Brenna
That man is so infuriating! Why does he think he can order me around? Keep me under lock and key? Sure, he paid for me, but that doesn’t mean he owns me. Slavery has been outlawed in the United States for a long time. But then I realized that slavery still happens, or else the auction where he bought me wouldn’t be happening.
As a wolf, I rarely grew tired, but I was mentally exhausted. So, maybe a shower wouldn’t be so bad. Then I would try and get some sleep. I had no desire to have dinner with the brute. I wanted nothing from him but my freedom.
But as I stripped out of my clothes and stepped into the shower, I knew that was a lie. My wolf wanted to claim him, and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want to claim him, too. The pull was strong, even though I didn’t want it to be. I didn’t want to desire him, to claim him as mine.
As the hot water rushed over me, I leaned against the shower wall, wanting it to wash away the memories, but they would never go away. Tears ran down my cheeks as memories of my beautiful mother, my fierce yet understanding and kind father, and my warrior brother rushed into my mind, knowing I would never see them again. My body shook as I cried for them… and for me, feeling completely and utterly alone.
Suddenly, the bathroom door opened, and the glass shower door slid open. I looked up, ready to tell him to leave, but Adan pulled me into his arms and held me while I cried, not caring that I soaked his expensive designer suit. It was as if he had sensed my pain and had come to me. Without a word, he stripped down, climbed into the shower with me, and held me close to his body, giving me comfort.
He rubbed my back, holding me as I sobbed, my body shaking as the enormity of what I had endured, what I had lost, came crashing down. When my tears subsided, I stood in his arms, defeated, welcoming the comfort of his embrace, unsure what would happen next.
He poured shampoo into his hands and began lathering my hair, gently massaging my scalp, and washing the length of my hair as he gazed lovingly into my eyes.
When he finished, he led me to stand in the shower to rinse. Then he poured body wash into his hands and ran them over my body, washing me sensually, lovingly, caring for me the whole time, never once making a move to seduce me. When he was finished bathing me, he stepped out of the shower with me and dried me off with a fluffy white towel and dressed me in the robe behind the door.
Scooping me into his arms as if I weighed nothing, and carried me to the bed, pulled back the blanket and sheet, and laid me down. Then he covered me over and kissed the top of my head. “Get some rest. I’ll be back later to check on you.”
I nodded. “Thank you.”
He smiled as he ran the back of his hand lightly over my cheek and headed through the door to the adjoining room, closing the door behind him.
Maybe he wasn’t so bad, after all. But how did he know that I needed him? It was as if he had felt my need, and he had come to care for me, to give me what I needed, and asked nothing in return.
That would come later.
But right now, I didn’t care about that. All I wanted was to escape the horrors I had endured, to sleep, hoping that I would wake and the nightmare would be over, that my parents and my brother would still be alive, greeting me when I descended the grand staircase in the High Claw Pack Compound. Tears slid slowly down my cheeks, falling onto the pillow, knowing that would never happen again.
Adan
It was all I could do to leave her in her bedroom alone. But her lying in her bed, vulnerable, was not the way I wanted to take her. And that wasn’t what she needed right now. I turned on my shower, stepped inside, and stood under the hot water.
I had been downstairs when I felt her sorrow, heard her crying in my mind, and I knew she needed me. Without a second thought, I went to her, and my heart melted when I found her. The only thing I wanted to do was to tell her that everything would be okay again... but that would only be a lie. Brenna wouldn’t be okay again for a while. She needed time to grieve. She didn’t need an Alpha claiming her in her state of grief.
I squirted body wash into my palm and wrapped my hand around my length, then started sliding it up and down. I closed my eyes, imagining I was fucking her, making love to her, her legs wrapped around my waist as I plunged deep inside her. My breath quickened, and soon I erupted into the drain, slamming my free hand against the wall, bracing myself for the onslaught of images of her beautiful body, her fierce yet vulnerable spirit, assaulting my mind.
When I opened my eyes, she wasn’t there, but the image of her, making love to her in my mind, remained.
Instead of taking care of the matter myself, I could have sent for one of the women of the Pack and fucked her brains out just as stress relief. But after finding Brenna, I knew I would have no other woman; I wanted no one but her.
After my shower, I dressed in jeans and a white T-shirt but left my feet bare, wanting Brenna to feel comfortable when we dined. The last thing she needed was pressure. No, I would curb my appetite for her until she was ready and came to me willingly, as I had told her.
I wondered if I could hold out that long, but I would give her the time she needed to heal. For she was my Queen, and I would wait for as long as she needed… no matter how long it took.