Page 49 of Bait Wolf
Coal looked at me, gaze filled with so much regret that it was almost funny. Almost.
“Itisimportant,” he agreed. “If I don’t find Asha by Sunday night, I’ll have to have the money ready on Monday morning.”
“Then let’s get home so you can talk to her.”
Sighing, Coal dragged himself away from me.
I climbed into the car, taking my seat next to him on the comfortable leather.
It was hard not to watch him while he drove. I was trying not to be too disappointed at the interruption. It was ridiculous the way I wanted sex so bad. I had never been like this. Sex had always been easy to come by and satisfying but not mind blowing. But there was just something about the way Coal felt against me. His touches seemed to go deeper than skin. It was almost spiritual.
I swallowed, aware what that meant. Yet again, I was blown away that this had happened to me, especially after our recent conversation, which made my past feel so fresh.
I’d gone from the bottom of the barrel to one of the lucky few who had found his soulmate.
“I’ll just be a few minutes,” Coal said as we entered the house.
He already had his phone in his hand, but he bolted the door behind me and went through the rooms, making sure that nothing was amiss.
“I don’t think we’ll have two break-ins in one day, right?” I asked, trailing after him.
After checking behind the last bath curtain, he turned and swept me into another of those all-encompassing hugs. He pressed his nose into my hair.
“Best to be sure,” he said and pressed a kiss to the top of my head. “Why don’t you go watch TV while I deal with this?”
I nodded, watching as he walked to the office, sealing the door behind himself without a backward glance.
My stomach squirmed with unease as I realized that Coal only had until tomorrow night to get Asha back on his own, yet he had spent most of the day with me. I was too much of a distraction.
ChapterEighteen
Ember
Hours later, Coal was still locked away upstairs in his office. I knew; I kept casually walking by the door, unable to help myself.
Despite myself, I was hoping that one of the times I passed, the door would open, and Coal would pull me in to hold and reassure me.
Ugh, what is wrong with me?
I had been so ready to get away, but now a life of solitude in the wilderness didn’t seem as appealing as a life with my mate did. It was alarming to me how quickly I was abandoning my desire to escape expectations and just be free. Yet, I wanted this to work out. I wanted to see what life would be like with Coal. Not because he was a fighter, and rich, but because he was everything I thought couldn’t be real. It was like he was made for me. All my deeply buried wishes were there in that one man who wanted to give me the world.
He didn’t seem to understand though, that I wanted to give him something in return too.
I wanted to give him Asha.
I knew I could find her. I just needed a bit of time.
Coal would never let me, though. He would probably throw a fit if I told him I was going to hide out under bridges and in alleys all night. I understood that too.
That meant I had to be patient and staying out of the way. That was probably the only way he’d actually find her. I was clearly in the way of her search. Coal had been completely preoccupied with me. And I had allowed it.
Frustrated, I went to the bedroom, ready to wash my face and collapse in bed and wait for Coal, but when I caught sight of myself in the mirror, I paused.
I’d barely spared the ones in the bathroom a glance since arriving here and I had been grateful that my small changeroom at the shop hadn’t had one, aside from the large one in the waiting area, which I’d pointedly ignored. I hadn’t wanted to see how bad the new clothes looked on my frail body. I wanted to pretend I didn’t know what I had become.
Now though, I looked into it willingly, allowing what I saw to weigh down on me.
The clothes weren’t as bad as I thought they would be. I looked clean this time, unlike when I’d seen myself before the fight. Some of the shine had already started to return to my long black curls, but they still hung limply. My cheeks weren’t as gaunt either.
