Page 33 of Married into the Mob
The car’s engine strained under the stress Odell was putting it under, and one or both of them might break if we continued like this. I was less worried about the car than my mate. Not concerned about the damned car at all except it and Odell were heroes.
But if I dealt with this in the wrong way… but what was the right one?
“Odell, you’re doing so well. I’m so proud of you, but how about we take a break.” I kept my tone low and even. “If we pull over, we can have something to eat and drink.”
Nothing. The car continued plowing along the country road, the scenery outside zipping past in a blur.
“We’re safe. Those guys are not following us thanks to you. As you said, we left them in a cloud of dust.”
Did we?My wolf was confused.
It’s an expression.
The wind whistled past the vehicle as Odell’s breathing came in little spurts and starts.
“The poor old car needs a little break. Might need to top up the radiator with water.” My voice was no louder but firmer than before.“Dellie, can you slow down?”
Using the pet name his aunt called him, I hoped he might respond. Maybe I needed to reconsider wrenching the steering wheel out of his control.
His eyes flickered, just for a second, and his breathing altered. Not the sputtering, shallow breathing of before, but deeper and slower.
“You got us out of a situation that I couldn’t because I didn’t have the skill. But now, let’s take a break. You did the hard part, and I’ll do the easy bit.”
His clenched fingers released this grip on the steering wheel, and he removed his foot from the gas. His body started shaking and convulsing with heart-wrenching sobs.
I put an arm around his shoulder and placed a hand on top of his. “You did so good.” I helped steer the car onto the shoulder and yanked at what I hoped was the hand brake. The end came off, and Odell burst out laughing. Not a laugh that wrappedaround my heart and brought me joy. The sound was manic and unfamiliar from the man in the driver’s seat.
Racing around to the driver’s side, I opened the door, my arms outstretched. But he ignored my offer of a hug. Instead, he pulled in huge ragged breaths between intermittent cries. His shoulders shook, and he scrunched up his face, his eyes shedding huge tears.
His gaze aligned on my face, and he threw himself into my arms. Time must have passed as I held him, but it took an age for his cries to quieten. I whispered it’d be okay over and over while brushing a hand over his hair.
Pulling him out of the car, I picked him up, and he clung to me. Maneuvering the back door open, I grabbed a water bottle and a packet of candy. Not the best choice of food, but he was in shock and needed sugar.
I carried Odell off to the side and sat on the grass, him on my lap. Tipping the water bottle, he gulped huge mouthfuls, some of it dribbling onto his clothes. I offered him a piece of sugary candy, and he sucked it and asked for another.
“Want something more substantial to eat?”
He nodded, but when I tried to get up, he clung to me, so I scooped him up and we sat in the back seat, devouring a slapped-together sandwich of bread and cheese with a side of strawberries.
The fruit juice skidded over his chin, and he took my hand and wiped it off with my fingers. He giggled, and I stiffened, thinking he might be going into shock again.
“That tickles.”
If we’d been anywhere else and had been getting to know one another, I would have counted that as a step toward him maybe liking me. We were a long way from being mates, but tiny steps.
You are mated. My beast was stickler for the rules.
Yes, but we’re mates in name only. I should have asked Flint and Ranger how they overcame their mates’ anger and fear at being kidnapped and made the leap to their humans falling in love.
Too late now, though when we reached the cabin, I’d have to let Flint know we’d been compromised. Could Draven have gotten the information from Stefan? But when we’d been discussing the plan, he’d been in the other room and the doors were soundproofed. I tried to recall what we’d said before moving to the monitoring room.
“I didn’t know I could do that. Pretending to be a stunt driver.”
This was the first time Odell had referred to the incident since we escaped those goons.
“There was no pretense. You were amazing. I couldn’t have done it.”
He giggled again. “You’re a crap driver, at least with a stick shift.”
