“Mack, get back in bed.”
“I have to pee.”
Well, she had him there. “Fine. Hurry up.”
“Will you stop barking orders at me?”
Yes. Maybe. When she stopped scaring the shit out of him. “You need to rest.”
“I rested. I’m almost completely healed.”
“You cried.” He really hadn’t meant for that to come out as accusatory as it had. Oops.
“I did. It was a good cry, long overdue, and I’m fine now.” When he just arched an eyebrow at her, she sighed and shook her head. “Okay, maybe I’m not fine, but I do feel better. I can’t hide in this room forever.”
“It’s been a day.”
“And what’s going to change tomorrow? Or the day after that? I can do this. I need to do this.”
While his instincts said she needed more time to heal, both physically and emotionally, she wasn’t a child. She wasn’t a prisoner anymore, either. If she wanted to leave her room, it wasn’t his place to stop her or try to talk her out of it. As much as he wanted to be, he wasn’t the hero of her story. That honor belonged solely to her. He was just the supporting cast.
So, he’d be supportive. “If you change your mind, or if it’s too much, we can come right back. No one will judge you.”
The first truly genuine smile he’d seen from her lit up her entire being. “Thank you. I just need to…” She trailed off and jerked her thumb toward the bathroom. “I’ll be right back.”
Even letting her out of his sight for that long made him uneasy, despite the fact she hadn’t even technically left the room. Surely, that had to be the mating bond. It had to be some weird, magical connection that was turning him into a raving lunatic. Sure, he cared about people’s suffering, and he helped where he could, but he barely knew her. He certainly shouldn’t feel as protective of her as he did.
While his brain supplied this reasonable explanation, his heart scoffed. So what, it said. So what if it was the mating bond? So what if he had only known her for a short time? Neither one of those excuses changed a damn thing. They didn’t change how he felt. They didn’t negate how intensely he felt it.
When Mackenna exited the bathroom, she had a little more color in her cheeks, and that bright, beautiful smile was still in place. “Okay, I’m ready.”
Underweight, dressed in an ugly, blue hospital gown with her hair falling in messy, tangled waves down her back, she was still absolutely stunning. Her amber eyes dominated her face, giving her a pixie-like appearance that he found both alluring and disarming.
Crossing the room in a few strides, he caught her cheeks between his palms and just held her there, computing every detail to memory right down to the exact place of her freckles. Then, very slowly, giving her plenty of time to pull away or knee him in the balls, he lowered his mouth to hers. Mackenna didn’t try to stop him, and they met in a sweet, gentle kiss that ignited every nerve ending in his body.
Her hand came up to rest on his shoulder, and she swayed into him, parting her lips on a soft sigh. Vibrating with desire, he wrapped his arm around her waist and dragged her closer as he caressed the seam of her mouth with his tongue. He kept the kiss gentle and coaxing, delving deeper, then retreating until Mackenna relaxed into the rhythm with another one of those intoxicating sighs.
When her hand clenched against his shoulder, fisting in his shirt, he reluctantly pulled back, ending the kiss with another chaste brush of their lips. Christ, he wanted her, but she wasn’t ready. Frankly, he didn’t know if he was ready.
“Last chance to change your mind.” His voice was still heavy with lust, but he hoped she understood he meant leaving the room, not getting naked with him.
“No, I’m ready.” She bit her kiss-swollen lip and took his hand, linking their fingers together. “Just, maybe, don’t leave me.”
He tucked her hair behind her ear and kissed her forehead. “Never.”
With her hand clasped in his, he led her out of the room and down the hall, following the sounds of conversation to the hospital’s waiting area. Since being taken over by the Revenant, the lobby had been transformed into more of a rec room with comfortable sofas and chairs, a flat screen television, and even a gaming console.
He spotted Abby immediately, her golden hair and Barbie blue eyes standing out even beneath the layer of soot that coated her pale skin. She stood off to the side of the check-in desk, wrapped up securely in Luca’s arms, and the big male wasn’t letting anyone near her.
Cade didn’t know their story, and he didn’t need to know. They looked happy together, and Abby was alive and back where she belonged. That was all that mattered.
He scanned the room, looking for someone not occupied who could tell him what had happened at the shifter camp. Eventually, his gaze settled on Lynk, their eyes met, and the shifter nodded before starting to make his way across the room. Beside him, Mackenna tensed and pressed closer to his side.
Even under the best of circumstances, he could understand the reaction. Over six and a half feet tall, Lynk towered over everyone else in the room. His snowy white hair hung loosely around his face, the strands matted with blood, ash, and Christ only knew what else. If that wasn’t intimidating enough, the gaping wound in the side of his neck would have given anyone pause.
Eyes the color of pure moonlight flickered between him and Mackenna, and Cade recognized the exact moment Lynk decoded the situation.
