AllFreeNovel
Share Us
M A D D I E
“What is this place?”I ask as Wolf and I stop on the covered porch of a house near the back of the grounds.
The garden around it is overgrown in places, and it’s got a distinctly abandoned air to it, telling me that we’re not dropping by to visit somebody. No lights are on inside, the drapes are closed, and even though it’s raining, the porch we’re on is covered in a thick layer of dust.
“The dowager house,” Wolf says as he shakes the water out of his long hair. When he looks at me again, he must notice that I’m shivering because he suddenly starts for the door.
It may be spring, but I’ve been drenched for a while now, and it’s not summer yet. There’s a definite bite in the air today, but I’ve been too wrapped up in our conversation to think much about it until now. “Come on, let’s get you inside before your teeth start chattering. Then I’ll explain more.” He grabs my hands and twists the door handle before pushing it open.
A soft creak sounds as it swings in. For a moment, I wonder if we’re supposed to be here, but when he walks in like he owns the place and tugs me with him, I follow. He said this place wasn’t sanctioned for the Trials, but he doesn’t seem concerned about bringing me.
Mustiness clings to the air inside and most of the furniture has been covered by white cloth, but it’s still a nice place. Dim light filters in from outside. Even though he doesn’t switch on any of the lights, it’s not so dark in here that it’s as scary as it might be at nighttime.
The living areas are spacious, with high ceilings and intricate details carved into the wooden cornices. As in the palace, large fireplaces are in almost every room with elaborate mantelpieces and what appears to be expensive art on the walls. Abandoned or not, the place has certainly retained an elegant character.
“This is the dowager house?” I ask as Wolf leads me further in, heading for the living room and more specifically, the fireplace and the basket of kindling beside it.
He releases my hand and drops to his haunches, grabbing a few pieces of wood and packing them neatly before he turns to look up at me. “Yep. It’s where the widowed parents of the king or queen would stay. Kaz’s grandfather lived here until he passed almost a decade ago now. At the moment, it’s kept nice for visitors, but it’s rarely used, which is why everything is covered.”
He pushes to his feet and strides to a small box on the mantel. After reaching in, he comes back with firelighters and a book of matches. While he gets the fire going, I cross my arms to keep warm as I look around.
Wolf was right when he said it was being kept nice. There was dust on the porch, but it’s clean enough in here. Maybe a little dusty, but not dirty. Thick rugs cover the floor in front of the fireplaces, and the carpets leading away from the living spaces aren’t grimy.
Once he’s got a few flames licking the stacked logs, he turns and takes my hand again. “I’ll give you a tour while this gets going. It’ll take a while before it’s nice and toasty in here. Come to think of it, we should probably also get you out of those clothes.”
“Wow. You’re not even going to try to charm me out of them?” I tease lightly. “Are we really at that point in our relationship where you come right out and say I need to get naked?”
He smirks, humor flashing in those eyes as he rakes them over me from top to bottom. “I’d love for us to be at that point, but I don’t mind putting in a little bit more work if we’re not. That, however, was more of a practical suggestion than a real attempt at getting you naked.”
“Since I can’t feel my toes anymore, you won’t get any arguments from me.” I’m freaking freezing, so cold that I wince every time my soaked clothes touch a new part of me as I move, but I don’t want to come across as being too needy. I’m the one who fell asleep in the rain. This is what I get for it. It’s not Wolf’s problem or his fault.
He seems to know how cold I am anyway, though. Leading me down a long corridor, he walks straight to a bathroom with a shower larger than the one in my chambers. After releasing my hand again, he steps into it and turns the faucet, then he glances at me over his shoulder. “Right. Get naked, then. That should warm up in a minute.”
“Are you going to leave?”
He grins and cocks a hip against the counter, making a show of getting comfortable before he shakes his head. “I don’t think I will. I just need to track down some towels, but I might join you once I have.”
“You’re joining me?”
“Perhaps. Some Omega fell asleep in the rain, and I heroically swept in to save her from pneumonia. Now I’m soaked to the bone and freezing my balls off. I know how good Tai is in bed, so I’m not saying I blame you, but there was a roof like, two meters away. Couldn’t you just have fucked there?”
“You’d still have been soaked,” I point out. “On account of the heroic rescue and all.”
“Good point.” He winks at me before he pushes away from the counter to bend over and rummage through the cabinets. “Or, if we weren’t out in the elements, I might have joined you. Although, it looked like I might’ve been a little late to the party.”
“How does that work?” I blurt out before I can stop myself. All the blood in my veins that hasn’t frozen over shoots to my face and I groan. “Why does this keep happening to me?”
“What?” he asks, amusement heavy in his tone as he pulls out two towels and sets them down on the vanity.
“I’ve always had a talent for putting my foot in my mouth. It’s like the clumsiness, so much a part of me that I can’t get away from it, but it’s so much worse around you lot.”
“Oh, so we’re the problem?” he teases before he shrugs out of his light jacket and grips the collar of his shirt.
The fabric sticks to him for a minute. As he tugs at it at the nape of his neck, it breaks free and rises to expose all those golden ridges and valleys I haven’t had the pleasure of properly ogling before.
That night with him and Tai, I was too caught up by the time he got naked to pay enough attention, but now…my mouth dries up completely. Need blossoms through me, heating me right back up before I’ve even come close to the shower.
As I gaze at him, drinking in those washboard abs and the narrow V of his hips with the smattering of blond hair leading down from his belly button, slick gathers between my legs again. I almost moan out loud, but I manage to bite it back at the last moment.
