Wolf's Wife (Monstrous Hearts #1)

Chapter Five

He left her alone for most of the day, fixing the wobbly leg on the kitchen table and then a broken hinge on the mudroom door. For her part, Alice answered phone calls and texts from concerned friends. When one call proved to be Magdalene's London agent, concerned that he hadn't gotten a response from Magdalene's phone, Alice reassured him through her guilt. Afterward, she checked Facebook and Twitter to see if Magdalene had posted. Nothing, but Darby's Fetlife account bore fruit. Photos dated from the night before, done so artfully that Alice knew Rob must have been the one behind the camera. She hadn't known Darby liked bondage. She hadn't known Magdalene did, either.

"Should shake off any guilt of yours." Colton's voice rumbled in her ear.

Alice stifled a yelp of shock. She hadn't heard him come up behind her. "Do you always spy over people's shoulders?"

"You looked hurt."

"These are just more needling on her part. It's not even worth thinking about." She shut off her phone and let it fall on the bed before turning to him.

He studied her curiously, and despite the fact that his body was a man's, there was nothing human about him at that moment. "But you'll go back to her."

Alice knew she had to be honest, even if it meant him leaving. "Yes."

His head tilted. "She's put some sort of spell on you. Not in the way of a witch, but still a spell."

Her smile was small and bitter. "I suppose that's as good as any other explanation. A spell woven over the years."

Later, as night cloaked the cabin, Colton approached again while Alice stared at the glowing coals in the fireplace. Without looking, she leaned back into him, taking in the strength of the muscles she felt against her, the surety of his weight. "You're completely recovered from being shot, aren't you?"

His chin rasped against her temple. "Yes."

Her mouth felt dry. "So there's no reason to stay."

"Wouldn't say that." Then his hand slid between her legs, palm pressing in until the normal friction of her jeans turned into something delicious. Alice's shoulders relaxed, and then she turned to him.

He was gentler with her clothes this time, deliberate instead of frenzied as he undressed her just enough to leave her breasts falling out of her shirt and her underwear pulled to the side. But his touch was still rough, and Alice loved it until fingers slid down the slippery seam of her cunt and pushed in. Pain, then, and not the exciting kind. "Wait. I'm too sore for that."

A gaze hot with hunger studied her, but Alice couldn't tell what Colton thought as his fingers flexed and withdrew.

Surprise, relief, and disappointment mingled together as she watched him step back. But then he pulled off his flannel, and next his undershirt. When he spoke, his voice sounded flat and even. "Take off your clothes."

Alice hesitated. "Did you hear what I said?"

"Yes." He continued stripping down. "Take them off."

When she didn't move, he looked up, eyebrows rising above those intent green eyes. "Scared now?"

At that, she lifted her chin and reached for her shirt.

The floor felt cold against her bare back as he pinned her down. Unease rippled through her lower belly, snuffing out her earlier eagerness, and she scanned his face, searching for signs of what he had in mind. "It's been five years since I've been with a man, and Magdalene's never had much power in her hips. I really am sore, Colton. It needs a day off."