suddenly aware of how threatening he actually seemed. “Look, we need to get you warmed up. Again.”
Katie nodded, too exhausted and frozen to argue. She followed Rafe into the guest room, greeting Shilah with a sheepish pat on the head. “Hi, boy.”
Rafe pinned him with a hard look. “You’re in the dog house for real, boy. You were supposed to be watching her.”
Shilah wagged his tail, clearly pleased to be addressed by his master, whatever the context. Katie couldn’t help but laugh. “He doesn’t seem terribly concerned.”
“He knows I’m all bark and no bite.” Rafe gestured at her body. “You need to take those clothes off. Especially if I’m going to clean your wounds.”
Shy but chilled to the bone, Katie shrugged off Rafe’s coat before hesitating. “Could I have some privacy?”
Rafe nodded. “Meet me in the bathroom down the hall once you’re undressed. Go ahead and use one of my T-shirts from the dresser. I think you still have some…” His gaze darted to the pile of her laundry he’d left stacked on the floor. “Just leave your legs bare so I can treat the bites.”
“All right.”
He stood at the door, hands laced in front of his crotch. “I’m not going to hurt you. Honestly, Katie. Never.”
She believed him. “I know.”
Rafe left the room with Shilah at his heels. As soon as he shut the door she began to strip off her wet clothes. Her fingers were so numb they barely worked and her shivering increased exponentially as soon as the air hit her bare skin. As a result the whole process took her longer than she wanted, and drained her completely. She probably needed Rafe’s help, but believing that he wasn’t going to kill her didn’t mean that she was ready to let him undress her again.
Once her upper body was bare, she braced herself for the hard part. She took a deep breath and stripped off her pants, sickened by the sight of a deep bite wound on her right calf. It was still bleeding lightly, but didn’t hurt nearly as much as it looked like it should. No doubt it would be really painful once the feeling returned to her body. The bite on the back of her other calf was shallower and not nearly as bad, but seeing so much of her flesh torn open and raw turned her stomach.
Naked, she limped to the dresser by the closet and got a worn T-shirt out of the top drawer. Rafe’s scent wafted up to greet her, instantly comforting. She inhaled deeply as she tugged the shirt over her head, then cursed under her breath. He’d called her his bond-mate, and the wolf who’d bitten her had clearly sensed some connection between them. Was that why simply smelling Rafe made her feel like this? Like… She shivered again. Like she was home.
“Katie, are you okay?” Rafe’s voice came from just outside the bedroom door.
She walked stiffly to the pile of laundry and pulled a pair of her panties off the top. She had to struggle to make her limbs move so she could put them on. “I’m just so cold.” She shuffled to the door and threw it open, beyond caring about her lack of clothing. All she wanted was for Rafe to dress her wounds so she could crawl under the blankets. She never should have left in the first place. “I feel like I’ll never be warm again.”
Rafe’s gaze slid down the length of her body. His throat jumped when he saw her mangled legs. “He really got you.”
“Yeah.” She glanced down at her calves and shrugged, teeth chattering. “I can barely feel it. I can’t really feel anything right now.”
Rafe glanced over his shoulder at the bathroom door, then at her. “Why don’t you let me warm you a little before we look at the bites?”
Something about his tone told her that there was a reason he was asking permission. “What does that involve, exactly?”
He smiled, almost shyly. “A hug. Basically.”
“A hug.” She wasn’t sure she liked the idea. It almost felt like a trick. It was certainly too much for him to ask after what those beasts outside had put her through. But if there was any chance it might really help her fight off the ice that had settled into her bones, she was willing to take a leap of faith. “Okay.”
He seemed surprised by her easy acquiescence. “Okay.” He hesitated. “It would probably work better if we were skin-to-skin…”