War of Hearts (True Immortality) - S Young Page 0,66
fabric of his shirt.
Then the weight resting along her back became apparent.
He had his arm around her. His hand was cupping her hip.
What the hell?
Never could she have imagined trusting Conall enough, even in her unconscious state, to snuggle with him.
Snuggle.
She hadn’t snuggled with anyone in years. The last snuggle she’d had was with her mom.
Tears pricked Thea’s eyes as she realized how much she’d missed the basic human comfort of a hug.
You’re being ridiculous.
The werewolf was turning her into an emotional wreck, and she couldn’t be an emotional wreck. An emotional wreck would not win the war against Ashforth.
Thea pulled out of Conall’s embrace and he grunted. She looked up at him as she retreated and saw him blinking awake. Well, at least he’d been asleep too. He didn’t seem nearly so disconcerted that they’d been snuggling as she did. Conall rubbed a hand over his face, the bristles of his unshaven cheeks sounding rough against his palm.
“Are we there?”
Thea glanced at the digital board above the exit. It said Düsseldorf was the next stop in twenty minutes. “Almost.”
They both stretched their necks trying to work out the kinks, and Thea scowled at their synchronicity.
“You slept?”
She nodded, flicking him a wary look. “You did too.”
“Aye, a little.”
“I’m sorry if I …” She gestured uncertainly between them. “Forced you to …” Thea absolutely could not use the word “snuggle” in front of Conall.
The werewolf waved off her concerns. “It’s fine.”
An awkward silence fell between them, probably only made awkward by Thea. And then Conall surprised her. He turned to her, his voice low, and he said, “No nightmares this time.”
Feeling vulnerable about her nightmares, Thea frowned. The Scot had probably deduced now that the nightmares were about her time with the Ashforths. Surprisingly, they were rarely about the whipping she’d taken. They were about Amanda’s death or about Ashforth finding her.
She stared out the window, hating that the bad dreams made her weak.
“Hey …” Conall’s breath whispered against her ear and her own breath caught in her throat at his nearness. She didn’t dare turn her head because if she did, her lips would brush his. “I didnae mean to upset you.”
He pulled back, and she almost exhaled with relief.
His expression was … tender. “After everything you’ve been through, it’s amazing how together you are, Thea. I think you’re exceptionally strong.” He gave her a sharp nod. “And I dinnae just mean physically.”
Something welled up inside Thea’s chest, something that felt too big to contain and she wondered if that feeling was in her eyes for him to see.
Don’t betray me, Conall. Please don’t betray me. Not you too.
And then Thea smiled sadly. Because of course he would betray her. That was the plan they’d decided on together. Conall had to hand her over to protect the people he loved.
Questions filled the wolf’s eyes as he studied the play of emotion across her face, but thankfully, they were suddenly in the city.
“We’re almost there,” she said, avoiding his gaze.
“We need something to eat and a change of clothing,” Conall decided. “There’s a shopping area I remember from my last visit. Callie dragged me to what felt like a million stores that day.”
That got her attention. “You visited with Callie?”
He pinched his lips together before saying, “She’d been talking to …” He lowered his voice. “A wolf. Online. On a dating site.”
Thea’s eyes widened. “There are supernatural dating sites?”
Conall grunted. “Aye. She met one from Düsseldorf and arranged to meet him. It was more to piss off my beta, James, than anything, but she was adamant. And I couldnae let her go meet this arsehole alone.”
Amused at Conall flying to mainland Europe to chaperone his little sister on a date, Thea tried not to chuckle. “What happened?”
Conall sighed. “We got on the plane and when we were in the air, she burst into tears. She couldnae believe James had let her get on the bloody plane. I dinnae think even she realized how much it had been about trying to force him to admit there was something between them. She canceled the date, but I decided we should stay anyway. She needed a break from James, so I let her torture me as she dragged me from shop to shop around Düsseldorf.”
That feeling in Thea’s chest was about to explode. It had to be. It ached so badly. “You’re a good brother.”
They shared a look, and he sighed. “It’s what family is supposed to do.”