“Sure, Meelo. If you say so.” She gave me a wink, smoothing her hand over my cheek once more.
“I’m… I’m sorry,” Gray said. “I didn’t mean to interrupt. I can come back later.”
“Don’t be silly.” Elena rose from her chair and stretched. “We were just finishing up.”
“For now,” I reminded her.
“Sí,mi hermano. For now.” She smiled one more time, her eyes bright, her shoulders squared. It was like a weight had been lifted, one we’d both been carrying for far too long.
I didn’t dare admit it out loud, but that smile of hers did more to heal my wounds than all the medicine and bandages in the world. For the first time in twenty years, Elena had given me hope that she might one day forgive me. And in that forgiveness was the seed of something even more powerful: if my sister could find a way to forgive me after everything I’d done, maybe I could find a way to forgive myself, too.
“Elena,” I called out, just as she reached the door.
She squeezed Gray’s hand, then turned to look at me over her shoulder. “Sí?”
“Empanadas for dinner tonight. Lots of ‘em. Piles and piles. With extra chimichurri.”
“So demanding, this wolf! As if I’m his personal chef!” She let out a put-upon huff, but I saw the covert little wink she’d flashed at Gray, and I knew without a doubt there’d be a feast waiting for me tonight.
Fifteen
GRAY
It’d been so long since I’d heard Emilio’s voice, I was afraid this was just another dream. Tentatively I reached out to stroke his cheek, rough with several days’ worth of stubble. His black hair was getting long, curling over the tops of his ears in a way I suspected he’d hate if he could actually see it, but to me he was beautiful. Warm and alive and really, truly here.
“No need to wait for an invitation,querida.” He opened his arms, waving me in for a hug despite the bandages wrapped around his chest. “I know you want a piece of this.”
“But your injuries…”
“Paper cuts compared to how it feels not being able to hold you. Especially when you’re standing right next to me, smelling like strawberries and sunshine and everything I want to be close to for the rest of my life.”
His voice had faded to a whisper, his eyes serious and intense, and in that moment every last protest died on my lips. I leaned in close and buried my face against his chest, not bothering to keep the tears in check. They soaked right down through his bandages—tears of relief, tears of joy, tears of love, tears for every emotion I’d been struggling to keep in check since the moment I’d seen him fall beneath Orendiel’s silver blade.
“Don’t you ever scare me like that again,” I whispered.
He cupped the back of my head. His hand was big and warm and strong, and right now, it felt like the only thing keeping me from falling off the edge of the earth.
He was here. He was really, truly here.
“I’ll do my best,mi brujita.”
“That’s not good enough.” I lifted my head so I could look into his eyes. “I’m serious, Emilio. What we’re building here… It doesn’t work without you.Idon’t work without you.”
He said nothing at that, only nodded, the depths of his brown eyes so beautiful it almost hurt to look at them. I leaned in close, brushing my lips across his mouth, my kiss as gentle as a breeze.
But before I could pull back, his hands were in my hair again, holding me close as he deepened our kiss. I parted my lips, and his tongue swept across mine, unleashing a soft moan from deep inside me as his sweetness flooded my senses.
It was so precious, so special. And I’d come so close to losing it.
Never again.
Without breaking the kiss, I slid into the bed beside him, leaning against his body, threading my hands into his hair. Heat emanated from his skin, and I breathed in his vanilla-and-pine scent, welcomed the scratch of his stubble against my chin, memorizing every sensation. This kiss was the first of the rest of our lives, the second-chance welcome-back embrace I’d been dreaming about, and I intended to carry it with me always. Forever.
He shifted beside me, pulling my leg across his hips, his hand sliding up the back of my thigh.God,I’d missed his touch, missed the feeling of being small and safe and well-protected in the arms of my big, muscular wolf, and under his powerful grip, it wasn’t long before I’d forgotten all about his injuries.
We kissed long and hard, slow and sensual, teasing and gentle, every kind in every way until I could no longer feel my lips. When we finally broke for air, I turned over on my back, my head bent against his, staring at the ceiling and thanking all the forces of the universe for making this possible.
“Now look what you’ve done,brujita,” Emilio teased.
