SIX
“Yep.”I nodded. “From what I’ve gathered, he’s got zero interest in anything to do with all of this.” I gestured to my body.
“That’s weird.” Dax headed up the stairs. Rather than following him and staring at his ass while Rocco growled at me, I leaned up against the couch, scratching the wolf’s head while I waited for the other guy to return.
He came back down the stairs empty-handed, but still frowning. “He’s been having a rough time, but I wouldn’t have thought he’d go this far.”
I shrugged, eyes on the wolf as Dax grabbed another, larger box without a problem. “Doesn’t seem like a stretch to think he’d want to just be friends with his mate.”
Dax shook his head as he started back up the stairs. “You don’t understand,” he told me, then disappeared for a moment. He continued as he came back down. “A werewolf waits for his mate in every way. He physically cannot be with anyone else. There’s not a wolf in this entire town that hopes for friendship. Rocco sure as hell doesn’t. Or at least, he didn’t…” Dax’s forehead remained wrinkled as he headed back up with the next box. I couldn’t believe the asshole still wasn’t sweating; I panted like mad when I reached the top of the stairs every friggin’ time.
“I’ll see what Elliot knows, and tell you,” he said, when he came back down.
“You can just ask the wolf,” I told him with a shrug. “He’s the one who told me the spare bed was for me, so somehow, he must know dude-Rocco’s secrets.”
“The wolf sees through Rocco’s eyes when Rocco’s in human form, just like the man does when the wolf’s in control.” Dax disappeared back up the stairs as I dropped my shocked gaze back to the wolf.
“You lied to me,” I told him.
He flashed me a feral grin.
“Bastard,” I swore, withdrawing my fingers from his fur and pushing his head away from me while my face burned.
I’d stripped in front of the wolf after he told me the human wasn’t home. That meant hottie-Rocco had seen my tits, since my bra did absolutely nothing to hide them. He’d probably seen my bare ass and the matching sheer panties I’d had on too, which meant the damned human had pretty much seen me naked.
“Dammit, bastard!” I huffed at the wolf, pushing his face away again when he leaned in with an apologetic whine. “What the hell is wrong with you? I let you lick my damned legs so many times, the least that should guarantee me is the freakin’ truth.”
“What did he do?” Dax checked.
“Told me the human couldn’t see through his eyes,” I huffed. “I stripped in front of him.”
Dax grimaced. “Can’t say I’m surprised. If Rocco’s decided he doesn’t want anything to do with his mate physically, the wolf was probably hoping that seeing you naked might help.”
“Why would it?” I asked, incredulously.
Dax ducked up the stairs again, wiping his hands on his sweats when he came back down. “I’m not going to give you all of my thoughts on the subject, to avoid getting attacked by the wolf, but basically, a werewolf’s draw to his mate is pretty much irresistible. You’ll be the most beautiful thing he’s ever seen, you’ll smell so good to him that he’ll have a hard time stopping himself from licking every damn inch of you, you’ll be everything he never realized he wants.”
He disappeared back up the stairs with another box while I glanced down at the wolf I’d pushed away.
He licked my arm with a grin, as if agreeing with everything Dax said.
“Besides that, if I were to walk into a room of women and pick out one that I thought Rocco would like, I’d pick you,” the man said bluntly. “You’re small and witty, unique, and chill. Rocco would hate to deal with someone as high-maintenance as Teagan or Ebony for the long haul, but he needs someone who’s got enough fire to set him straight when he takes a joke too far. Seems like that could be you.” Dax took yet another piece of furniture up, still not sweating.
My eyebrows lifted. “Thanks, I think.”
“It was a compliment,” Dax called out behind himself. “As much of a compliment as I can give you without pissing off the wolf.”
I snorted, glancing back at the wolf, whose head was now resting on my lap.
“So what’s he like?” I asked Dax, as he came back down. “Rocco the guy, I mean.”
Dax’s expression grew contemplative. “I’m not sure, to be honest.”
I frowned. “What does that mean?”
Hadn’t he just been talking about the guy like they were friends?
“Rocco recently lost his brother. I won’t give you the details, but in the months since, he’s changed. I’m not comfortable setting you up to expect him to act one way when I’m not sure how much of the change is because of that loss and whether or not it’s permanent,” Dax explained, grabbing another box.