Either way, nothing good.
“Can you at least tell me—” I cut myself off. No. I didn’t have any right to ask why they couldn’t come, why he thought I wouldn’t want them to, or if there even was another reason beyond the sufficient one of him simply not wanting them to be exposed to my family’s snobbery.
“Okay,” I sighed. I rubbed at my aching temples, hoping he couldn’t see how shaky my hands had gotten. “I’ll think of something to tell my mother. It’s okay with you if I make up whatever I think is most likely to get her to drop it, right? Pregnant sister who can’t travel, mom staying home to take care of her. Whatever. Something she can’t argue with. Will you back me up on whatever story I think of? It won’t be anything that makes them look bad.”
“They can think of stuff that makes my family look bad all on their own, right? I bet they already have.”
I dropped my hand and glanced up sharply. Jesus, how did he know? It must have shown on my face, because he let out a short, bitter little laugh.
“Yeah, you don’t need to say anything. I know what they probably think of me, my background. They aren’t even necessarily wrong.” He sighed, shook his head, and—reached out, taking my hand in his. He’d gotten his claws in, finally, and the way he touched me couldn’t have been more gentle. A frown drew his brows together. “Scale of one to ten, Brook. How close are you to having a seizure right now?”
I let out a long, shaky breath. My eyes still wouldn’t quite focus.
Well, shit. And he’d noticed before I had.
“Maybe a six,” I said, too drained to try to lie. Besides, I couldn’t drive like this, and that I couldn’t hide. We might be werewolves with a healing ability that’d make a car accident no big deal, but the same wasn’t true of everyone else on the road.
“Okay. Fuck. Okay. We’re going to switch places, and I’m going to get you home. In bed, resting. Come on.” Without waiting for me to answer, he clicked his seat belt and hopped out, opening my door a second later.
I could’ve gotten myself out of the car and into the passenger seat, and half of me wanted to snap at him that I wasn’t an invalid and didn’t need to be babied.
But it felt too good to be taken care of for once, rather than shoved out of sight like a shameful secret when my Hensley’s symptoms recurred. Dimitri’s careful hands guiding me out of the car, his strong arm around my waist, his murmured reassurances that everything would be fine, that I only needed to breathe deeply and relax, hit an exposed nerve that I couldn’t muster the energy to protect, not right then.
He got me settled and even leaned into the car, barely fitting his bulk around me, to get my seat belt fastened for me. I tipped my head back, closed my eyes, and took a deep, soothing inhale of the scent of him. Warm, tart, spicy. My mate, filling all of my senses.
The shakiness subsided slightly, and my heart started to slow.
“That’s good, Brook,” he said softly. “Good.” His hand brushed over the side of my face, thumb stroking my cheek so quickly I almost thought I’d imagined it. “We’ll be home in no time.”
The door shut, and he got in the other side and started the car. Home. Not just my house, buthome…because it had Dimitri living in it with me.
Chapter 15
Ready and Waiting
I woke up when the sun had already gone most of the way down—late, in other words, because tomorrow would be the summer solstice, and the sun didn’t set until nine-thirty or so. Dimitri had half-carried me into the house and tucked me into bed, stripping me down to my boxers gently but efficiently.
If I’d had any doubts about his level of attraction to me, that would’ve settled them. He didn’t linger and he didn’t ogle. There were no unnecessary touches.
Luckily, I was too out of it to get hard from him undressing me—and I had to admit I probably would have under other circumstances, no matter how perfunctory he was about it.
Sitting up in bed didn’t take much effort, my muscles responding without any unpleasant surprises and my vision staying as clear as it ever did. When I fumbled my glasses off the nightstand and put them on, I could see just fine.
Apparently the potential seizure had been headed off at the pass.
I almost wished it hadn’t, because then I might’ve had an excuse for avoiding the rest of the conversation we’d been having in the car.
Dimitri stuck his head through my half-open bedroom door by the time I’d swung my legs over the side of the bed. “Should you be getting up? I’ll help you.”
He stepped into the room, but I waved him off.
“I’m fine, seriously.” I got up under my own power and headed for the bathroom. No more heartwrenchingly sweet and tender care from my very fake and very temporary mate, or I might have a seizure after all. “I’ll see you downstairs, just going to grab a shower,” I threw over my shoulder, and I shut the bathroom door without waiting for an answer.
Oh, fuck. It hit me as I reached for the shower knob, and I hustled back to open the door again. “Dimitri?”
He was still standing there in my bedroom, staring at the bathroom door with a weird expression on his face. Dammit, did he really think I’d fall down and hit my head or something? I was fine!
“Yeah, Brook? You need something?”
