Page 45 of The Hidden Falling
“Wow, Josh,” I shake my head at him. “You really woke up and chose violence today.” He opens his mouth, but I’m already lunging at him, tackling him to the dirt floor. The oomph that comes from him is satisfying to my ears. I move and straddle his waist to try and get to his nipples, but his hands grab mine.
“Oh, you think it’s that easy, do you?” His light gray eyes laugh at me and then he shifts his hips. I’m on my back in a flash, and now he’s the one over me. He grabs both my wrists in one of his and attacks my ribs, tickling me.
“Josh!” I squeal at him. “Don’t you dare! Stop it!” I laugh, trying to wriggle away from his fingers. He ducks low and licks the side of my face, laughing at the disgusting sound that comes from me. “You little shit.”
“Little?” he scoffs. “Who is little?” His tickling ramps up, and all I’m able to do is squeal through my laughter at him, gasping for breath. “Tap out, Rhea,” he sings. “You know you want to.”
“Never!” I say breathlessly, screaming as he goes to lick my face again. Dirty bastard. “I don’t want your saliva on me, you overgrown dog.”
He stops tickling me and slowly brings his head back to look down at me. Oops, he didn’t like that. I bite my lip while he looks around for something. I work to release my hands and fail. He reaches past my head, and when I try to see what he’s doing, cold liquid is poured over my face. I splutter, screeching while shaking my head at the coldness as Josh howls with laughter.
“I think you need to cool off, Rhea. Bringing dogs into it?” He tsks at me. “I think you woke up and chose to be too big for your boots.”
“My boots fit me perfectly,” I gasp as he rolls his eyes. “Don’t you bring my boots into this.” I glare at him through the wet strands of my hair. I love my boots. Then I see his fingers going for my ribs again. “Joshy,” I warn, knowing the name will piss him off.
“Am I interrupting something?” a cold voice asks, and Josh’s fingers freeze in their tracks. We both turn our heads and look toward the voice. Darius and Leo stand a little away from us, the former glaring at me and then at Josh.
Well, this is a tad awkward considering the position we are in. It’s a normal occurrence for me and Josh with how many play fights we have, but the Elites don’t know that. I can honestly say that if looks could kill, we may have been taking our last breaths.
Spoilsport.
Josh huffs as he gets off of me, reaching his hand out to help me up. I sigh and place my hand in his, letting him pull me off the ground before gathering my hair and putting it in a quick braid. I give a cheeky kick at Josh’s shin as I turn my back on them all and continue grabbing wood and taking it into the shed.
“Such a child,” I hear Josh mutter under his breath, causing me to smile. “What do you want?” he asks Darius and Leo sharply.
“Some of my Elites can sense that there are females going into heat,” Darius says, and I pause. Still holding logs in my arms, I walk out of the storage shed and step up next to Josh, waiting for Darius to continue as he watches me. “Most are fine, but some of the trainees are struggling. They are already having difficulty controlling their dominance.” He folds his arms and shrugs. “I couldn’t care less about it, but the last thing I want to deal with is my trainees trying to fuck anything in sight while trying to get to your females. I need somewhere to put them for the time being, away from the females.”
Hmm. I tilt my head and study his face. His mouth is set into a tense line, and I see the slightest bit of concern in his pretty green eyes. He says he doesn’t care, but yet he’s coming here to see if he can put those struggling somewhere away from the pack while tensions are high and they could potentially assault my females. My gaze roams over him subtly. From his boots, up his strong, muscular legs to the t-shirt that I secretly wished was tighter, to finally back up to his eyes. I control my startled reaction at seeing his already on mine, and I feel my cheeks heating. Dammit.
I turn away and go back into the shed before I speak. “They can just camp out in the forest, outside of the lilk trees.”
“Is it safe?” Leo asks, and I roll my eyes.
“They have been in The Deadlands for how long? It’s a lot safer in this forest than out there.”
“I can show them where they can camp out,” a new voice adds, and I quickly put the last logs onto the pile and walk out of the shed.
“You could,” I say warily as I look from Kade to Darius, both of them sizing each other up. “I need you for a bit though, we have someone to go and see,” I tell Kade, walking up to him and rubbing my cheek against his in greeting.
“We do?” he asks, his eyes coming to mine.
“Yup.” I go back to the shed and shutting the door. “I’m sure Taylor wouldn’t mind showing them somewhere if we’re back late.”
“He’s out with some Elites searching The Deadlands,” Josh says. “I’ll show them where they can stay for a few days.” I look over at him and smirk, knowing how much he would rather pick up wolf shit than do this, but the pack safety comes first. “Shut it,” he grumbles at me while I flip him off.
“Where are you going?” Darius demands, and I look from him to Leo before I speak.
“To see someone I need to speak to,” I say vaguely. “I’ll catch up with you in a little while Josh. We might miss dinner.” I squeeze his hand as I pass him, Kade following behind. I hear another set of footsteps, and I sigh in frustration before letting out a small growl. “Is there something else I can help you with, Darius?” I don’t even bother turning around to ask him.
“I’m your shadow, little wolf. You should be used to it at this point.” I hear no care in his voice as to whether I like it or not that he’s following me. But he’s right. I do know it. The asshole follows me everywhere. I can barely pee by myself without him lurking nearby.
I’m sure he knows that I’ve sensed him following me around Eridian since he’s been here, he just doesn’t give the slightest fuck. He’s kept his distance, observing and studying as I’ve gone about my daily duties. It’s been strange to feel him at my back, but I can’t say I haven’t got used to it. It’s frustrating, but strangely, comforting to have his presence near.
Even Runa has been feeling more placid within me instead of her usual grumpiness. I don’t think she fears him, but he has some sort of effect on her, and I’m not sure what to feel about that.
Kade lets out a growl besides me as the big man continues to follow us, and I tap him on the arm to knock it off.
“I don’t think you want to try me again. It didn’t end well for you last time,” Darius warns him, and I tense up.
