Wolf's Call (Wolves Next Door #2) - Auryn Hadley Page 0,184

even when I got married. Labor had kinda snuck up on me, starting from a little back pain and ending with an epidural, so it wasn't close. The best comparison I had was getting hurt as a child, and that had been so long ago that I remembered the crying more than the hurting.

Still, I headed to the bathroom for a darker-colored towel that wouldn't be ruined if I bled on it. Then I decided to kick off my pants while I was at it, just so I didn't have to worry about getting out of them with my arm hurting. By the time I stood in front of him wearing nothing but my bra and panties, Lane had removed all of his own clothes as well.

"Last chance," he said, moving closer to cup my face. "If you're not sure, we can wait for the next moon. We can put this off and I won't think less of you. I'm also not trying to talk you out of it. I just don't want to make you do something you aren't sure of."

I pressed my hand over his chest. "I know, but I want this. I think I want this more than you can imagine, and the sooner we do it, the less I have to wonder if I should've done it last month or the month before."

His thumb swept across my cheek. "Close your eyes, little bunny."

I did, and he lifted his hand from my face, but beneath my palm, his chest vanished. I could still feel something, like a warmth that I couldn't quite describe. It wasn't dry or wet. It wasn't even really tangible. Mostly, it just felt like I was holding my hand before a fire, and the wave of heat coming from it was thick, yet I knew that was Lane between his forms.

It faded, and then he pushed his head against my leg, letting me know it was safe to look again. When I opened my eyes, he hopped up on the bed and lay down, looking at the covers as if saying I should sit. So I did. Then he nosed at my elbow, encouraging me to hold my arm out.

The position felt silly. More because he was behind me, but I waited, tense and expecting the pain any second. Instead, Lane just licked at the back of my arm, making me flinch. As soon as I realized what I'd done, a laugh broke free - which was when he finally bit.

There was no snarl or growl. He didn't lunge at me or shove me around. One second I was laughing at my own anxiety, and the next the nerves in my arm were screaming that something was wrong. My body couldn't even make sense of it at first, feeling cold spikes where his teeth pierced my skin, and then heat took over, along with a throbbing ache. Lane let go almost immediately, but I gasped, turning to look at the damage.

Before my eyes, the wounds began to seep with blood. A ring of teeth was visible, proving he'd bit hard. I could see the line of his front teeth, but the four large canines had left holes in my skin. Big ones. Deep ones.

"Elena," Lane said, proving he'd shifted back to a man while I stared at the injury. "Are you ok?"

"That hurts!" I told him.

He pressed the towel around my arm. "Where's your Advil, baby?"

"Um, bathroom. Cabinet on the right." I set my hand over where the towel overlapped so he could go grab it. "I'm ok, Lane," I added, almost as an afterthought.

"You sure?" He was already in the bathroom and rummaging. I heard the rattle of pills in a bottle, and then the tap running as he got me some water. Then he was back. "Drink this," he said before fishing out a pair of pills and offering those to me as well. "Please tell me it isn't too bad?"

"It feels like I was bit by a wolf," I teased.

That made him finally relax. "I'm sorry. I wish I could've made it work another way, but you wanted this, and - "

"Lane," I begged, "I'm ok." Then I swallowed the pair of Advil and offered the glass back. "Let's wrap this up so I don't make a mess of the bed tonight, ok?"

"Does it hurt bad?" He moved the water to the bedside table, then picked up the gauze. "I don't want to wrap it too tight if it does,