Asher didn’t give an answer. Instead, he let off a fierce growl, turned on his heel, and made his way down the trail that led back to the cabins.
Roman watched him leave, scratching his bearded jaw in irritation. Finally, he ghosted Gentry a glance and muttered, “You’re buying.” He made to leave but turned and jammed his finger at Gentry. “And I drink a lot.” And then he followed Asher’s boot prints and disappeared into the woods.
Gentry leaned heavily against a tree and scrubbed his hands over his face. He let off a sigh, and his eyes dimmed. He looked haunted like the woods that surrounded him. “I worked so hard to get away from this place and stay gone. If I told you what I really want, you would run.”
Blaire squared up to him, her boots sinking in the ankle-deep snow. With just a moment of hesitation, she wrapped her arms around his middle. “I’d rather you talk to me than not. That goes for always. I don’t like all the secrets. I like knowing what’s going on. I like knowing you.”
Gentry leaned down and kissed her gently, stroked his fingertip down her cheek, then eased back and pressed his lips to her forehead. “You have this safe life back home. You could leave now and nothing bad would happen to you. I know you would be okay. You could find a normal man, with normal human problems, and be happy. But when I think about letting you go, everything in me buckles against it, Trouble. And the selfish monster in me wants you to stay here and go through this fight with me, bond to me, fall for me, and I want to make it to where you can never leave. Where you would never want to. I want to make you so happy you can’t imagine your life without me in it. Something’s wrong with me.”
“It’s not selfish, Gentry,” she whispered, sliding her hands around the back of his neck and standing on her tiptoes to hug him. “I want those same things. All of them. I can’t explain it, but you feel important. No, that’s not even a big enough word. You feel crucial. To me, to my growth as a person, to my happiness, all of it.” Before she could change her mind, she blurted out, “I called a realtor about selling my house.”
“What?” he asked, easing her back to arm’s length. “So you can move here?”
“No! Oh, my gosh, no. That makes me sound like a stalker.”
“Oh.” Gentry frowned.
“Wait, is that what you want? You would want me to move to Rangeley? We’ve known each other for—”
“Don’t. Don’t point it out. It’ll make me feel even more selfish.”
“No, I am selling the house I shared with my ex-husband. I’ve been clinging to it. Clinging to the idea of him. I failed big-time in my marriage, and it was scary to move on and start over. So, selling my house is a really big step for me. It’s my goodbye to my old life, and I have you to thank for it. You make me feel ready to move on.”
“Good.” Gentry gave a cocky smile and slid his hands under her jacket to grip her hips. “I’m proud of you.”
“I like that you say stuff like that.”
“Well, I like your freckles.”
“I like your wolf-eyes.”
His grin turned wicked, and before she knew it, she was tossed over his shoulder like a log. He smacked her ass hard enough to sting. “I like that.”
“I like that you give me erotica books to read.”
“Yeah? Did you read Chapter Four?”
“Part of it. Odine interrupted me mid-imaginary coitus.”
“Ugh, she’s the worst,” he teased.
“She cock-blocked my imagination.”
“I’ll reenact the rest of that scene for you,” he said in a growly, sexy voice.
“Wait, really?” she asked low, arching up so she could see his face. “I would really like whatever that entails.”
“Well, not down to the letter,” he said, letting her slide to his front and wrap her legs around his hips. He kept walking like she was no burden at all. “Desmund gave Sheela a claiming mark, and those are a no-no with real life werewolves. A claiming mark from me would kill you.”
“Wait, what? Kill me, you say? What?”
Gentry frowned and settled her on her feet, then slid his big strong hand around hers and kept walking without missing a beat. “I won’t ever do that. I won’t bite you. You’re safe with me. Wolf wouldn’t allow it. I know he wouldn’t.”
“Wolf?”
“He’s separate. It’s not supposed to be like that, but it’s just how I am. There’s human me and Wolf.”
“So when you were sitting in the middle of the road today…”
“I was barely present. You were meeting Wolf. For him, you’re it. You’re everything.”