emotions left me light-headed. Dodge immediately put his arm around my waist and eased me to the couch where I’d sat during the interview with Deirdre and her husband. Where I’d first met Dodge and watched him and thought that little dimple in his cheek was far too sexy for a man.
Dodge looked over at where Deirdre and Evershaw canoodled. “Can you give us a minute?”
“No,” Deirdre said before her husband could say anything. The witch didn’t glance at me, but I knew she stayed to make sure Dodge didn’t immediately assume it was me if he smelled someone pregnant. It wouldn’t last long as a deception, but she thought it would buy me enough time to say what I needed to say. She patted Evershaw’s cheek and pointed him over toward a pair of chairs on the other side of the room. “We’ll just sit here and let you two get to it, but we’re staying in the room in case Percy needs some help... interpreting all the growls and grunts that you use to communicate.”
He gave her a dirty look, which earned a warning growl from Evershaw. “We don’t need a fucking peanut gallery for this.”
Silas, still a wolf, snorted and flopped on his side near the coffee table. Deirdre gave Dodge an arch look and folded her arms over her chest. I knew he’d lost and it wasn’t worth a fight, particularly when I still wanted Deirdre there, and said quietly, “It’s fine. Let them stay.”
Dodge grumbled but turned to face me on the couch. He caught both my hands in his, searching my face for something. He looked terrible – probably almost as bad as I did. He’d lost weight and his skin no longer had a healthy tan. The lines around his eyes had deepened noticeably, as if he’d aged years in the weeks since I’d last seen him.
Even with all that... I’d never seen any man as handsome, as breathtaking. The warmth in his eyes nearly set me sobbing again, because I got the first hint that he didn’t blame me for being shot, that we might actually be together long term. That this day was the first day of the rest of our life together, instead of the last day I harbored the hope that things would work out.
Dodge seemed content to just hold my hands, his thumb stroking the inside of my wrist over and over. Most of my anxiety receded, though I tensed against when Evershaw muttered, “What the hell is...” and started poking at Deirdre.
Shit. He must have figured it out. If Evershaw announced that Deirdre was expecting, then it might tip Dodge to search for the same hint. Or the other couple would start celebrating and I wouldn’t have the opportunity to tell Dodge what I needed to before everything else went off the rails. Evershaw didn’t strike me as the kind of guy with a subdued reaction to good news. Or bad news. Any news, really.
I steeled myself and reached deep for some courage. I managed to meet Dodge’s gaze, but just barely. “I missed you, too. I really did. I wondered why you didn’t... That’s fine. I just wanted to say...” I stumbled and my voice cracked. I got lost in describing the enormity of my feelings for him. It was such a strange depth and intensity...
Dodge caught my shoulder and pulled me closer, against his chest, and rested his chin on my head after tucking me against his shoulder. He took a deep breath and exhaled, and more of the tension ran out of him. “You can tell me anything you want. Anything.”
I believed him, God help me. And it made it easier to talk without him looking right at me. I squeezed my eyes shut and let the words out in a rush. “You said that you were mine as long as I wanted you. Or something like that. Well, I wanted to say that I want you. I want you for... for as long as I can have you. Forever, if you’re up for it.”
He went still.
I braced for rejection, some kind of back-pedaling or excuses, and tried to memorize the feel of his arms around me so I had something to remember later.
Dodge dropped his chin a little so his mouth brushed my ear. “I thought you didn’t want anything to do with supernaturals. Including me.”
“I didn’t...”
“I’ll give it up,” he said abruptly. His arms tightened and relaxed. “I’ll leave the pack. I’ll