I followed the line of his gaze down to the sheet draped over his hips, now tenting upward.
“Hmm.” I nuzzled his neck. “That looks… uncomfortable.”
“I’m not so sure about that. Would you like to try it on and find out?”
“Please.” I laughed. “Spare me the crass jokes. Now you sound like Asher.”
“Hey, I faced down Death and got another chance. If you think I’m going to waste any more time holding back my thoughts—even the dirty ones…” He turned toward me and kissed me again, a soft moan rumbling in his chest.
Desire flooded my core, but I didn’t dare act on it. I’d just gotten him back, and from the dark circles under his eyes, I could tell he still needed a lot of rest.
The patient himself, however, had other plans.
“What do you think, doc?” he asked, turning on his hip. His hard length pressed against my outer thigh, and it took every ounce of willpower I had not to slide my hand beneath the sheet and touch him. “Is this wolf cleared for physical activity?”
“I’m not a doctor, Emilio,” I said.
“Maybe not. But you candefinitelymake things better for me.”
I gave him a playful eye-roll. “Whoisthis wise-cracking, innuendo-dropping beast in my bed, and what have you done with sweet, kind Emilio Alvarez?”
“You really want to know? Fine. I’ve fallen in love with abruja, that’s what I’ve done.” His voice dropped to a sultry whisper as he traced my lips with his fingertip. “And nothing will ever be the same again.”
I gave in to the magnetic pull of his words, his eyes, leaning into his embrace once again. Each kiss was deliberate now, intense, as if he were kissing me for the very last time and wanted to memorize the taste of me.
“I thought I’d never see you again, Gray,” he whispered. “That night in the warehouse… It’s a blur. But you were there. With me every step. I thought—”
“Shhh.” I kissed him again, too scared to go down this path, to rehash the moment Orendiel’s blade cut through the air, to revisit everything that had come after. But it was too much to hold back, and seconds later, I was breaking our kiss, my heart twisting, my eyes filling with tears at what tonight would feel like if hehadn’tmade it back. “I know,” I said. “I know, because that night, when I saw the blood… I thought I’d never hold you like this again, or kiss you or watch the moonrise or eat a whole pan of brownies with you. It all happened so fast, and then Ronan was shouting at me to get the others to safety, and I just…”
I trailed off and closed my eyes, the memories still so fresh, so present.
“I’m so sorry,querida.To put you through that… I never…It was stupid.”
“You have nothing to be sorry for, Emilio. You were there to help our friends. To liberate innocent witches. To help us restore the balance of power to our communities. You’re a hero. You know that, right?”
“Hero? I could’ve ruined the entire mission.” He shook his head, his earlier humor receding. “I was a fool. I left myself wide open for the attack—rookie mistake. But I saw Elena in the line of fire, and in that moment, all I could think about was saving her. I couldn’t let her fall, Gray.” His jaw flexed, his eyes going to some faraway place I couldn’t see. “Not there. Not again.”
“Not… again?” I placed my hand over his heart, my brow creased with confusion. “What do you mean?”
“Hmm?” He shifted his gaze back to mine, his eyes cloudy. Perhaps he hadn’t meant to say all of that out loud, but now that he had, there was no taking it back.
“You said you couldn’t let her fall again,” I said.
“I… I did.” He sat up higher in the bed, sliding an arm beneath my head, but not meeting my eyes. Instead, he watched the window, the snowflakes piling high along the bottom edge. It was a Darkwinter-induced storm, they’d told me. Fae magic meant to isolate the residents of Blackmoon Bay. Eventually, it would do the same thing here.
But right now, safe in the arms of my wolf, I thought it was beautiful.
After what felt like hours, Emilio leaned over and kissed the top of my head. Then, speaking softly into my hair, “Do you know why I became a cop,querida?”
I shifted onto my hip, trying to look into his eyes, but he was back to watching the snow fall.
“We never really talked about it,” I said. “I guess I just figured you wanted to help people. Supernaturals, especially.”
“I did. I do,” he said. “And I’m good at it, Gray. I feel like I’m really, truly meant for this work.”
“Iknowyou are.”
“But that’s not why I do it.”
