Page 32 of Protector

I ignore that. I want to do so much more than that, but it’s hard to feel sexy when you’ve been trapped in a cave with no food, no toilet, no toothbrush, and no shower for days.

It’s not bothering Tristan, though. Whenever I mutter that I must stink, he just cheerfully agrees, then adds that it goes straight to his head.

That’s not the only place it goes straight to…

As he crouches in front of me, I try to ignore the erection point in my direction. Poor guy. He’s been in almost a constant state of arousal, but though I follow his lead when he pointedly ignores his hard-on, all I can think about is what that sucker would feel like inside of me.

Hey. We’re trapped in here. Why shouldn’t we find some way to pass the time before we starve to death and all they find of us are our skeletons?

Tristan frowns. “What do I have to do to get you to eat? I need you to eat, Jeannie.”

I’ve always wanted a male to feed me, knowing what that signifies to a she-wolf. I just… I guess I never thought my intended mate’s first meal would be worms.

He folds his fingers over his palm. Then, in a soft voice that echoes around the cave, he asks, “Why are you so suspicious?”

“You’re asking me that while you have some worms in your hands?”

“Fair point,” he admits. “But I mean it. What did I ever do to make you hate me? I ate the worm. I need you to eat the worm. If you think I’m trying to hurt you, or position you, or?—”

What? “Of course not. And hate you? I don’t hate you.”

“You bare your fangs whenever you see me.”

“That’s called a smile, hotshot.”

Throwing out his hand, letting the worms that I was never going to eat fall to the floor of the cave, he says wryly, “Right. And that nickname… I don’t think I’ve ever heard you call me ‘Tristan’.”

I have. Plenty of times, I have. When I thought he was dead from the witch’s spell, for once. But I get what he means. Anytime I want to put some distance between us, I always revert to the mocking nickname.

Call it my defense mechanism if you will. Same as getting a little snappish when he finally shows me a little bit of his Beta dominance.

I like the sweet, caring Tristan. You know what, though? I like this spicy side to him, too. It lets me fight back. I felt bad doing that when he was trying his best to take care of me, but I’ve waited four days…

No. I’ve waited three months for this conversation.

“Maybe if you didn’t run away from me when we first met and you actually introduced yourself before

“You urged me to put my hand in your pants!”

“Damn right I did. And I would’ve done a lot more if you hadn’t run away!”

Tristan’s eyes flash again. He opens his mouth—I see his fangs—before he jerks his head, stalking toward the other side of the cave. I can’t really make out what he’s doing in the shadows, but when he comes back a lot calmer, shaking his damp hand, I figure he must’ve used the trickle to rinse ‘worm’ off of his hand.

He runs it through his messy hair. I’d never seen Tristan Crowder with a single strand out of place until the cave, and I want to tell him he looks so much better to me when he’s a little wolfy, a little wild, but before I can, he sighs.

“Okay. I owe you an explanation. I knew I did… I just… it was never the right time.” He lets out a hollow laugh. “It’s probably not the right time now, either,” he says, gesturing around us at the cave, “but I need you to know I’m sorry about that. I never meant to hurt you. When I realized that you were my mate, all of the reasons why I couldn’t make you mine popped into my head. And I wanted to. Luna, did I want to… but I couldn’t.”

“Why the fuck not?”

Tristan sinks down so we’re on the same level. “The curse,” he says simply. “It wasn’t broken then. No matter who you were, or why you came to Winter Creek, I could tell you were a she-wolf. The curse would affect you if you were mine. Just like I did Ellie.”

Well. No. It wouldn’t, but despite sensing my wolf, Tristan had no idea I was Luna-touched.

But since he didn’t…

“Okay. But what’s your excuse for how you acted after that?”

“You wanted me to stay away. Running was my first mistake. I didn’t want you to get involved with the curse and… I panicked. Simple as that. I panicked, and by the time I tried to make things right, you were gone.”

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