axel gets what his brother is trying to say. Gunner had said basically the same thing. But there’s this gnawing inside that he should have known better, that his father would never have let this happen.
“How’s your mate? I heard she got hurt.”
“She’s ok. Better now. I could sense her Raif. I knew the moment she got hurt, I could feel it. And then when I took off, it’s like I knew exactly where to go. It’s crazy,” he runs his fingers through his hair.
“Mates. It’s like Mom and Dad. When he...when he got shot, I was standing next to Mom. She collapsed and grabbed her chest. She could feel it, feel him dying. I don’t...I don’t want to ever go through that.”
“Are you saying you don’t want a mate?”
Raif turns his head away, focusing on the wall.
“I wanted a mate for so long, felt incomplete. Like my bear was never settled, you know? But now...I’m a shitty person-”
