Page 50 of Possessive Mate

The kiss deepened, and suddenly Elena didn’t care about anything save for kissing him back. Her hands rose to his cheeks, and she held him there, kissing him with all of the emotion she had been holding back for so long.

If they hadn’t been in the back of the healer’s shop, things might have gone much further. In fact, with his kiss on her lips, she could barely feel the aches and pains of her injuries. It was as if they didn’t exist when she was in the comfort and protection of his arms. But her beating had been a bad one, and it was most certainly going to take some time for her to heal.

She cringed when Hanson’s hand dropped down to her ribs, reminding her that she did, in fact, have some pretty nasty bruising.

How her pups were safe, she would never know. But she prayed it stayed that way.

Hanson snatched his hand away, his lips following. “Did I hurt you?”

His voice was little more than a growl, and it was clear he was angry with himself.

Elena nuzzled her nose against him, ready to kiss him again as she said, “It’s nothing I can’t deal with.”

Hanson stiffened and gripped her hands, pulling them down gently from his face. “You need to rest.”

Elena was about to argue when someone cleared their throat on the other side of the beaded curtain. A voice followed, “May I come in?”

It was a small relief to know that it was only Layla, but Elena groaned at their being interrupted.

As if he wished to use it as an excuse to stop himself from hurting her, Hanson pulled away and called, “Sure. Come in.”

Elena bared her teeth at him to show her disapproval, and he shot her a playful warning glance as Layla slipped into the back room.

“Sorry to interrupt,” the she-wolf said as she stepped out of the way of the doorway, “but Jack just called looking for you.”

She looked to Hanson as she spoke.

Elena’s heart sank. If Jack was looking for Hanson, then that could mean only one thing—he was needed. And that meant that they were going to have to part ways. She could already see from the tension in Hanson’s shoulders that he had realized the same.

“Does he have need of me?” he grumbled, clearly none too happy.

Layla nodded. “They’ve just returned from their last round-up of the stragglers.”

Elena heard Hanson grind his teeth. He shook his head. “I can’t leave Elena. I’m sure they can manage without me.”

Elena stiffened. As much as she would welcome his remaining close by her side for the rest of eternity, now most definitely wasn’t the time for her to get between him and his pack. If she had any hope of making this work, she had to stay on the right side of the Nightstar wolves.

“You need to go,” she said, reaching out to squeeze hold of Hanson’s forearm. “Don’t worry about me.”

Hanson leaned over and kissed her forehead before he slipped off the bed. He didn’t go any further as he said, “I will always worry about you.”

From the looks of the way Layla eyed the floor, she was at least attempting to give them some privacy. The she-wolf cleared her throat again before she offered, “I’ll stay with her.”

Elena squeezed Hanson’s arm again when he gave no hint of acknowledgement toward the other she-wolf.

“You heard Layla, she’ll stay with me,” she said encouragingly. Faking a yawn, she added, “Besides, like you said, I need to rest.”

Still, Hanson looked reluctant until Elena leaned over, wincing with the pain in her ribs, and hooked hold of his cheek with her hand to pull him back down for another kiss.

Just before her lips touched his, she whispered, “Go, please. I can’t have you falling out with your pack because of me.”

That seemed to reach him, and his lips brushed hers lingeringly before he said, “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

“Please, don’t rush,” Elena said, “I feel like I could sleep for a week.”

She only realized the truth of her words as Hanson left the room. This time, when she yawned, it wasn’t at all fake.

“Can I get you anything?” Layla asked, raising a brow. “A drink, something for pain, another pillow?”

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