But if she was here under other circumstances, and if she had been staying in the room for days because she wanted to be there?—
He let the thought trail off. That would never happen. She was human. He had to remind himself again and again. Now she thought he was a cult member, and as she liked to remind him, he had kidnapped her.
This didn't end well.
Besides, she would rather spend time with Javi than with him.
He understood it. Javi was an easygoing wolf, always there with a joke, always happy to lighten the mood. Sane enough not to kidnap a random woman from her place of work.
Nico growled at nothing. He left the room and slammed the door with a bit of force, and he didn't give a damn who heard. He just needed to move. Though it was broad daylight, it was the perfect time for another run in the woods in his other form.
Several hours later, he returned, his muscles well-used, but his mind still a whirlwind of confusion and despair. He'd been trying to figure out some fix for the mess he was in, but nothing had come to him.
It wasn't a situation thatcouldbe fixed.
At least he was calm by the time Elise came to his room that night. She shut the door behind her and then saw the bed. She froze. Her blue eyes widened, and her mouth dropped open, though only a little. Her fingers flexed, and he wondered if she might try and back out of the room.
"Were you doing laundry?" she asked carefully.
That was another prompt he should take, but Nico was lying to her enough, and he didn't want to lie about the inconsequential things.
"No," was his reply.
Several expressions flitted across Elise's face in quick succession. And she must have had something she wanted to say, but eventually, she just nodded and picked up one of the pillows from the floor and threw it toward the head of the bed, ready to remake the boundary. She reached for a second pillow.
"Don't," said Nico.
Elise turned a look to him. "Don't what?" She was holding her pillow in front of her like a shield, posture stiff.
"You know what I mean," he said. His wolf was riding high, his body humming with the need to act.
"I'm not sure I do." She was careful in her response.
"We don't need that there."
Elise picked up one of the blankets. "I'm pretty sure we do."
She didn't mention it, but his mind flashed back to the kiss they had shared the night before, and his whole body lit up from within. He knew he wanted her. Every cell of his being was attuned to her.
And he knew she wanted him right back.
These past few days, he had gotten conversant in the changes in her scent. The subtle shifts that gave away so much more than she could ever know. She might hate him if she knew how well he could read her.
She had the final pillow in her hand, and Nico grabbed it.
"It's fucking ridiculous," he said.
"This whole situation is ridiculous," said Elise. "I don't know why you thinkthisis the final straw."
"It just is." He yanked the pillow out of her grasp, and that forced her two steps forward. She tilted her head up to look at him, and her eyes were blazing with that fire that always lived within her. She was close enough now that her toes were nearly touching his. She lifted her chin to meet his gaze with a challenging stare of her own.
He needed to step back right now. He needed to let her put the pillows back on the bed.
He needed to somehow figure out how to travel back in time and stop himself from ever meeting her in the first place.
Nico did none of those things.
He leaned forward and kissed her.
