Page 35 of Redeemed Wolf

A faint buzzing soundwoke me. Opening my eyes, my gaze was drawn straight to where my phone was lying on the bedside table, the screen lit up with an incoming call. I didn’t remember putting it there, so I assumed Silas had. I could barely lift my head to see who was calling, but I didn’t need to. I knew it was my dad, just like I knew this wasn’t the first time he’d called.

I blinked in the gloom, the sun’s rays doing their level best to force their way around the curtain. I had no idea what time it was, but it felt late. The light had that warmer filter to it, like afternoon was approaching. How long had I slept?

I was grateful when my phone stopped ringing, and my eyes drifted shut again. I sank a little deeper into the pillow, tugging the blanket up to my chin. The fabric was drenched in Silas’s scent, and I buried my nose into it, breathing deep.

I had a vague recollection of him sleeping beside me, his body curled protectively around mine. The bed had gone long cold, though, and the apartment was quiet.

When the phone rang again, I decided it would probably be best if I answered it. He would just keep calling, and the last thing I needed was him calling the cops to report me missing. He would probably force me into moving back home.

I groaned as I reached for the phone, then answered it and tucked it under my ear against the pillow so I didn’t have to hold it. “Hey, Dad,” I managed to say, though my throat was so dry that it came out like a croak.

“Carter! Where the hell are you? What happened?” He sounded frantic, and I felt bad for making him worry. “Silas said he saw you at work yesterday and that you were sick, but your car is still in the parking lot. All the worst-case scenarios flashed through my head.”

“I didn’t mean to make you worry. I’m fine, Dad. Well, no, I’m not exactly fine. Silas was right, I got super sick at work. But don’t worry, he made sure I got home okay. I was too sick to drive, so he gave me a ride.” No need to tell him whose home he took me to.

Right on cue, Dad slipped into scientist mode, with a side of overprotective father. “What are your symptoms? Is it the new medication? Do you need me to come over?”

Sighing, I outlined what I’d been feeling last night, as best as I could remember, but it was all a bit of blur now. “Fever and chills, foggy brain. I doubt it was the meds. I probably just have the flu. It’s okay, though. After I essentially slipped into a coma, I feel much better.”

“Acoma?!” he screeched through the phone, and I suppressed a chuckle. “I can’t tell if you’re kidding or not.”

“I’m kidding,” I assured him, before a yawn had my jaw popping. “I just feel like I need to sleep another day or two and I’ll be all better.”

He paused for a second, and I could so easily picture the look on his face as he tried to stuff down his smothering tendencies.“Are you sure? I can stop by on the way home tonight with dinner if you’d like.”

“No, don’t bother. I might be contagious. I’ll just order some takeout whenever I get hungry.”

“Okay, if you’re sure…”

“I am. Go back to work. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”

We said a quick goodbye, and then as I swore I was going to get out of bed to empty my bladder, I found myself falling back to sleep instead. I must’ve been fighting off a doozy of a bug if I was this tired. I hoped I didn’t get Silas sick…

When I woke up again, it was getting dark outside. I could hear movement inside the apartment, and there was this amazing smell that had my stomach growling in complaint. Had I really not eaten for a full 24 hours?

I threw back the blanket and pushed myself up shakily to a sitting position. The room swam around me, but I desperately needed to pee. When I went to get up, though, I looked down at my body. “Oh.” I was naked. Had I slept beside Silas like this all night?

Opening the top drawer of his dresser, I grabbed the first article of clothing I touched. It turned out to be a flannel button-up pajama shirt, and though it smelled like clean laundry, I swore I could still detect the faintest whiff of Silas’s scent lingering in the fabric. I slid my arms into the sleeves and lifted it to my face, breathing him in. It was the strangest thing, but I swore it cleared my head a little.

Buttoning it up quickly, I cracked the bedroom door open, squinting in the bright light coming from the rest of the apartment. I tiptoed across to the bathroom and quickly peed. As I was washing my hands, my eyes drifted to the bathtub behind me in the reflection. Wait… did he give me a bath last night? That was… intimate. The thought brought heat to mycheeks, but this time it wasn’t a fever but a good, old-fashioned swoon.

When I left the bathroom, Silas called to me. “Hungry?”

Creeping down the hall, I peeked around the corner into the kitchen to find Silas standing in front of the stove still wearing his guard’s uniform, stirring something in a pot.

“That smells amazing,” I whispered. Why did I feel shy around him? We’d had sex, for gods’ sakes, not to mention him taking care of me.

Silas shrugged. “It’s nothing fancy, just leftover soup. I made it last night, but by the time it was ready, you were fast asleep, and I didn’t want to wake you.”

I smiled softly. “Thank you, by the way. For bringing me home, for… the bath.”

“It was nothing.” He couldn’t meet my eyes, and I had to think it was more than nothing to both of us. It was decidedlysomething. “Come have a seat at the table and I’ll bring you a bowl of soup.”

As I left the safety of the hallway and headed for the table, I could feel the moment Silas registered what I was wearing. His gaze left a path of heated flesh as he raked down my body to where my ass was just barely covered. “My shirt looks good on you,” he said, his voice gravelly as he followed behind me, bowl in hand.

I lowered into a seat and accepted the bowl and spoon he offered me. “Sorry I borrowed it without asking. I didn’t know where my clothes had disappeared to.”

“I put them through the wash. You sweated straight through them.” He went back to the kitchen for his own bowl, then returned to join me, sitting beside me instead of the chair across. “And for the record, you can borrow my clothes anytime you want.”

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