Page 51 of Wolf

“What do we have here?” the guy rumbles, washing his hands at the sink.

Wolf looks down at me again and I search his gray eyes before he raises his brow. “What hurts, baby girl?”

He’s so, well, handsome that it should be a crime and closing my eyes, I lean against his warm chest as I say, “My head.”

“What happened?” the guy asks, and I feel the air around me displace as he steps up behind me. This man is probably around my granddaddy’s age with wisps of bright white hair around histemples. A roadmap of lines paints his mouth but it’s the twinkle in his eyes that eases me as I whimper, “When?”

Between my parents’ punishment and everything else going on, I’m walking a thin line, but I hate that it’s Wolf who’s here when I feel my walls breaking down.

Wolf brushes a strand of hair from my face, and I meet his beautifully stern stare as he says, “What the hell were you doing?”

Technically, I was about to kiss Maddox, but I have no idea how that little bit of information will go down. Instead, I poke his chest and say, “Your girlfriend doesn’t like me.”

Despite the rattle in my brain, my skin still tingles under his touch, when he flattens my fingers against his chest. I can’t contain my shiver as he rasps, his gray eyes boring into mine, “I don’t have a girlfriend.”

“Does she know that?” I mumble with a tingle of awareness.

“They all do,” he says, and I deflate. All? As inplural?

Any pleasure I felt at the possibility of him being single dies an ugly death under his painful words and pushing away from his chest, I avoid his gaze. Does he know how he affects me?

“Sit still,” he rasps, tightening his hold. Only the bulge growing against my backside inspires me to pause and I raise wide eyes to him. When he arches a brow and smirks, a rush of tingles joins the ache forming down there and I hide my heated cheeks behind the veil of my hair.

“Enough,” he grumbles. “What were you doing at the track? I told you to stay away.”

Before I can respond, the other man grabs my chin and pulls my head around. I shrink away at that, but he merely holds up a small penlight.

When he cocks his head, I nod and ease back against Wolf’s chest while he shines the light in my eyes.

I can’t contain my wince though and I shiver when Wolf growls, “Doc.”

“Relax,” Doc says with a wink for me as he studies the bruise on my forehead.

“Lilli?” Wolf prompts and ignoring the warning in his tone, I say, “I’m in trouble.”

When he stiffens, his arms tensing around me, I bite back a whimper because, despite the throb in my skull, the competing one in my pantsburns. If I didn’t know what he thinks of me, I would assume he’s torturing me on purpose.

“How can that be?” Wolf says. “You’re…”

“I’m what?” I ask, pulling away from Doc to glare at him.

His stare bores holes into my skull as he says, “You’re the reverend’s daughter.”

“So, I what? Don’t know how to have fun,” I say, pushing from his arms and standing to move away. I know what he thinks. I know what everyone thinks but they’re wrong…dammit.

While Doc backs up with an amused grin, Wolf sighs and stands before pacing away. I study the curve of his lips before bowing my head because this isn’t about me and what my parents will do. I’m bringing trouble tohisdoor, and I see the worry painting his features.

Finally, he looks up and says, “If you stayed home like you were told, there wouldn’t be any trouble.”

Seriously? Slamming my hand on my hip, I toss my head, which is a mistake and hiss, “Iwashome, sort of.”

His nostrils flare and he opens his mouth but Doc rushes into the breach, saying with his hands before him, “Okay, how about you explain what kind of trouble you’re in?”

Eyeing Wolf with a frown, I ignore the painful pulse in my chest and say, “The sheriff arrested Darcy and her mama…he’s coming for you.”

I can’t tell if he’s mad at me, and I’m uneasy in the face of this new, fiercer Wolf who stares at me like he hopes I might spontaneously combust if he glares long enough.

This makes my confession much more painful to admit because I know it was stupid to let my wants get in the way of everyone’s safety. Turning my head, I avoid his stern gaze as I say, “They arrested them for prostitution and now, you…”

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