Forever (The Dragon Wars)(5)

Just like she would be. Forever.





Chapter Two





So what that he watched Lena incessantly? It didn’t mean jack shit. Devin sat back in his room and stared at her through the window. She never looked at the house, and he couldn’t blame her. Two weeks ago, he’d absolutely humiliated her. Nothing about how he’d handled her confession of her belief that they were mates had been appropriate. She was a young, unmated Female. Even having been hung from his arms for five years in a Dragon prison didn’t excuse his bad behavior.

He leaned forward, rubbing his now-smooth face. The day before he’d finally given in and shaved. He had no idea why and no time or interest in self-analyzing himself. More than anything, he wanted his ability to shift to return. He could heal his leg and get off the pills if only he could call his Wolf again. So far, nothing he tried helped.

Lena seemed to be working all the time. That morning she’d left the house at six dressed in a business suit. He’d been up early enough to see her because he hadn’t been able to sleep since he stopped doping himself up. Werewolves were not supposed to subsist on pharmaceuticals, not for long periods of time. He might be half out of his mind these days, but that much he knew.

Lena had come home two hours ago and now she was going back out dressed in some kind of food-service uniform. As far as he could tell, she did this every single day. The woman would run herself down in no time if she kept up this pace.

He sighed and pushed his chair backward. It was guilt making him feel this way. Had to be. There was no other explanation. The fact that he couldn’t stop thinking about the image of Lena sucking on his cock until he came in her mouth didn’t mean anything more than she was hot as hell. Maybe it was a good sign—his libido coming back online had to mean he had started to heal.

Devin stood up. His parents ate their dinner downstairs. They’d invited him to join them and he’d declined. He still had no appetite and he didn’t like his mother’s worried glances.

Before she’d gone over the deep end and insisted they were mates, little Lena had been asking him if he could fix things. He could. There was almost nothing Devin couldn’t make better except, apparently, himself. Assuming his father still had his tools, he could fix things around Lena’s house. That would be a good apology.

It took him a few minutes to grab all of his stuff, but then he was off. It felt good and right to have a task ahead of him again. For five years, his only task had been to survive. He pulled open the door to the Knox household. It squeaked. That shouldn’t be too much of a problem.

Several hours later, after he’d discovered he had to take the whole damn door apart, he’d changed his mind. Lena’s mother had come out and given him a cookie like he was ten years old. It hadn’t been a particularly good cookie, but he’d thanked her.

As far as he could tell, the whole house was crumbling to the ground, piece by piece. It would take him months, maybe years, to fix it. Much as he had guilt for hurting Lena, that much work would be too much of an apology.

The door swung open, and Lena dragged herself into the front room of her house. He stared at her. Her movements screamed exhaustion, but she still managed to growl when she saw him. Yeah, she might be tired, but she was a pissed-off Wolf.

“What are you doing here?”

He smiled at her and hoped he didn’t look crazy. The scars on his cheeks were not endearing. “Well, about an hour ago I fixed your front door. Then I took care of the swing.”

“Thank you.” She set her purse down on the table and it swayed. He’d have to put that on the list. “Why?”

“Because you asked me if I could fix things and the answer was ‘yes.’”

“That’s not a reason.” She sighed and walked to the refrigerator. “I need you to leave. I have to make my cakes to sell tomorrow morning at the flea market.”

“You’ve worked two jobs today. Now you’re making something to sell tomorrow morning? When do you stop?”

She growled again. “That’s none of your business. This house is none of your business. You’ve been perfectly clear. I’m not your mate.”

“No, but you’re my neighbor.”

She walked into the kitchen, and he followed her, staring at her legs as she moved around the room collecting the things she would need to make her cakes. Even in her tan uniform pants, there was no mistaking the shape of her legs or the firmness of her ass. He wanted to squeeze it.

“Could you do me a favor?”

He stood up. “I kind of thought I was.”

“This is a different kind of favor.”