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He was, too.
He slid his arms all the way around her.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m not sure what’s happening here, Maeve, but my wolf wants to be close. So, I’m going with the flow. You okay with that?”
“More than okay, except for one thing.”
He leaned in and sniffed her hair. “What’s that?”
“I’m liking this way too much. And I don’t mean just the strong sexiness you bring out in me. It’s the camaraderie. I liked being with my man. You make me miss having a partner.”
“It’s the same for me.” He drew a deep breath and pulled back, if not all the way, enough to give them both some space. “I’m caught in this difficult place. My wolf is demanding expression. I’ll need to run soon or I won’t answer for what happens here. I’m afraid I’ll seduce you, which I’m guessing wouldn’t be hard.”
“You sure about that? You sound smug, like I’m an easy target.”
He thought a demonstration would be better than a verbal defense. He drew her tight against him, her back still to his front. He pushed at her hair with his nose until he created enough of an opening among all her red curls to bite her neck. He growled at the same time.
He felt her whole body relax. See? It’s an alpha thing.
Why is it working? I don’t understand. You could take me right now if you wanted.
He let go of her neck, but he still held her tight. I want to, yet I don’t. Dammit, Maeve, I haven’t got a thing to give you. I wish I did. I need this and I need you. But I’ve got a black hole in my heart.
She didn’t answer for a moment, then her voice was quiet in his head. It’s the same for me. I still hurt. Frank was my world.
He felt it then, the thing that was binding them together. Their grief. It was stronger even than his wolf call or sex or that he found her so beautiful. He could relate to her in the same way, she understood his sorrow. He knew hers as though it was his own.
He released her but only to turn her gently in his arms and embrace her fully.
I miss him, Braden. Every night of this godforsaken life in Five Bridges, I miss my husband. I hate that Veyda killed him. He never hurt anyone. He was good and kind, the best husband a woman could ever ask for. But I’m so alone in this world. Sometimes it gets to me.
Braden’s throat tightened and his eyes stung. She’d described her husband the way he always spoke of Laura, a good woman, never hurt anyone and Veyda had taken her life as well. He had no proof, of course. And he couldn’t find the witch so he could interrogate her.
He recalled what his wife had said to him earlier, that he needed to give Maeve a chance. His heart started pounding in his chest. Should he try to open up to this woman? Would it even be possible for them to be a real couple?
He drew back and saw that her eyes were full of tears. He took her face in his hands. He leaned down and kissed her cheeks in turn, then said, “I don’t know all the reasons we’ve come together. But I like being here, being with you. I feel like I got to know you through the times I visited you in your candle shop. I don’t know how it happ
ened, but I’ve thought of you as a good friend for months now.
“You saved my life as well. Maeve, I don’t know if this will mean anything in the face of what you suffered losing Frank as you did. But I want to be here for you however you need me. The stubborn part of me is still focused on uncovering what really happened the night my wife was murdered and I want every guilty party to pay. But I can be your friend moving forward. I can help you not to feel so alone and I suspect you could do the same for me. What do you think?”
He slid his hands down to rest lightly on her shoulders.
She ran her fingers through his hair. “I think I’d like that more than anything else in the world right now. You know, you go along and you think everything’s fine. You make peace as best you can with your circumstances. I thought I was doing okay. I really did. But I feel like I’ve been thrown into a whirlwind all over again.”
“I know I’ve stirred things up in your life. But Five Bridges is full of mystery. No one out there, in the normal world, can imagine the lives we have to lead in here. I mean, my wife spoke to me a few minutes ago and you have so much power in your left hand that you smashed up an entire room.”
“There’s only one thing, Braden.”
“What’s that? I want you to tell me anything. I mean it.”
“If we keep hanging out, I’ll want you in my bed again.”
He searched her eyes. He hadn’t expected her to be so direct about wanting him. “I want you, too.”
She swallowed hard. “But I have a feeling it’s going to complicate things and not in a good way.”
