Page 24 of Stealthy as a Wolf

“Of course,” I muttered, unnerved at how close he was getting to the truth. I shot him a wry smile, feeling myself deflate a little. The man would be dangerous if he ever turned on the charm. Thankfully, he was enough of an ass that I was safe from the likes of him.

“Stop being a dick.” Matty glared up at the tiger, then his expression softened when he turned and looked up at me. “I can manage it myself. Don’t worry about it.”

I glanced down at Matty. Freshly showered, wearing nothing more than a towel, he looked like a different person. Younger. Innocent. Though his body had been honed through years of hardship, the hardened edges I expected to see in his eyes after years in prison was absent.

I only saw concern for me.

Flustered by the jumbled emotions evoked by just looking at him, I lowered my eyes, then gasped when I saw him pinching the edges of his wound together, like he planned to just tape it shut, and my stomach did a slow twist as it somersaulted up into my chest.

“Here, let me do that.” I gently pushed Matty’s hands away, tsking when I got a good look at the gash. It wasn’t as deep as I feared, just enough to make him bleed whenever he moved. The instant my skin came into contact with his, I swore I actually felt him purr. When I peered up at him from under my lashes, I was charmed to see a blush fill his cheeks. The purr was low, almost a broken sound, and I could almost feel his kitten brushing against my fingertips.

Boone snorted when I opened the sewing case, muttering under his breath, “Well played.”

Burke just looked annoyed. “Fix him up while Boone and I get ourselves sorted out.”

Though Burke didn’t have the decency to apologize, I suspected this was the closest I was going to get from the ass. I barely resisted rolling my eyes. For some reason, he thought he could order me around like I was prey. I would’ve protested, but I was right where I wanted to be. “Sure. Okay. Whatever.”

“We don’t have much time.” Burke didn’t move for a second, almost like he didn’t believe me or something. “When the kid’s collar stopped transmitting and the prison couldn’t reach any of the guards, they’d have known something’s wrong. We need to get on the road before they descend on the town.”

When I nodded, he turned away, and I assumed I must have passed some sort of test.

Almost like standing up to him had earned me a tiny bit of his trust.

I watched the twins walk away, so in sync with each other that they moved in tandem. Their steps were in concert, the swing of their arms and the movements of their shoulders matching perfectly. Their lack of clothing only emphasized their similarities, danger practically oozing from their pores.

They were pure predators in human form, the flex and pull of their muscles almost hypnotizing. It should have scared me—they were dangerous, not only to my safety but my mental health as well—yet I couldn’t seem to work up the energy to give a fuck.

It was only when they disappeared into the bathroom that I turned away with a sigh of appreciation…and came face-to-face with Grady. He shot me a wry smile, clearly amused by my reaction. I waited for the cruel taunts, but he just turned away and began gathering supplies.

Which left me relatively alone with Matty. I glanced down at him, trying to be as objective as possible, but it was hard when it looked like he was wearing a washcloth around his waist instead of a full towel.

It barely covered all the good bits.

Not that I was complaining.

But my rambling thoughts stalled when I saw the bloodstained edges of the towel. Tightening my lips, I looked down at the sewing kit to see what I had to work with. “Why don’t you get comfortable while I get the needle and thread ready?”

I was relieved to discover that the case was an actual suture kit, and I quickly threaded the needle. What I didn’t expect when I looked back was to find Matty was lying down, stretching himself out along the couch. The towel had shifted even higher, barely covering his privates.

And the longer I stared, the higher the towel rose. When I snapped my attention back up to his face, his expression was a cross between bashful and rueful.

I raised my eyebrows. “That’s some magic act.”

He burst out laughing, then grimaced and clutched his side. Tension dispelled, I gingerly sat at the edge of the couch cushion, scooting close enough that my hips touched his thigh. I inspected the five-inch wound, then winced when he flinched. “Sorry! It’s hard to see with all of the blood.”

“Don’t worry about it.” His smile was more of a grimace, and he grabbed the edge of the towel, mopping up the blood. The knot holding the towel in place slowly unraveled, and I froze when the edges flirted with the bottom of his undercarriage.

He chuckled, a twinkle entering his green eyes. “But if you keep looking at me like that, you’ll be treated to the full magic act.”

I snorted, barely holding back my smile. I expected to feel embarrassed about my curiosity, but I was charmed by the faint blush that dusted his cheeks. “Maybe I like magic.”

He stilled, then gave me a small smile and relaxed back against the couch. The playful banter eased my discomfort at being so close to a male. For some reason, none of these guys set off my radar like when I was around other men. The four of them actually felt familiar, their scents soothing rather than irritating.

I hunched forward, grimacing when I pinched the edges of his wound together and slid the needle into his flesh. He didn’t even flinch, and the tightness in my gut eased. It didn’t take long before the wound was stitched shut.

When I leaned back to look at the neat stitches, I cracked up laughing. “I’m done. No need to wave the white flag.”

Matty glanced down, then snorted when he saw his cock proudly upright, the white towel waving in surrender. “Sorry, it’s been a long time. Prison doesn’t have much of an active dating scene.”

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