Page 34 of Perfectly Leashed
“I can handle a cell,” he huffed.
“And what if you don’t make it to that cell, cariño?” What if he ended up like Mike? Dead and discarded in some brush like trash?
“I couldn’t let him hurt you, Luca!” Darcy crossed his arms over his chest. “I don’t know why, but I had a feeling I would never see you again if he put you in that car.”
As out of it as he was, that had been Luca’s thought at the time too. He still didn’t know why those hyenas had targeted him. It could’ve been opportunity and not a specific wolf, but Luca had come close to dying too many times over the last two days. And then Gilmore using that same corpse for his own agenda? Either Mike’s luck, even in death, was really that shitty or something else was going on that was flying under the pack’s radar.
Gilmore wanted the pack out of town, which would never happen.
The hyenas were clearly setting them up. Had the new alpha orchestrated this? Since no one knew who the guy was or his motives, it was a wait-and-see game for now.
“I’m not trying to tell you what to do, lucerito, but I’m also not going to let you become a victim.” His mate was out to give Luca a heart attack. Images of Gilmore killing Darcy looped in his mind. The more he imagined it, the angrier he became. Not at Darcy but Gilmore. “I’m just trying to keep you safe.”
“First off, I know you’re not going to tell me what to do.” Darcy scowled. “Second, if you’ve forgotten that fast, I was trying to protect you.”
“¡Me vas a sacar canas!” Luca threw his hand up in frustration.
“What did you just say to me?” Darcy snapped. “If you’re going to insult me or threaten me, at least let me understand you.”
“You’re going to give me gray hairs.” Luca ran a hand over his head. He needed to calm down. He was normally very cool headed, a thinker, but knowing how badly this could’ve gone…
“Okay.” Darcy held his hands up, palms out. “Let’s defuse here. Deep breaths. I’m fighting hard against that trigger, so we’ll discuss this later. I’m tired and want a shower. So, do you have a brush around this place that I can use to get out the knots in my hair?”
Luca’s anger vanished. Damn it. Whether he wanted to admit it or not, Darcy had him wrapped around his finger. They’d only known each other for three days, and in that short amount of time, Luca had fallen hard for the human.
He couldn’t even stay mad at the guy.
“I’ll go look in the bathroom.” Luca walked away, forcing himself not to picture Darcy naked, with all that water cascading down his slim body, the suds clinging to all that creamy flesh, slowly making a descent toward his cock.
Fuck, he needed to shut those thoughts down because he hadn’t even talked about their bond yet. How Luca’s wolf had chosen him.
Darcy followed him into the bathroom and began to undress. No shyness, nothing. Just started taking off his clothes as if he got naked in front of Luca all the time. He checked the cabinets, fully aware of what Darcy was doing behind him and trying not to make things awkward. But damn it.
Luca curled his hand over the cabinet door, taking in deep breaths. Don’t you dare turn around and drool all over him.
“Here we go.” He grabbed the brush. When he turned, he nearly dropped it. Darcy was completely naked, looking at Luca as if being nude was no big deal to him. It wasn’t among shifters, but Darcy wasn’t a shifter.
He was Luca’s mate, and Luca would have to be dead not to be attracted to Darcy and turned on by the length of his nude body.
“Give me the brush.” Darcy held out his hand. “Or did you want to brush it for me?”
The little shit had to know what he was doing. A light blush stole across Darcy’s cheeks as he waited for an answer.
Clearing his throat, Luca turned and closed the cabinet, giving himself time to breathe.
“Do you have a brush or not?”
Why did he sound much closer, as though he stood right behind Luca. Like, almost pressed against him.
Luca closed his eyes. “Darcy, I don’t know what game you’re playing, but be very careful.” He clenched his jaw. “Don’t start something you don’t want to finish.”
“What’re you talking about? I just want my hair brushed.” He moved to stand next to Luca. “Oh, sweet! It’s a detangler brush. Exactly what I needed.”
He flinched when Darcy placed a hand on his back, leaning over to grab it. The touch was pure magic, sending ripples of pleasure through Luca’s body.
“Is something wrong?” Darcy arched a brow. “You look tense.”
Luca muttered to himself before he took a step back. “Do you need me to do it for you?”
