This Dark Wolf (Soul Bitten Shifter #1) - Everly Frost Page 0,85
is otherwise intact.
Tristan observes me with a lazy smile, one arm still resting above his head, the other at his side. “Fuck, I wish you’d chosen option two.”
I laugh, and it feels easy. The longer I stay in his presence, the more I feel an intoxicating liberation, a freedom with my body and mind. “Keep wishing.”
My laughter dies when he twists and rolls me onto my back beneath him, his hips pressing into my thighs. It’s a quick move, like his wolf wanted to pounce, but he keeps his animal in check, handling me lightly.
A smile plays around his mouth as he lowers his head to nudge my jaw before trailing soft nudges down my chest between my breasts and across my stomach. I can’t call them kisses, they’re more like brushes, but the second he reaches my pelvis, he strokes his flat palms all the way from my bent knees to the crease at the top of my legs, stopping before he touches any part of my body that would ease the sudden ache inside me.
I fight the impulse to reach down, pull him back to me, and urge his lips to mine, not sure if he’ll come back on his own.
His smile grows as he continues on his downward path without a word and slides off the bed, immediately turning his back on me and prowling to the closet to throw it open.
I take a second to get up, studying Tristan with a different view. From the outside, he and his wolf are in constant unity, but I’ve seen the messy turmoil within. Somehow, it makes his ability to control every second of his body’s movement even more impressive.
It’s hard not to admire the chiseled lines of his back, all the way down to his backside and thighs, but I tell myself to get up before I do something reckless, like inviting him back to his bed. We’ve just reached a tenuous truce. Nothing is worth risking that.
The open door leading out to the living area reveals the dawn light shining through the far windows. It’s hard to believe that we slept all that time.
Without asking his permission—I don’t feel like I need to—I stalk to the bathroom, close the door, and turn on the shower. It’s been nearly two days since I felt the soothing sensation of water. Stripping off, I step under the spray and close my eyes.
My sense of Tristan’s power isn’t overwhelming like it was before—an overpowering force that was a threat to me—but it’s heady if I dwell on it. I sense him moving about in his room and then the kitchen. I’m suddenly sorry to wash his scent off my body, but damn, it’s nice to shower.
Quickly washing my hair, I leave the bathroom wrapped in a towel to find a fluffy bathrobe laid out on the bed. I pull it on while the scent of coffee wafts through the open door, tugging me like a rope.
When I enter the room, Tristan stands at the far window opposite the kitchen table. He’s dressed in a new pair of jeans. He has assumed the same pose he took up yesterday morning at the gym. I wasn’t sure what he was doing then, but today, I understand that he’s checking the status of everyone in his pack.
I shiver at the realization that I can sense his intentions more quickly than my own.
“The pack was unhappy about my absence, but there were no attacks last night,” he says without turning, the tension in his shoulders easing.
A phone rests on the table. It’s still lit up as if he checked it only seconds ago. Before the screen goes blank, I see a string of notifications. All missed calls from Jace.
I suddenly realize how challenging it must be for Tristan to close his eyes at night, not knowing if he’ll be woken to the distant cries for help from his pack. I guess that’s the reason for the dark rings under his eyes and his twisted bedsheets.
“You were worried,” I say.
He pauses, rolling his shoulders. “Not until I woke up. It’s the first night in a long time that I’ve slept through until dawn.”
“A day and a night,” I murmur. “We slept a long time.”
I consider the cup of coffee resting on the kitchen table. Assuming it’s for me, I nurse it in my hands. “What happens now, Tristan?”
He turns and gives me a slow smile. “I’ve never had an equal.”