Ellie
“That’s the only room they have?” Ellie asked, squirming uncomfortably in her seat as she listened to Christian call hotel after hotel.
She pulled into another large gas station on the edge of Abilene. Christian relayed the discussion he was having with the clerk, who had finally said they had a room. Not only was it the only room, but that they were lucky to get it. The whole hotel was sold out. And probably every other hotel in town—Christian had sure called enough already from the road.
“Thanks,” he said. “We’ll take it.”
“I can’t believe it was that hard to find a room,” she said nervously, thinking about having to share a hotel room with Christian.
“Football something or other, I guess. We’ll figure it out,” he murmured. “I’ve got to grab some clothes and stuff inside. You okay here for a few minutes?”
She nodded. “I need to check my messages back at the office.”
He handed her the phone and slid out of the truck. The limp was less. She watched his denim clad ass the whole way into the store. He was healing well. She needed to check his hip once they got into the hotel room. Just to make sure everything looked kosher.
Ellie dialed and punched the code for the office phone first. A message from Mrs. Tillen played first. She wasn’t surprised. But luckily it was just an update that said JoJo was healing well and trying to move around. Not good. She dialed Mrs. Tillen’s number and waited for the old woman to pick up. She did.
“Hello?”
“Mrs. Tillen, it’s Ellie Culver. I’m on a friend’s phone.”
“Ellie, thank you for checking on us.”
“You need to be sure you’re giving JoJo the pain meds twice a day. He shouldn’t be moving. He’ll rip his stitches.”
“Oh, I thought it was once a day. I’ll give him another. Poor baby. Yes, I’ll make sure he stays in bed,” Mrs. Tillen answered, her voice genuinely concerned.
“Okay. I’ll be out of town for a few days but leave a message on my office phone. I’ll be checking it. My cell had an accident.”
“Thank you, Ellie. I hope everything’s okay.”
“It will all be fine. Take care, Mrs. Tillen.”
She hung up and breathed a sigh of relief. JoJo would be fine if she would just make sure he took the meds she’d prescribed. Now to check the second message on the office phone. She dialed again and waited. Rosalee’s voice rang through the speaker this time, Ryan’s mother.
We’ve been by your house, Ellie. Your truck is out, so we know you’ve left. Where are you? We still can’t find the wolf, either. Wherever you are, stay safe. And please check in when you can. I just want to know you’re okay.
Ellie sighed. Candace would be at her house soon, and things would get tense. All her life, she’d never really understood the way the Culvers and the Travis families fought. But they did. Constantly. Long before Donny died, there’d been bad blood. She and Donny had joked about how they were Romeo and Juliet, meeting in secret to avoid both families flipping out.
Their ceremony hadn’t been big, and it had been quick. They knew it would cause rumbles in the family. But Ellie had secretly hoped it would heal things. Make the families whole again.
No such luck.
It was too painful to see her cousins, knowing that they partly blamed her for bringing the feud back to the surface. She hadn’t been able to stay in the west of the state with Candace, but she couldn’t live with Ryan and Rosalee around her all the time. She’d bought her own place as soon as she finished vet school. Started her own office like she’d always wanted to. Like Donny had wanted her too. He’d supported her while she was in school. He’d helped make her dream reality.
And she just tried to stay separate from all of them as much as possible. Which was hard when they all still considered her family and checked in on her several times a week.
Three years and she still hadn’t been able to move on from Donny. It wasn’t like she hadn’t given it a shot. She’d gone on a couple of blind dates. Mostly they’d ended in her apologizing and leaving early. So, she’d just stopped.
But now.
Now was different.
Now Fate had stepped in, and it pissed Ellie off.
She didn’t feel ready to close the door on her grief over Donny. But for the first time in three years, she wished she was.
The passenger door swung open, and Ellie jumped, startled from her thoughts.
“Hey, you okay?” Christian gave her a concerned glance as he climbed inside.
Ellie put the phone in the cup holder between them and nodded. “Fine.”
He shoved a couple plastic bags between his legs onto the floorboard. “You sure?” He reached for her arm, and she flinched. She couldn’t handle that right now. That flood of desire and longing and knowing how good it could be if she would just let go.
The hurt in Christian’s eyes was clear, but he didn’t speak. Just retracted his hand, snapped his seatbelt into place, and turned to stare out the window.
“I’m sorry,” Ellie whispered.
“It’s fine. The hotel is just a few blocks up here,” he said, changing the subject.
She swallowed slowly and nodded. “I need to look at your hip when we get there.”
His body tensed beside her, and Dodger whined. They’d stopped long ago to get him water and food, but apparently, he could sense all the emotional upheaval that overtook them when they tried to ignore Fate.
Ellie put the truck in gear, and they were parked in the hotel lot in less than five minutes. No luggage except Christian’s bags from the convenience store. She pulled Dodger’s service dog vest out of the back seat and clipped it on. Immediately, her attentive guard dog relaxed just a smidge. His tongue lolled out, and he gave a low woof.
“He’s a service dog?” Christian asked as they crossed the parking lot to the lobby entrance.
“We went to therapy school after Donny died. I wanted him to be able to go anywhere with me. A friend recommended I get him trained and certified. So, we did. It was great for both of us.” She stroked Dodger’s head and snapped on the short nylon leash she kept in the same pocket with his vest. “Good boy.”
Dodger got a couple of interested looks in the hotel lobby, but no one said a word. They were up in their room in less than five minutes. Christian sat on the foot of the one king-sized bed in the room. She unsnapped Dodger’s vest and leash and the big shepherd bounded over to Christian to beg for some ear scratches. That the dog liked Christian so much, so quickly, made her feel even better about the choice she’d made to help him. And every time she uncovered more about the mess Christian was in, she felt reassured that he needed her help. Fate or not.
