“Never hide your body from me,” he said, his stern tone softened by his gentle face.
She wanted to point out that ‘never’ implied that there was something long-term between them, but she couldn’t bring herself to broach the subject. What they had done had been mind-blowing, but beyond the sex, or mating, or whatever she was calling it, they were still headed down two entirely different paths. He was an alpha wolf who had to return to his pack, and she was…
Her train of thought veered off-course as Cain looped his arms around her waist, pulling her against his body. As she let him hold her, Sarah wondered if maybe she had died in that car accident after all. Maybe she’d died and gone to heaven—her own personal heaven, where an incredibly gorgeous man would not only look twice at her, but would actually seem genuinely attracted to her for some bizarre reason.
She wasn’t necessarily insecure. With guys that were like her, myopic and a little on the heavy side, she felt like a beauty queen. Unfortunately, she always seemed to fall for men who looked like they had just stepped down from a cloud to walk amongst mortals for amusement. But every man she’d ever been attracted to paled in comparison to Cain. She knew, with a certain degree of sadness, that he’d set an impossible standard for any human man she tried to have a relationship with in the future.
Cain’s big hands came up to massage her shoulder blades, making her go lax in his hold. “How are you feeling?” he asked.
“Sore.” Moving of its own accord, her hand came up to his chest, one errant finger tracing the flat plane around his nipple. It stiffened under her touch.
“If you keep doing that, we’re never leaving this place,” he warned.
She propped her chin on his chest, looking up at him. “How long have we been here?”
Sarah had expected things to be awkward between them, but if anything they seemed to be more comfortable than ever together, which made things all the more complicated. It would have been so much easier if he’d given her the cold shoulder. Sure, it would have hurt, but it was a type of hurt that she was familiar with. But this—holding her, massaging her, asking her how she was feeling, either he really did care about her or he was a sadist the likes of which she’d never encountered before.
“I have no idea,” he said, giving her a sheepish grin. “Several days.”
“That…” She trailed off, looking away as she considered how to phrase her next words. “Is that normal for werewolves?”
When she glanced back at him, his jaw had tightened. “It can be.”
She took a step back, and he loosened his grip. “I’m sorry. I really don’t know what came over me. I’ve never done anything like that before.”
That was an understatement. The first time they’d had sex was technically the third time she’d ever had sex. In her opinion, it was the second, because her comically terrible first time had lasted all of two minutes, which she’d decided couldn’t possibly count. But frankly, she would sooner throw herself back into the river than admit any of this to Cain.
Some of the humor returning to his expression, Cain leaned down and picked up his t-shirt from the floor, offering it to her. “Your other clothes are gone.”
“Even my bra?” she asked, accepting the shirt glumly.
He nodded, and his amusement was infectious. She struggled to suppress a grin as she put on the well-worn shirt. There were several stains and tears in the fabric, but it smelled like him, and she was secretly happy to wear it.
“I will meet you outside,” Cain said as she began clawing the tangles from her hair. He grabbed the duffle bag and headed out.
“Be right there,” she called out to his back.
Pausing, she watched him leave, a flurry of emotions whipping around her.
Mine.
Sometimes men said things during sex that they didn’t mean. But what if he had meant it? Could she really walk away from him now, or was she just deluding herself?
Chapter 2
A lot of the snow had melted along the eastern mountainside, making the rocky path slick with ice. Sarah would never have trusted herself to navigate the perilous trail, but Cain’s movements were so effortless that she couldn’t be afraid as she rode on his back.
For a little while she tried to look around and take in the beauty of the winter wilderness. Everything blurred together, and her efforts to try and sort everything out led to a splitting headache. She added horrible eyesight to her list of reasons why she needed to go home.
After jumping over a narrow stream, Cain lowered his nose to the ground and began to sniff. His pace slowed a little, but his steps became more purposeful as he changed course, leaving the trail to go deeper into the forest. Sarah’s pulse quickened as she realized that they must be close to his den.