Page 56 of The Strongest Wolf

13

SIERRA

With my hair mostly dry already, I wave off Galen’s offer of a towel and drop into the couch in our cabin. “So, when do you leave?”

Galen settles beside me. “What makes you think I’m going anywhere?”

His expression tightens a little, not much, but enough.

You hurt him.

Reaching over, I grab his hand and squeeze so he knows this isn’t me trying to get rid of him. That I wouldn’t let him go at all if I didn’t have to. The tension in his face eases, and he smiles a little. I smile back. “Dom wouldn’t be so desperate to get hold of you if things were going well back in New York. And I’m guessing whatever is happening is serious enough that he needs you.”

“There are some issues.”

I raise my eyebrow. “Issues?”

He tugs my hand. “Come here.”

I eye the small bit of space separating us on the cream fabric couch. “Why?”

“Do you ever do anything without being given a reason first?” he asks. The hint of a smile curving his lips tells me he doesn’t mind it one bit.

“Nope. I need a reason. A good one.”

“How about me wanting to hold you? Is that a good enough reason?”

I wish he wouldn’t say things like that when I know he’s going to be leaving, and there’s a possibility he won’t be back.

“Sierra?”

Blinking myself back into sharp focus, I smooth away any hint of how devastating it would be if he didn’t return. From the frown creasing Galen’s brow, once again it looks like he can read me a lot better than I can him.

I move closer, not stopping until I’m straddling his thighs. When he has me where he wants me, he grips my hips and peers into my eyes. “I’ll be back in a few days.”

I drape my arms around his shoulders. “What’s happening?” The pause before he speaks has me glaring. “Galen, tell me.”

He heaves a sigh. “Dom has been dealing with some uninvited guests these last few days.”

I search his expression. “Shifters?”

He nods. “Shifters.”

Trust him to make it sound like he’s dealing with bed bugs or a roach infestation.

“And I’m guessing these uninvited guests were only too happy to take advantage of the fact you weren’t there because you were babysitting me,” I tell him, surprising myself with how good a job I do at hiding my bitterness from him.

His expression doesn’t shift at all, but when he springs from the couch, I grab onto his shoulders, eyes wide with alarm. “Galen? Where are you going?”

He doesn’t say a word. It isn’t until he aims his body toward the bed that I realize what he has in mind. I raise an eyebrow. “Sex? Really? Now.”

I don’t manage to swallow my yelp when he tosses me on the bed, my back smacking against the mattress. Before I can move or voice one of the many curses filling my head, he’s on top of me, yanking at my shirt, his focus on his busy hands. “Nope. This is something else.”

Trying to attract his attention goes nowhere, so I grip his head with both hands and yank. “Then why,” I bite out, “are you so eager to take my clothes off?”

After lifting his gaze to mine, he pierces me with a hard stare. “You only ever seem to listen to me when we’re naked and in this bed. So that’s what we’re doing.”

While I’m distracted figuring out if he’s being serious, he goes right back to peeling my shirt off me. So I flop back on the bed and refuse to budge.

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