Wolf Rain (Psy-Changeling Trinity #3) - Nalini Singh Page 0,14
turned her back to him and began to dry herself.
Not quite sure what had happened but certain it hadn’t been a threat—nothing that gentle and hesitant could be a threat—he opened out the dark blue towel in his hand. Maybe the E hadn’t been petting him at all; maybe she’d been poking at him to see if he’d react with bared teeth and rage.
His wolf’s fur brushed against the inside of his skin, the crabby creature reminding the human half once again that it was his fault the E thought she might get chomped on at any moment. Probably with hot sauce for extra flavor.
Alexei scowled under the towel.
After wiping off his face and his hair enough that it was no longer dripping, he went back into the bedroom and rummaged around in the large trunk he’d spotted in one corner. As he’d expected, it was full of T-shirts, sweatpants, and sweatshirts of various sizes. About half were well washed and soft with wear, others newer, but everything was clean.
“Maternal,” he muttered when a dried rose petal fell out of a T-shirt he’d picked up.
He curled his lip at the idea of smelling like roses. Hell, he was already “pretty”—his wolf shuddered at the reminder of the horrible description people kept using for his human face. All he needed now was to smell like a freaking rose petal.
A whisper of a different scent reached him. When he looked up, it was to find that the E had crept into the doorway, was watching him. Her scent was unlike any other in his mental database. There was an edge there, along with an unexpected touch of an intense darkness that he couldn’t name.
What he did know was that after their recent close proximity, he could now track her.
“Dry clothes.” He indicated the trunk. “The pack keeps this kind of stuff around for when we come in as wolves.” Alexei wouldn’t be the first SnowDancer to take shelter here, and loose-fitting stuff like sweats could be utilized by nearly everyone. The items might swamp a percentage of his packmates, and be a little short or tight for others, but in general, you could make do.
Having dug down to the very bottom, he pulled out the smallest sizes he could find. “Not too bad.” The supply crew must’ve stocked the trunk for when the juveniles came up on training runs. Not that he didn’t have petite adult packmates, but the E was on the tiny end of even that sizing. Still, he’d found her a pair of sweatpants, a T-shirt, and a sweatshirt. The sweatshirt was definitely too large, but that wouldn’t matter if the pants fit well enough.
He passed her the items, then pointed to the other side of the hallway. “Bathroom’s in there if you want a hot shower.”
She held the clothing carefully away from her wet body. Water still dripped from her hair despite the fact that it was frizzy in places from her attempts to rub it dry.
“Wait.” Grabbing a thinner towel from the sushi roll shelf, he handed that to her, too. “For your hair. Be easier to wrap around your head than that green one.” Despite his recent state of mind, he wasn’t feral; women generally liked him and he’d been around enough of them, both as a lover and as a friend, to pick up certain things.
The empath stared at him, those fathomless eyes searching his face for some indefinable thing. Man and wolf watched her as intently in turn, attempting to figure out this lost E who had claws hidden under her skin. The wolf was of the opinion that it might like a skinny would-be lion with psychic claws who dared meet its gaze.
Then she shivered.
Pointing to the shower, Alexei growled. “Warm up. Now.”
A slight—very slight—narrowing of her eyes that made him want to snap his teeth at her. But she shivered again at that instant and it seemed to decide her. Turning on her heel, she walked through into the shower.
It shut; he heard the lock click, then the shower come on.
Alexei released a harsh breath.
He had not been looking forward to picking her up and dumping her under the hot spray—that would’ve well and truly eliminated any wary trust she had in him. Though . . . being an obstinate and testy lioness-type under her chilled skin, she might well have kicked him in the family jewels while blasting his mind with fury.