Hawk wheezes, slapping the floor. “Stop, I’m going to pass out,” he begs, gasping.
Rheyas closes his eyes, looking strained. His cheeks might not be red, but it still appears he’s hiding from the embarrassment, though he has no reason to.
“But I’m just throwing it out there that we don’t have to have sex. You can seriously just sleep in a comfortable bed next to me without worrying I’m going to stick my hand down your pants.”
Finally opening his eyes, the emotion churning in their depths makes me bite my tongue. “My worry is that Iwantyou to, but I’m afraid I won’t be able to stop.”
Be still my heart.
“Have more faith in yourself than that; I do. You’re too honorable for your own good. I don’t have a doubt in my mind that if I asked you to stop you would. Besides, there are two other people in this house. They might not be able to knock you out, but they can annoy you enough to make you get your head back on straight.” Rising up on my toes, the best I can reach is his neck for a quick kiss to try and reassure him. “Thanks for telling me so I understand your reservations instead of thinking I did something wrong.”
As frigid and stoically as the man carries himself, when he softens, it’s nearly imperceptible. But after this long of watching him, of starting to pick up on the subtle nuances, it’s practically a slump of relief. He simply nods rather than answering, and turns his attention back to glaring daggers at Hawk.
It’s easier to hide behind a mask of disdain than for him to talk about his feelings. But since he was raised out there alone…he wouldn’t havehadanyone to talk to after his mom died save the few times he came to town for trade. Just endless wilderness, the only sound to keep him company that of the birds.
“So what’s on the agenda for today?”
Hawk is finally in control of himself again, stretching his arms above his head. My eyes flick over his body and by his wink as he catches me looking, it was his plan the whole time. “Since you’re off today, and before you ask, yes, I have your work schedule memorized, want to go explore the woods around town?”
“That sounds like something a serial killer would ask; I’m in.”
Rheyas throws his hands up in exasperation. “Did you forget about the people that want to kill you? It’s like you’re trying to get murdered.”
“But you’ll be there, right? And between you and Hawk, you can smell anyone coming a mile away; we’ll just stay downwind.” His chest puffs up a bit at my words and I grin. “There’s nothing to do in this town and I’m bored out of my mind. I don’t want to just hide, work, and die. That sounds like a horrible life. I’d rather risk not growing old and grey and be able to say I actually lived instead of simply existed.”
“I’ll go see if Ian wants to come,” Hawk volunteers, shifting back into his brindled wolf. Browns, greys, blacks, and white, all blended together into a distinctive pattern that would be easy to pick him out even surrounded by a massive pack.
I startle as a series of crashes echo down the hall, along with a yip and several heavy thumps. A minute later, Ian’s cursing signals their arrival before they appear, Hawk dragging him by the back of his shirt across the floor. Releasing him, Hawk comes to brush against my leg, back and forth.
Chuckling, I reach down to run my fingers through his brindled fur, scratching his neck as I greet my other mate. “Morning.”
Ian gets to his feet, hatred emanating off of him in waves. “What the hell?”
Hawk shifts back and I take an instinctive step closer to Rheyas to give him room. “We’re going on an adventure! Thought you’d want to come since we’re dragging Rel into the woods as murderer bait. Might even play real life hangman if we get lucky and catch one, so the bear can work on his spelling; I’m all about multitasking.”
Ian doesn’t look nearly awake enough to process yet. “Is it cocaine? Is that why you’re like this?”
“Want me to start you some coffee?” I offer. I may hate the taste, but the smell is nice enough that it doesn’t bug me.
Ian blinks his bleary eyes, looking over the three of us and sighs. “I’ll put it in a thermos, give me twenty minutes to pull myself together.”
Twenty
Esmerelda
“How in any universe did he even get you on board with this?” Ian asks Rheyas as we fight through the snow that comes halfway to our knees.
The arctic psycho isn’t even in a damn coat, walking around in a long sleeved shirt without gloves, like he created a secret ice palace out here. “Rather face things head on. And they’d have had to track her here in the first place, which is a long shot. They’d have no idea how far down the river she might have made it, where she’d surfaced, and we’re hours of a walk away from that. I doubt anyone will show, but if they do, I’d rather know who they are and kill them now than waiting around for years.”
Ian and I both blink at him, but he’s the one that beats me to the punch. “I think that’s the most words I’ve ever heard you speak in one sitting.”
Rhey flips him off before tucking his hands into the pockets of his sweatpants, unperturbed they’re thoroughly soaked and plastered to his shins. His eyes scan the terrain constantly without issue, while I’m damn near blind.
The sun reflecting off of the snow is positively blinding right now, and I’m taking the cheater’s route of walking behind Rheyas. It helps carve a path through the snow so I don’t have as much of a struggle as the others, as well as giving me something to look at that doesn’t try to melt my eyeballs.
We carry on for almost thirty minutes just rambling, and I’m not entirely sure if it’ll be Ian or Rhey, but one of them is going to end up smacking Hawk before the day is over.
“When in doubt, just be direct, like this,” Hawk continues animatedly, full of way more energy than I knew a single person was capable of. He turns to me and clears his throat dramatically. “Rel, things are awkward and I don’t like it. Want to just cuddle up and watch a movie?” He turns to face the others, loudly whispering behind the back of his hand. “She loves snuggling.”
