Page 25 of Oath of Revenge

His aura was stronger today, and though he moved stiffly, he seemed fever free. Or rather, his swirling blue and gray auras were healthier.

But the way his golden eyes had looked up at her when she’d pinned him, like he was just toying with her and letting her have the upper hand...

Her core clenched at the memory, and her legs shifted restlessly. He’d been so solid between her legs, with muscles in all the right places.

A shiver raced through her body as she finished her food. There was no time for that kind of dalliance, especially with a Growler who’d just as soon kill her as fuck her.

The memory of racing through the woods last summer with Eirwyn, Growlers on their heels, made her squirm with unease. She hated feeling weak and vulnerable, but she had to remind herself who and what he was.

It was time to get him healed and send him home, but she couldn’t do that without answers from Olive.

Scarlet set her fork down a little too hard and crossed her arms. “Well? I’ve eaten, so will you tell me what you’re avoiding now?”

Olive wiped her mouth with a napkin and glanced at the Growler. “Very well, clear the table and bring a chair to the hearth while I visit the washroom.”

Scarlet rolled her eyes at the delay tactic, but did as she was told. She took their empty plates to the sink, but when she spun around, the Growler blocked her way.

Her mouth dropped open in surprise. It wasn’t often that someone could sneak up on her. She hadn’t even heard him get up.

His human legs were covered in that soft layer of gray and black fur, his thighs as thick as tree trunks. He was huge, a head taller than her own petite frame, wide as an oak, and just as solid. Her gaze drifted over his stomach muscles, her mouth watering as she looked up, avoiding looking at his crotch.

He glanced from her eyes down to her lips. Even with bandages wrapped around his shoulder and ribs, pinning one arm to his side, he exuded strength and vitality.

She sucked in a deep breath, and her tongue grew thick in her mouth. He smelled like grass and warmth, of a warm fire and safety. She wanted to melt into his embrace, even as the hair on the back of her neck stood.

He was a Growler. He was dangerous, unpredictable, a killer.

Her mind told her no, but her body swayed toward him as her eyes wandered. Her gaze dipped down to his lips, then her head jerked up, meeting his golden gaze.

Eyes crinkling in the corners, he smiled a wide, toothy grin as he leaned his one free hand on the counter behind her, caging her in and setting his empty plate down. “What’s the matter, Red? Cat got your tongue?”

“You–you’re naked,” she said, fighting back a mewl of surrender and straightening her spine, chin tipped up as she gripped the edge of the counter behind her for support. Her hands wanted to reach out and touch him, but she held back, warring with herself.

Snap out of it, Scarlet!

“All the better to seduce you, my dear.”

Her core responded like the hussy it was, but she frowned. “What?”

He wiggled his brows. “Do the smaller ears make you hard of hearing? If that’s the case, just look down. The captain is eager to meet you.”

She gasped and slid to the left, finding herself trapped in the corner of the kitchen, back against the medicine cabinet. “I’m not hard of hearing. And I’m not going to look down at—wait, did you say captain?”

His brows furrowed in confusion, then he shrugged. “So I did. Don’t ask why, because I have no idea.”

She blinked. He called his dick a captain but didn’t know why? She had so many questions, but so did he apparently, as he turned to the sink and put his plate in the soapy water.

He took a shallow breath with a wince at the movement.

“What are you doing? Your knuckles are still raw and swollen.”

He flexed his hand in the soapy water, his Growler nose twitching. “I know, but I thought I’d clean up after myself, so you wouldn’t think I was uncivilized. I used to be human, you know, and not incompetent. But I can’t seem to clean this one-handed.”

She crossed her arms, trying to create a barrier between them. She wouldn’t let him know she was rattled at the size of his... She swayed closer and panic made her stomach twist. “Tell someone who cares, Growler.”

She scurried to the hearth and grabbed the blanket that had covered him before, ignoring how he made her body ache in places that had long since lost interest elsewhere. The hair on the back of her neck stood up, as if reminding her not to taunt him and turn away.

But she just tossed the blanket at him as he walked slowly back to the fire. The damned Growler walked on his wobbly feet past her, limping slighting, his ass rippling with muscles that she wanted to bite into. She kept track of him out of the corner of her eye as he wrapped the blanket around his waist.

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