Captive Mate - Eliot Grayson Page 0,67

ground.

Strong arms wrapped around my body. Matthew’s arms. I sighed, gave in to it, and let him catch me.

Chapter 16

Disenchanted

What was left of the night passed in a hazy blur. I heard Colin say, “Matthew, you look like shit, let me carry him,” and then I felt Matthew let out a low, warning growl. After that I was in motion — kind of lurching motion at first, as Matthew was still healing. But his arms around me were bliss. Warm and strong and careful. I dozed. I was safe, and as weak as I was, I followed my instinct and trusted that implicitly.

Trusted Matthew implicitly.

Then the arms were gone, and for a moment I was cold. Then there was some kind of blanket.

And then I slept.

I woke, blinking slowly, to shafts of early-morning sunlight filtering rosy-gold through a set of dusty blinds. I was on a couch, not a bed, but it was a pretty comfortable couch, and I stretched just like the cat I was, arms over my head and toes pointed.

Fuck, that felt good, working out all the kinks from being clawed and kidnapped and flung into a tree and then healing it all.

I propped myself up on my elbows and looked around.

Under the window with the blinds was a bed, and in that bed was Nate, curled up with only the top of his head and part of his face peeking out, with a mound of quilts on top of him. I only had the one blanket, but fair enough; shifters ran warmer than humans. And I was guessing it was overprotective Ian who’d tucked him in.

Speaking of Ian. A shower was running in the background. It was probably Ian getting into it that had woken me. There was a closed door near the foot of the couch, and the sound was coming from there.

This must be Ian’s little house, then, where he lived separate from the rest of the pack. The place was shabby but homey, and it was fucking quiet. I didn’t blame him. I wouldn’t mind living in a place like this.

But it wasn’t my place, and I needed to get going. Find Matthew, find Colin, find out what the fuck had happened the night before. Someone had taken off my boots and set them by the couch, so all I really had to do was pull them on.

The shower shut off while I was rolling my way off the couch.

A moment later Ian stepped out in a pair of old plaid boxers and a white t-shirt. I hated to admit that the look totally fucking worked for him — although I’d have gone another few rounds with claws and a tree-trunk before I admitted it out loud.

More than anything, I was nearly drooling with envy. His red hair was sticking up in damp clumps, droplets of fresh, clean water trickled down his neck and legs, and there wasn’t a trace of blood or dirt on him. I felt like I had half the forest floor stuck to me, not to mention the dried blood gluing the remains of my clothes to my skin.

“How’s Nate?” I asked him.

For the first time, Ian smiled at me. Actually smiled, and not a mocking or nasty smile. It was…friendly. Fucking weird. I hardly recognized him.

“I think he’s fine. I got him to wake up and wiggle his toes and everything.” The sheer, overwhelming relief in his tone explained the smile, I guessed.

And I found myself smiling back. “Good. I’ll check him out again before I leave, just in case, okay? And in the meantime — I’d kill for a shower. If I can borrow another set of Nate’s clothes.”

“You can have anything in this house,” Ian said earnestly. “Up to and including one of my kidneys.”

“Any good spell really requires both of them,” I said without thinking.

Ian laughed. He fucking laughed. And then, as I stared at him slack-jawed, he strolled over to the scratched, unvarnished dresser against the wall and pulled out a long-sleeved t-shirt and a pair of jeans, tossing them over his shoulder onto the couch.

After a second of rummaging, he turned around, holding a pair of socks. “These,” Ian said seriously, waving them at me, “are the best fucking socks you will ever wear in your life. Nate’s made a couple of pairs for me.” He blushed. “Um, long story. They’re waterproof, bulletproof, and kick harder than steel-toed boots. Also, they’re warm as hell.”

He brought them over and set them down on the