Page 41 of The Enforcers: KANE

He walked slowly up to her, still growling, but more quietly. He was huge, so tall that his head was nearly level with hers, where she sat on the bed. His teeth were enormous and terrifying. Even with her shifter healing, one bite from him in the wrong place could kill her.

She forced herself to breathe deeply, letting the feelings in her heart pour out over him. “You’re so beautiful,” she told him. “So brave.”

He nosed her hand, and she slowly moved the other one up to stroke his fur. The growl turned to a soft whine.

She ran both hands down the sides of his neck, and then cupped his huge head. His ears were soft and velvety, and she gently caressed the torn one. “I remember this,” she said. “You have even more battle scars now, don’t you.”

He pushed his head forward against her chest, nuzzling her. Rachelle sighed and wrapped her arms around his neck, closing her eyes and resting her cheek against his head.

“I’ve missed you, Wolf,” she whispered. “Remember how you used to protect me? You were so brave, so strong. I always felt safe when you were there.”

A low rumbling started in his chest again, but it was different now. Hopeful. Almost happy.

“I remember that winter when it was so cold,” she said, still whispering. “We were holed up in that abandoned warehouse, with no heat. There were rats in there, and gangs tried to take it over, sometimes. I only had one little blanket, and you used to curl up next to me and let me go to sleep leaning up against you, with my head on your chest and my hands buried in your fur. You were so warm. And you’d stay awake all night and keep watch, and I knew I could sleep because you wouldn’t ever let anything hurt me.”

Tears were streaming down her face now. She’d forgotten about that winter, about how Wolf had watched over her and kept her from freezing. “I never thanked you for taking such good care of me.” She kissed his head, right on one of his white eyebrows. “Thank you.”

He gave a soft whine and sat down, still leaning his huge head against her chest. She held onto him and let the tears fall into his warm fur.

After a long time, she sat back and wiped her eyes. “Can you let Kane come back now?” she asked. “He’s hurting. He needs to feel better too.”

Wolf stared at her for a moment with his beautiful golden eyes. Then he gave a little sigh and nudged her affectionately once more before backing up a few steps.

With a shimmer and a cracking of bones, Kane was back, crouched naked on the floor.

“Kane?” she said, reaching out to him. “Are you okay?”

She started to get off the bed, and he flinched away from her. Before she could reach him, he scrambled to his feet and blundered into the bathroom, slamming the door behind him.

Shit. And things had been going so well.

Chapter 12

Kane faced the cold tile wall in the bathroom, his head resting on his forearm, trying to think, to breathe, to do anything.

Huge, raw emotions were swirling through him, exploding in all directions. Everything inside him felt like it was crashing down, and he didn’t know what to do.

He couldn’t go back out there. That look in Rachelle’s eyes made him feel like all his skin had been torn off, and even the lightest touch would burn like fire. All her caring would flay him into tiny bleeding shreds.

He heard the door open quietly. Shit. He’d forgotten to lock it. He couldn’t even do that right.

“Kane?”

He felt Rachelle’s hand on his back, the softest of touches.

“I can’t do this,” he gasped out.

“Wolf didn’t hurt me,” she said.

“It hurt me!” he snapped. “Everything fucking hurts, and I don’t know what to feel or who I am or what the fuck is going on.”

Her hand started making tiny circles on his back. “Shh,” she said soothingly. “You’re okay.”

It wasn’t helping.

“You saw what happened when I tried to make love to you,” he said. “That always happens. I can’t even—I can’t even take care of my partner half the time because I have to get through it before Wolf goes crazy.” He gave a harsh laugh. “You can imagine how many second dates I get.”

Rachelle’s hand felt like it was burning through his skin, igniting a supernova in the middle of his chest that would destroy him.