“Actually, I am.” She yawned. “And, clearly, tired. Did you manage to get anything to eat?”
He raised an eyebrow. “Did you doubt my ability to provide for you?”
“Rex.” Her voice contained laughter when she spoke. “This isn’t a caveman must provide for his woman kind of a thing. I was simply trying to find out if there had been any food to get.”
“Cheese.” He pointed to the small table in the corner. “Bread and butter. Not much, not what I’d like to be feeding you right now, but sustenance nonetheless.”
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” In two strides he’d crossed the room to the table to pull out the chair for her to sit in. She paused before sitting down in it, and he watched as a blush crossed her cheekbones. Was she unwell? “Are you fine?” He hadn’t forgotten the whack she’d taken to the head during the car accident. When this was over he still intended to have her properly looked at by a doctor.
“Yes. I’m just not used to being treated so nicely.”
Unable to stop himself, he dropped to his knees by the side of her chair. She gasped.
“Elizabeth, by the gods we believe in, I swear to you that you will get used to being treated like a lady. Anyone who dares to treat you otherwise will answer to me.”
“Rex.” Her eyes filled up with tears, and the scent of unhappiness wafted through the air. It was repugnant to his soul. He reached up to stroke away the tears from her eyes.
“Here, you need to eat. It will help you to feel better.” He hoped that was the case. Rex would do just about anything to relieve her of her sadness. Reaching up, he broke a piece of cheese off. “Eat this.” When she would have taken the food from his hand, he stopped her. “Please, let me.”
Her eyebrows lifted. “You want to feed me from your hand.”
“If it is okay. I don’t know if it’s something you’d hate. I have a hard time with modern manners. I have this need to take care of you.” Elizabeth stared into his eyes, and he wished he could read her thoughts. All he could smell was sadness, which continued to eat a hole into his heart.
Please, Elizabeth. He was glad to see he could speak into her mind again. His wolf abilities were returning, albeit more slowly than he would have preferred.
She nodded, her mouth opening slightly. Bit-by-bit Rex fed her pieces of the cheese and bread. Each bite she took made his cock grow harder, and he hoped the towel wrapped around his waist would continue to hold. If he had to, he could take clothes from the proprietor of the hotel, but he preferred not to bother the man again. Besides, anything that took him from Elizabeth’s presence was to be avoided at all costs.
After a few minutes, she grabbed his hand. “Aren’t you going to eat?” He shook his head. “I’m not hungry.”
“How can you not be?”
“My eating needs are different from yours.” The last thing Rex wanted to do at this moment was to go into an explanation about his metabolism and what he needed to eat or when he had to consume food. An intimacy was forming between them. He could feel it pulsating in the air, like he could reach out and actually touch it if he tried. Although, he wouldn’t dare make the attempt in case it spoiled the moment.
“I think you’re lying. I can’t smell it like you can. I think you’re not eating because you want me to eat.”
There was some truth to that, but if he had to really eat, he would have gotten more food from the man at the desk. “I really am fine.”
She nodded, taking his cheeks in her hands. “I appreciate you wanting to take care of me. No one has wanted to in so long. I promise you, however, I am a grown up and can feed myself just fine.”
He smiled, looking down. It had been a strange instinct, not one he’d ever had before. She’d let him indulge but he was going to have to restrain himself from doing it again. “I know you can.” He nodded and tried to pull back but she stopped him, which surprised him. Why would she want him near her when he’d acted so oddly?
“When you speak in my head, it’s like a caress on my soul.” Her blue eyes held his eye contact and he felt his heart beat fast against his ribs. “At first I hated it and now I can’t seem to stop myself from wanting you to do it again.” Like this?
Her sigh moved through him like a burst of warm air. “Just like that.” She got off the chair, moving to kneel directly across from him. “I’m not good news.”
Stop it.
“I think you believe me to be better than I actually am.” No.
It had been such a long time since she’d had someone to support her. Rex could imagine she’d lost sight of herself somewhere along the line. He could see the goodness radiating from her—not something he would have expected to be true of a witch.