“I should look at your incision, just to make sure it’s healing properly.”
“Sure,” Christian said. He stood, undid his jeans, and hesitated. “This is gonna be awkward.”
Ellie gulped and walked closer. “I know. But I’ll feel better if I see the wound and know it’s not infected. Even though you’re a wolf, it doesn’t mean things always go perfectly.”
He slowly dropped the jeans to his thighs and waited. Ellie tugged at the elastic band of the boxers and did her very best not to stare at the half-erection tenting the front. She stroked along the seam of the incision, wishing she didn’t like the feel of his skin—the spark of the magick—as much as she did.
She closed her eyes for a moment and then refocused on the wound. Slightly red. No warmth. It was healing. No sign of any infection. And she’d used a glue that would be absorbed by the body instead of stitches. By the next morning, he probably wouldn’t even have a scar.
“It-It’s good,” she said, pulling up the elastic of the boxers and stepping away from him before he could reach out to her. “I’m sorry, there’s only one bed.”
“It’ll be fine,” Christian said. “I’m gonna shower really quick and I’ll take the floor.”
“No. I can’t let—”
“Trust me. I’d rather not sleep in the same bed with you, with Dodger around.” He gave an easier smile than she’d seen on him since they met, and she offered one back.
He likes you, though, she wanted to say.
She didn’t.
“He’s not a bed-sleeper. Too much guard-dog in him.” She gestured to the pile of pillows. “It’s a king and there’s plenty of room. I’ll make a barrier between us.”
His brows came together, but he finally nodded, grabbing one of the convenience store bags and disappearing behind the bathroom door. “There’s food in the other bag,” he hollered from behind the closed door.
Ellie’s stomach growled loudly, reminding her she hadn’t eaten a thing yet today. She dug around in the bag and pulled out a granola bar and a bag of jerky. She gave Dodger a few pieces of the beef to chew on and she devoured the granola in two seconds. It was enough for now. Her stomach was too unsettled to want a full meal.
She toed off her boots and then stared at the big empty bed. She pulled down the comforter and sheet, then grabbed the extra pillows and created a wall of defense for the night. She scoffed. Who was she kidding? A couple of pillows wasn’t going to protect her from the desire coiling inside her body. Or the gnawing hunger to know what Christian tasted like.
But she couldn’t go there.
He needed her help to get to Molly. That was all. She would help him and then go back to her quiet little veterinary office and love on people’s pets for the rest of her life. It was a good life. Fulfilling.
She looked down at Dodger. He whined. “Don’t give me any lip. This is what’s best.”
Dodger huffed and plopped his head on the carpet.
She lay down on the bed and stared up at the old white popcorn ceiling until the bathroom door opened and Christian emerged, no longer dressed in Donny’s clothes. Now he had on a plain black t-shirt and a pair of dark wash jeans. It suited him better than Donny’s lighter plaid clothes.
Christian didn’t seem like the plaid sort of cowboy. Not that it mattered what she thought. Or how he dressed.
“Feel better?”
“Mmmm,” he said, nodding. “Much.”
“I’ve never been to the Quades. Do you know where we should go tomorrow to find…” she trailed off, trying not to mention his sister’s name. She wanted to ask if the Quades were holding Molly. But it wasn’t her place, and Christian had already shared more than he wanted. It was fine. She was there to help. Whatever needed to be done… they would figure it out.
“Yeah. I know where we’re going.” He circled the room and sat on the opposite side of the bed. “There are clothes in the bathroom for you, too.”
Ellie’s eyebrows rose. “Thanks.” She scooted off the bed and went to investigate what he’d found for her to wear.
Donny’s clothes were folded neatly and sitting on the counter next to the sink. The bag was on top of them. She peeked inside. A pair of black sweatpants, Texas panties, and a navy blue sweatshirt with an emblem of the Texas flag sat right on the top of the pile of other stuff—deodorant, a razor, toothpaste, toothbrushes for both of them, a hairbrush, comb, extra socks. Damn. If she didn’t know better, she’d think he was a father. She’d never met a guy who would’ve thought to buy all these essentials. And clothes for her.
A shower sounded really nice, though. She flipped on the water, shimmied out of her clothes, and slipped beneath the stream of scalding hot water. All the grime of the day. All the need and doubt Fate kept laying on her shoulders. All the worry she’d carried since she found Christian in that ditch. All the stress since she’d heard Rosalee’s message and knew she’d chosen to help the pack’s enemy.
But it wasn’t the first time she’d chosen against pack and family. She’d done that by marrying Donny, too. She just wanted a moment’s peace from all of that drama. And inside the hot water, she let herself pretend it was just her and Christian against the world. Just for a moment. It was heaven.
By the time she got out of the shower and dressed in the sweats, Christian’s jeans were hanging over the chair and he was snoring softly on his side of the bed. Dodger was curled up on his side of the bed, nearest the door. She huffed out a silent exclamation. Even her dog liked Christian. That said a lot, because he was very picky about his friends.
Dodger opened one eye as she crossed the room to the bed.
“I see you. Turncoat,” she hissed out softly. “You’re not making my life easier by putting your stamp of approval on him.” She climbed beneath the covers and sighed. Nothing about this was easy. The magick between them flitted along her skin, teasing her with what was out of reach.
But Fate was wrong.
Had to be.
Candace was right. She still owed the Culvers for what she and Donny had done. She didn’t deserve to be happy with another man. So soon.
So soon? A little voice echoed inside her head. Three years. That’s not soon.
In some ways, it had been three years, and in some ways, it was still happening. She watched Christian sleep, and her insides went a little clammy. Maybe he would keep the dreams away tonight.
His presence was calming. Comforting. Even through a wall of pillows. And for just a second, as she drifted off, it really was her and Christian. And nothing else mattered.