Page 21 of Cruel Mate

The bathroom door creaked open and he appeared in the doorway. A towel wrapped loosely around his waist, hanging low to show off the sloping v-shape where his muscular torso met his legs, he ran a second, smaller towel through his luscious wet hair. The drenched dark blonde locks that adorned his head were dark brown in the near-darkness.

In the doorway, illuminated by the candlelight in the bathroom behind him, he was a large and imposing figure. Broad shouldered, muscular, and all too naked, he made the cabin room feel even smaller than it ever had before.

“The lights aren’t working, and the stove is toast, but the shower seems to be okay,” he told her, apparently unsurprised by the fact she was awake. “I found some ration packets in the trunk at the end of the bed and cooked them on the hearth. Help yourself.”

He gestured to the tray on the table beside the bed, and Layla almost gaped. For someone like Zander, that was like bringing her a three-course meal. Rice and beans had never looked so good in all her life.

In an attempt to remain calm, Layla pulled the far-too-thin blanket up to cover her own nakedness and asked, “How long was I out?”

Zander, as if not wanting to make her uncomfortable, went about grabbing some clothes from another trunk across the room as he said, “All night, more or less.”

Layla gulped. “Are we safe?”

Zander followed her eyes to the door. “For now. It’s been quiet out there.”

Layla twisted to drop her legs over the side of the cot. “We should get back to town while we can.”

Wearing nothing but a pair of shorts now, Zander darted across the room and dropped down onto the bed beside her. He laid a hand on her shoulder, making her shiver as he said, “You aren’t going anywhere just yet. Not until I have taken a look at that knee of yours.”

“What are you—” she exclaimed when he started to pull back the blanket.

“Relax, I just want to take a look at your knee,” he repeated softly, and Layla was astonished by his tone. He had never sounded so calm and caring before.

Instinctively, she leaned back, surprised when he pulled back the blanket to reveal that her knee was bandaged.

“Did…did you do that?” she asked.

“You were in no fit state to do it yourself,” Zander grumbled back as he unwrapped the bandage from her leg.

He was so gentle that it took Layla’s breath away. She watched him with fascination as he examined the blackened, swollen ruin of her knee.

“I was hoping compression might help it heal quicker,” he said, sighing in a way a that made her certain he was displeased with her healing.

Layla shrugged. “I’m no beta. I may be higher in pack rank than poor Darwin, but I’m still only a messenger wolf. I heal slower than you and your guys.”

She half expected him to bite her head off for pointing out the obvious, but instead, she was surprised when he smiled at her sadly and laid his warm palm over her knee.

“I guess that means we will just have to stay a little while longer,” he said, his thumb gently stroking her knee.

His touch was warm. His skin, though calloused, was much softer than she had anticipated. And his gentleness sent a shiver up her leg and through her spine.

Instinctively, painfully aware of his closeness, Layla bounced off the bed. “No! I’m fine!”

But the second the foot of her injured leg touched the floor, pain lanced through her, and she squealed as she reeled forward.

Up like a shot, Zander caught her. His muscular arms carried her swiftly back to the bed, and in one graceful motion he had pulled the blanket back up around her chest, holding her there as he whispered in her ear, “You aren’t going anywhere.”

His tone was instructional, yet somehow also seductive.

Layla was terrified and, oddly, turned on.

This wasn’t happening. She hated Zander. He clearly hated her.

But the man sitting with her now wasn’t the same man she had argued with at the bonfire.

This man was kind and caring, giving off a protective vibe that made her heart race.

The way he rubbed her knee felt good, so good she couldn’t even attempt to move away. The warmth of his touch felt as if it were drawing the pain right away from her joint.

---