He held me close as we caught our breath. Only the sound of our panting filled the otherwise silent kitchen.
Brody smoothed my curls aside, kissing my neck. “That was only a tease of how badly I want you.”
* * *
I’d calledGabe and arranged for Theo to stay the night in his guest room, and Brody and I had moved to my cramped and stuffy upstairs bedroom. At least now I wasn’t surrounded by my hair-removal products. That kind of stuff makes a shifter nervous.
We made love off and on throughout the night, pausing to sleep, only to start up again. I could never have enough of Brody; he was like my drug. Everything with him felt right. Maybe it was missing him for all these years. Now that I was with him, I didn’t want to waste a single minute.
Taylor’s sudden death taught me that much, at least. It showed me I was done waiting for things to improve in my life. From now on, I would follow what I needed for my son and myself.
“You miss Taylor,” Brody said.
“Do we have to talk about him now?” I asked. My fingertips lay over Brody’s heart. I could feel the steady beats, loving their rhythm.
“I don’t want you to feel obligated.”
“To Taylor?” I propped my head up on my elbow. “He was your friend. I respect that. But you need to hear me when I say this because I’m only going to say this once: Theo was the only good thing to come out of that marriage.” I held his gaze with mine and let him feel my sincerity
Brody’s pupils dilated. His lovely mouth set into a tight line. “I thought he made you happy. Did he hurt you?”
“What do you think? You know how much he drank in college. Imagine him with a wife and son in Ohio and nowhere for a wolf to run around. I won't waste time grieving over him.”
Anger flashed over Brody’s expression and his arms tightened around me possessively. “That bastard.”
I couldn’t disagree. But I didn’t want to run Taylor down either. He was gone. I was free. I’d paid a high price for my choice.
“No one is ever going to hurt you again,” Brody said quietly, tipping my chin up so our gazes could once again connect.
“What about Theo?” I asked hesitantly.
“You think I’d harm Theo?” Brody sounded hurt.
“Not at all. I meant to be his friend. He needs someone to learn from and I’ve already seen you with him. He respects you.”
“He’s a cute pup. Looks like his mom, but my job is to protect the residents of Sleepy Briar. I’ve no problem with that. Being a mentor, though, is not in my skill set. From what I’ve seen of Theo, he’s completely Taylor’s kid.”.
“Now what’sthatsupposed to mean?” I scooted away from him.
His hold on me loosened. “Theo’s a little wild. Like his dad.”
“He’s ‘a little wild’ because he’s four years old and already shifting into a freaking furry werewolf.” Reason had left my brain. This man, who majorly rocked my world, had just criticized my son.
“Is there any other kind of werewolf? We are all furry, babe.”
Knives shot out of my eyes in his direction.
There was a place deep inside me that knew Brody was right. I’d hoped just being here would be enough. But I had no idea how to be a parent, let alone to a shifter.
Chapter9
BRODY
The morning after our fuck-fest was a mess. Literally. A blizzard snapped the neck of our spring thaw. The wind howled. The windows frosted from the inside in Willow’s house, as I’d predicted. A sticky snow covered the new grass. Visibility was zip. It was a great day to be a wolf. A human? Not so much.
My wolf spirit woke me up, wanting to get outside. I resisted, knowing some cuddle time would be high on Willow’s list after our recent activities. I wasn’t opposed to that at all. But my wolf spirit paced inside me, yearning to get out that door.
Maybe that was why I’d said the stupid thing about Theo. I didn’t mean how it sounded. What I meant was, instead of Theo being “all boy,” he was “all wolf.” And of course I knew Taylor was Theo’s dad; I’d meant the power of werewolf genetics was clear to me now in a way that I’d never really understood before.