Page 22 of Wolf Tamer

Even in her half-out-of-it state, she manages to sound scornful at the admittance, and… what?

Her confession shocks me more than the mention of truth serum, and for a long moment I can only breathe.

“You care about me,” I repeat, more for my benefit than for hers.

She nods. “I’m not sure why it makes them so angry.”

“You sound angry about it too.”

A sleepy grunt is my only answer.

“Oh, no. Not yet. You’re not going anywhere yet, Tash.”

Because I need to keep her awake so nothing happens to her. I shake my head.She cares about me. This woman, who had onlyjustvowed to kill me. Or at least, reserved the right to kill me in the future. Stunned pleasure turns my blood to fire, and I wonder if she even realizes what she said out loud. What she admitted to me without the truth serum in her veins any longer.

One of these days, I’m going to make her admit it to me when she’s completely lucid. That way, I’ll be able to look her in the face and see the truth of the statement there.

“I’m glad you made it out, Tash.” I trace my finger along her forehead, pushing sweat slicked hair aside. “You did it.”

“No.” Her voice drops low into a moan. “Youdid it, Reid. I’d be… fried right now, if you hadn’t shown up for me.”

“Tasha?” I whisper, sliding a finger across her lips. A soft rush of air escapes, but she doesn’t make another move, too out of it to understand what’s going on.

I want to kiss her more than I want to draw my next breath because,fuck, I remember how she tastes. And lying there beside her, with her eyes closed, she looks peaceful in a way she rarely does when fully awake.

It’s unnatural of the woman I’ve gotten to know. She’s like me. We’re too torn up inside, too traumatized by our past and the secrets and burdens we struggle to handle, to have these tension-free moments.

“What happened after they gave you the truth serum?” I ask instead, partially to slake my own curiosity and partially to keep her talking.

Plus, she’s too vulnerable right now for me to kiss her, no matter how badly my body and my wolf urge me to do exactly that. She won’t even remember any of this, more than likely. Once she’s had a chance to rest and recuperate, then this entire conversation will disappear into dream territory.

Clearing my throat, I shift closer but turn my attention from those pouty lips of hers.

I can taste her later.

“They…” she starts.

She cares about me, after all. The thought brings with it glee and regret because I know things will get that much harder for us. I let out a soft, choking sort of chuckle. Harder? Hell. Who am I trying to kid? My wolves will never accept Tasha as my mate, and she’ll probably regret telling me anything in ten minutes. She’s spent her entire life on her own, and a few days in my arms isn’t going to make her change her mind.

“Talk to me, Tash. Talk to me,” I urge when she falls quiet.

“They… threw me into a cell. With runes to keep me from using my magic.”

“You? Use magic?” I ask dubiously. I know she comes from a line of coven witches, but she’s never used her powers in front of me before. “I thought you only had your invisibility.”

“A-Apparently I’ve got more.”

She speaks haltingly, and although she doesn’t open her eyes again, at least I know she’s conscious. She’s awake, reducing the risk of a concussion. I searched her for serious injuries during her cleaning, but I found none outside of the small bump to the back of her head. The area has swollen to the size of a half-dollar perhaps; nothing I’d really worry over. I’m more concerned about her pushing her magic to the limit.

The power she hadn’t thought she could use, if her story is anything to go by.

“What happened?”

“There were sparks, Reid,” she says drowsily. “I made stars when I wasn’t supposed to make them. M-Mae warded the cell against magic, but I still made sparks of it come to life.”

Her admission settles heavily on me, and I wonder at everything that happened. Powers that Tasha has never managed to use before, now showing themselves in a place where she supposedly isn’t able to use magic—

No wonder Mae wanted her.

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