Page 29 of Rejected Wolf

“I’m sorry,” I groaned,eyes clenched tight. “So, sooooo sorry. Whatever I did to deserve this, I take it back.”

My stomach twisted again, and I shoved my head over the toilet, but there was nothing left in my stomach to purge. Please, let there be nothing left! The queasiness was nothing new. I’d been feeling increasingly off for the past couple weeks. Who could blame me with all the stress I was under. I missed Jude more than I could stand, and then there was this creeper creeping outside my apartment! Trapped inside, no exercise, no sunshine. It was enough to make anyone sick. This morning, though, it took a severe turn for the worse.

My skin was clammy, and the room spun around me in a dizzying kaleidoscope every time I opened my eyes. My knees were killing me from kneeling on the hard tile, butmy legs were too shaky to stand even if I wanted to. And as if that wasn’t enough, a knocking sound began to ricochet inside my brain.

As the rhythmic knocking got louder, though, I realized it wasn’t my imagination. Someone was knocking on the door.

“Go away,” I mumbled into the toilet bowl. “Can’t you see I’m busy?” It was probably Eric, sick of waiting for me to emerge from my lair.

Whoever it was didn’t go away, though. In fact, the knocking shifted to a more insistent rapping, then to a loud thumping. Just because my rent was paid up, that didn’t mean Al wouldn’t evict me for noise complaints.

“Leave me alone!” I shouted in the general direction of the door, but that made my stomach clench, and stomach acid burned the back of my throat. I coughed and sputtered into the toilet, even as the banging continued in the background.

There was a loud cracking sound of splintering wood, followed by a slam and stomping footsteps. “What the fuck?” I stumbled onto my ass as I turned to see Jude filling the doorway behind me. His lips were turned into a hard frown, but his green eyes just looked sad and dull, drained of light. I squinted up at him. “Am I hallucinating?” Ohshit, whatever illness I had was spreading. Was it cancer? Was I dying?

Things just got stranger as Jude knelt beside me. “Oh, precious. I’m so sorry.”

Well, if this was a hallucination, then I was going to enjoy it while it lasted. “You don’t have anything to be sorry for,” I said, more than half delirious. I should’ve been worried about my greasy hair, unshowered pits, or my rank barf breath, but since it wasn’t real, I allowed myself to lean on his shoulder, sighing in sweet relief. “I’ve missed you so much.”

“I’ve missed you too. I’m so, so sorry for staying away. I should’ve been here to take care of you. I didn’t know. But I should’ve realized that of course humans don’t go into heat.”

Heat? He was speaking gibberish, but I couldn’t bring myself to care because for the first time in weeks, my stomach felt a little better. I sighed. “I really wish you were real so I could ask for a glass of water.”

Jude shifted me to sitting up, then I heard the tap running, and he came back with a cup of water, tilting it to my lips. The water was blissfully cold, soothing my dry lips. I took a deep breath and truly looked at the man in front of me. “You’re really here, aren’t you?”

“Of course I am, and I’m never leaving you again.” That sounded pretty good to me.

He leaned over the edge of the tub to turn on the shower, tested the water, and when he’d decided it was right, he scooped me up off the floor and walked straight into the shower with me, clothes and all. The shower curtain wasn’t shut, and water sprayed out across the floor.

I squealed and struggled weakly, my t-shirt and pajama pants quickly soaking through. “Put me down!”

“No,” he said in such a way that left no room for arguing. He huffed, burying his nose into the crook of my neck and inhaling deeply. “You smell so good.”

I scoffed, threading my fingers through his hair, fully intending to push him away but somehow pulling him closer instead. “Yeah, right. You’re definitely not from around here if you think that. I probably smell like I’ve been wallowing on my couch for the past three weeks.”

He drew back and looked down at me with confusion. “Is that a bad thing?”

Laughing, I reached up and cupped his cheek. “Oh, my sweet alpha. It’s only bad if you don’t like it.”

“Well… I love it.” He leaned in to kiss me, but I turned my head to the side.

“Nope, nuh-uh. Absolutely no kissing until after I’ve brushed my teeth, so if you’d put me down, I can take care of that.”

Grumbling under his breath, Jude reluctantly set me down, my sodden clothes squishing. When I started pulling my shirt off, his hands were suddenly there pushing mine out of the way. “Arms up,” he instructed, and I did, holding my arms over my head as he stripped my shirt off. He quickly shucked his own clothes, throwing everything across the bathroom to land in the sink with a wetthwap, then he crouched in front of me and pulled my flannel pants down.

Jude’s eyes were at crotch height, and it really didn’t help the situation that the image he portrayed, on his knees in front of me, his cock standing straight up against his stomach, had my dick plumping up immediately. His breath stuttered, and he looked up at me through his lashes. “What about this kind of kissing? Is that allowed?”

I groaned, thoroughly regretting all the time I’d spent loafing around lately. Why oh why did I have to neglect my hygiene? “No,” I moaned, pouting. “Let me at least lather up a little first before you put your mouth anywhere on my body.”

I reached around and grabbed the bar from the soap dish and began to rub it between my hands, but Jude was still on his knees. He held a hand out for the soap. “Allow me.”

“Oh… okay.” An electric thrill ran through me as I passed him the soap. His eyes were locked on mine, and he didn’t look away, even as he lathered up his hands and placed his palms on my thighs.

I’d never showered with someone before, and the intimacy of it was shocking. We’d already had sex, but that had been rushed, to the point that I really hadn’t had time to process it all. Now, though, all I had was time to overthink.

“Have I told you how sorry I am?” he asked, his thumbs teasing along the inside of my thighs, and my balls drew up tight in reply.

Blood was rushing south so fast that I felt lightheaded, and I set my palm on the wet tiles, bracing myself. I was pretty sure I nodded. “Uh, yeah, yes.”

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