Page 14 of Honey Heat
“Not yet. Dr. Martinez still doesn’t think he’s well enough to travel.” Boone turned the vents so they would blow the cold air right in his face.
“So, you’re leaving Ethan there… in wolf territory… with no backup?” Wyatt not only sounded shocked, but suspicious, like maybe Boone had lost his damn mind.
Sure felt like it. He was trusting a wolf to protect his son. The heat must’ve fried his brain. “I got that covered. I’ll tell you about it when I see you.”
After ending the call, Boone thought about the interaction between Lucio and Ethan. It wasn’t about species. Boone wasn’t closed-minded about a wolf and bear being sweet on each other. At least not much.
But Ethan was his to protect. Boone had already lost his wife and was determined to keep his cub safe.
The thought of Lucio taking advantage of Ethan’s innocence made Boone’s jaw clench.
Even if his son had never looked at anyone the way he gazed at Lucio, Boone couldn’t get his cub out of wolf territory fast enough.
Chapter Four
It was insane how much Ethan thought of Lucio. Was that normal? The wolf had only been gone for two hours. Ethan shouldn’t be missing him this badly.
His gaze slid to Raphael, a wolf shifter Lucio had tasked with guarding Ethan. Although the guy was nice, he wasn’t Lucio.
Gah! Ethan wished he had his phone. He needed to call his best friend. By now Stewart would’ve heard that Ethan had been found and was recovering, but Stewart would still be losing his mind.
Plus, Ethan needed to talk to him about Lucio. The wolf shifter confused him and made butterflies erupt in Ethan’s stomach whenever he was near.
Ethan lay still, eyes fixed on the ceiling tiles as rain tapped against the clinic’s roof in a restless rhythm. Even through thick walls and sterilized air, the storm crept in. He could smell the sharp bite of ozone, taste it like metal on his tongue.
A low rumble echoed in the distance. His body went rigid.
Thunderstorms had never bothered him before, but ever since the accident that had taken his mom’s life…
The heart monitor beside him stuttered into a faster rhythm, each beep echoing the panic crawling up his spine. Ethan squeezed his eyes shut, chest rising and falling in quick, shallow bursts.
For a moment, he wasn’t in a clinic bed at all. He was back in the car, rain blurring the windshield, tires skimming water. His mother’s voice, gentle and calm, echoed through his memory.
The windshield wipers were set on high, and even from the backseat, Ethan could see how useless they were. Rain blurred everything into streaks, and the storm was only getting worse.
Thunder cracked like the sky was angry, lightning tearing jagged veins of fury across the clouds. Each time the sky lit up, Ethan saw the river climbing higher, water slamming against the banks like it was trying to break free.
“We just need to cross the bridge, baby,” his mom said, forcing a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes. “The water’s still below it. We’ll be home in no time.”
But halfway across, Ethan spotted it. A fallen tree, thick and gnarled, rushing toward them like a battering ram.
He opened his mouth to scream just as it hit.
The impact was deafening, wood cracking and metal groaning as the bridge lurched beneath them.
Then vanished.
“Osito.” Lucio’s voice was a whisper against the storm, tender as the fingertips stroking Ethan’s cheek. “Look at me, sweetheart. You’re safe. It’s just a dream. Open your eyes.”
Ethan couldn’t answer. His chest heaved in shallow gasps, lungs refusing to cooperate. He shook his head, eyes clenched shut like the dark behind them might be safer than whatever waited in the room.
“Not a fan of thunderstorms?”
The mattress dipped. Then… warmth. Strength. An arm wrapped around him, gathering him close until he was pressed to a solid wall of muscle and heartbeat. Lucio’s body cradled his like a shield, his scent—dark, smoky, unmistakably his—flooded Ethan’s senses.
Lucio began to hum. The tune was unfamiliar, slow and aching, but the sound rippled through his chest like a lullaby forged in thunder. Each vibration bled into Ethan’s bones, untangling the panic knot by knot until all that remained was the heat of Lucio’s skin and the steady rhythm of his heartbeat.
The way Lucio gently rocked him told Ethan this wasn’t the first time the wolf had comforted someone like this. Maybe his sister.
