I wasn’t sure if I’d ever be able to trap them again…or if I even wanted to.
I’d spent more hours than I was supposed to outside Reid’s flat, just to be close to him. Only when Logan was guarding him though. Calan and Finlay wouldn’t have tolerated it, but Logan took pity on me. He’d even come outside after Reid had a panic attack to reassure me that he was okay.
Not that that had helped. Just the knowledge that Reid had been hyperventilating over hearing his father’s namehad had me punching a tree. It had fallen over during a later storm. Thankfully, not on me, although that would’ve been no less than I deserved.
This was the closest I’d been to Reid since the spider incident. The past few weeks away from him had felt like torture.
Touching him now was the sweetest reprieve.
I had no idea if we were in time with the music, or if there was even a song playing. All I could see was Reid’s head falling back. The delicate arch of his throat. The fluttering of his eyelashes. All I could hear was his breath turning ragged. The small whimpers he was trying desperately to contain. His heart racing in his chest.
All I could feel was him. Just him.
My wolf had never been more content. He was finally happy with where Reid was.
In our arms, where he belonged.
No, not where he belongs.
That voice was far quieter than it should be. I probably should have been concerned about that.
But I wasn’t. For the first time in weeks, there was nothing clouding my mind. Not the Clarksons and the lack of information I’d been able to extract from Clyde. Not thepast and how I’d failed. Not the fury and guilt on Reid’s face every time he saw me.
It was a blissful reprieve from the weight I’d been carrying. The load that had been slowly wearing me into the ground, without me even noticing until it had been lifted.
Reid raised his head suddenly, the movement putting his mouth mere inches from mine. His eyes were wide as his tongue flicked out over his lower lip.God, what I wouldn’t give to feel it againstmine.
“Ev…”
I hovered over him. My wolf begged me to close the distance. To claim him as mine.
Fuck it.Maybe it was time I started listening to my instincts where Reid was concerned, rather than trying to bury them.
I didn’t close my eyes as I lowered my lips to his. I didn’t want to miss a second of this.
This kiss was going to change everything. Or maybe everything had changed already, and this would cement it.
But it never happened.
Reid sucked in a quick breath, his hands shoving against my chest. “No.”
I released him immediately. “Reid?”
He was shaking his head, walking backwards to put distance between us. “No, I’m not doing this. I can’t.”
My wolf howled in distress. I didn’t let any of it show on my face. This wasn’t on Reid—it was on me. Once again, I’d fucked everything up. I’d read the situation wrong, just as I had the first time. “I’m sorry, Reid.”
“It’s not—” He cut himself off. The red overhead lights illuminated the taut lines of his jaw. He wasn’t looking at me, his hands in fists at his sides. “Don’t apologise, Ev. I can’t take it.”
I bowed my head. I hated asking this next question, even if it was needed. “Want me to go?”
Reid took a deep breath before he nodded. “Aye. I think that’s for the best.”
I didn’t let him see the pain those words caused. The confusion my wolf was feeling. The odd ache in my chest. It was obvious that Reid was too empathetic for his own good. I didn’t want him feeling guilty for how I was feeling. Especially when this was a situation of my own making.
That didn’t mean I could walk away without sayinganything though. “If you need me, just call my name and I’ll come. Remember that, Reid.”
Like the last time, I waited for him to deny me. To say he’d never need me.
