“Then you have to forgive yourself, too. I don’t know what happened to those seven people, but I know you did everything you could.”
He blew out a breath as he looked away. “You don’t know the mistakes I’ve made.”
“And you don’t know how I might have stopped it weeks or maybe months ago.” She leaned forward. “Did you forgive me for skipping out at the restaurant?”
His gaze cut to hers. “You know I did.”
“Then why don’t you deserve the same respect?” She stroked his very rigid jaw. “Tell you what, I forgive you for not being a superhuman God who can control teenagers bent on destruction.”
His lips curved at that, and she felt the tightness in his jaw ease. “And I forgive you for loving your brother so much that you forgave him for the unforgiveable, and you still love him despite him leading your people into madness.”
Her chest squeezed at that. The grip was so tight and so painful that tears sprang to her eyes. He had pegged her straight on. He understood exactly where her mistakes were and the error she was still making. She hoped that somewhere, somehow Raoul would turn away from the darkness. And if he did, then the pack could find the right path. But so far, it wasn’t happening. And she couldn’t forgive herself for allowing him to drag the pack into insanity.
But apparently Ryan could. He could forgive her and, in that moment, she felt the guilt ease. If nothing else, the burden was now shared with him, and she felt so much better for it.
“Thank you,” she whispered.
“Thank you,” he echoed. And in those two words, she heard the same relief that she felt. The same whisper of surprise and awe that echoed in her soul because they had helped each other. And together, they breathed out their pain. A moment later, she dropped forward until they were forehead to forehead.
“I wish you were better,” she said. “I’d really like to make love with you right now.”
The words hadn’t even finished. Their sound still hovered in the air when she felt the tingle.
Magic. Shifting.
She jumped back. Grizzlies needed a lot more room on the bed than an injured man. She saw the golden light and felt the abrupt coolness in the air. Ryan was a vague shape of grizzly mixed with the lines of a man.
He shimmered there on the bed, the glow neither man nor bear but part of both. And best of all, as she watched, his bandages lost traction on his skin and floated down to the bed. She held her breath, watching, and then the glow contracted. It pulled together into one body, one man, whole and complete.
And he was grinning.
Chapter 21
The man was radiant when he smiled, and it wasn’t just his blond hair and blue-eyed good looks. There was a lightness in his being that softened the angles of his body, eased his hard jaw, and made his lips kissable instead of tightly pressed. After the confessions of the last few hours, it was beautiful to see him happy. Even better, she’d been the one to bring it out in him.
He tugged her close and she fell willingly into his arms. “You’re so beautiful,” he said.
She smiled. “I was just thinking the same thing about you.”
His hands flowed down her back and shivers made her arch in response. “I want to go slow,” he said, “but I want you so bad right now.”
She teased her lips along the seam of his. “Want some wine to go with that cheesy line?”
“Nope,” he said. “Just you.” Then he flipped her over on the bed and straddled her.
She slid her arms over his shoulders and into his hair. “Are you really okay? I mean physically and emotionally. No aches? No pains?”
She thought he’d come back with another corny line, but he paused as he thought about her question. He took a deep breath and she felt his lungs expand and his groin thicken against her.
“Body’s fine,” he said with a grin. “And you feel great.”
“What about the rest?”
He arched a brow. “Am I still messed up in the head? No more than you are.” He glanced out the window. “There’s a whole world of trouble out there. But you and I are in here, and we can’t do anything about out there.”
“So gather ye rosebuds while ye may?” she asked, quoting her favorite high school English poem.
He shrugged in a why not gesture. “You wanted to make love to me, and I want to give you so many orgasms you pass out and forget all about everything else. You okay with that?”
