Chapter 19

CHAPTER NINETEEN

On Monday morning, I felt refreshed from a full night’s sleep. I woke up early, put on my running clothes, and threw my hair up into a bun. Heading out on the trail, I fell into the comfortable meditative trance that I needed to reset myself from the past weekend. It had been too intense with Everett. I had never felt like that with a man before. He was addicting and made me forget what I was here to accomplish. I’d earned a scholarship to do research here, and that was what I was going to do. People like me didn’t get many chances like this, and I had worked hard to earn the opportunity.

After three miles, my head was reset, and I felt ready to tackle some more thesis writing. I hoped Professor Robinson would bring back some results for me on Thursday, but I had other things to keep me busy and on track with my work.

I walked down to my room, passing Jenny’s and Leo’s rooms along the way. Leo’s door was slightly ajar, and I saw him sleeping in his bed soundly. He must have gotten in late last night. Jenny was up working at her desk in her pink heart pajamas. I hurried past her door so I wouldn’t get caught in a conversation.

The day flew by, and I only noticed it was the evening when my room darkened, signaling the sun beginning to set. I stretched my arms above my head to relieve the tension in my muscles from sitting in a chair for so long. It was well past dinnertime. I was terrible at remembering to eat when I was working, and I had skipped lunch. Leo and Jenny’s rooms were both empty, and I was happy to have the evening to myself.

Looking at the floppy turkey sandwich I made myself for dinner, I missed the shifter’s cooking. I certainly didn’t go hungry when I was with them. Funny how my thoughts continued to come back to the shifters.

Even though I had sat at my desk for most of the day, I could still sense that my body was tired. Probably still recovering from the weekend. Pleased to find there was still rainwater, I took a quick shower before bed. After not having access to a shower the past two weekends, it was a luxury to smell decent before climbing under the sheets. Changing into comfortable pajamas, I got into bed for another night of sleep.

I heard the front door of the cabin open, and heavy footsteps alerted me it was Leo. The footsteps got closer to my room instead of stopping. A soft knock came from my door, and I opened it to see Leo standing in the doorway. His face looked tired and overworked. Mud splattered across his skin from the stream he had been standing in.

“You’ve been looking into the rot in the forest, right?” Leo asked. We didn’t know a lot about each other’s research projects, but he had seen me give the samples to Professor Robinson last week.

“Yeah, I am. Why?”

“It’s just that?—”

Tap, tap, tap. Hearing what sounded like a tree branch hitting the window in my bedroom, I leaned back holding onto the door frame to look. The curtains were closed, but I could still see an outline of a man standing outside my window, illuminated by the moonlight. What the…? Then I saw a flash of golden eyes and gasped.

You’ve got to be kidding me, I thought.

“Is everything okay?” Leo stood there waiting for me to give him the go-ahead to finish.

I couldn’t give him the opportunity. Not when a certain shifter was outside my window.

“Can we talk about this later? It’s getting kind of late,” I said, keeping my door as closed as possible.

“Yeah, you’re right.” He dragged his hand through his hair. “Can we talk about it soon?”

“Sure, Leo. Another time.” I placated him, ready to close my door and deal with what was lurking outside my window.

He mumbled something to himself as he turned around and walked toward his room. Jenny burst through the front door, and her eyes zeroed in on Leo. He ducked into his room before she could chase him down. Her posture dipped in defeat as she turned to head to the kitchen. I closed my door, quickly before she could come into my room next.

Tap. Tap, tap, tap.

“Lyka. Open up.” My heart skipped a beat and my limbs stiffened.

I wanted to ignore him, but I didn’t want to risk Jenny or Leo hearing and looking out their own windows to see a giant man standing outside of mine. Jenny might just invite him to her own window.

Pulling the curtains aside, I could see Everett’s scruff-covered face. “What do you want?” Even though the window was closed, I knew he could still hear me.

“Let me in, Elise.” I shook my head at him defiantly. “Fine. I’ll let myself in.” Everett forcefully pushed up on the window pane, snapping the lock that was in place.

“Fine! Fine!” There was still a screen separating us, and I wasn’t about to owe more damages to the university for an unhinged shifter breaking into my room. He pulled back his fist that had been about to punch through the screen as I carefully removed the screen frame and leaned it against the wall next to me.

Everett lifted his body through the window and landed with his feet on the floor of my room. His agility surprised me. He was large and could still fit his body through a window without a problem.

“You owe me for that lock,” I said.

Everett shrugged as if it wasn’t a big deal. “Not a problem. I’ll replace the whole window if that’s what it takes to get into your room.”

Scoffing at him, I put my hands on my hips. The cool breeze from the open window alerted my nipples that I was wearing a thin tank top and shorts. Everett’s eyes landed on them before I could cover them with my arms. He had only seen me in leggings and T-shirts. I felt practically naked in front of him.

“What do you want, Everett? Kidnapping and holding me hostage isn’t enough? You need to add breaking and entering to your resume?”

He laughed quietly as he walked toward me. “I’m glad you found your nerve, Elise. I love when you talk dirty to me.”

If attitude was what he wanted from me, then I had more than enough to give. I had too much attitude stored up from repressing it all my life.

“Are you always this dark and broody?” I asked. Everett was the king of mixed signals and sexual overtones. I wondered what signal he was sending me now, showing up at my window and breaking into my room.

“Only around you.” Everett took the last step toward me and pulled my arms away from my chest. My nipples would not subside their protrusion, and I could feel Everett’s gaze on them. He pulled me against his body, smashing my chest into his stomach. I was sure through his T-shirt he could feel the hard buds against his skin.

His head dipped to that familiar spot between my neck and shoulder as he breathed in. “I can’t fucking stay away from you.”

“And that makes you mad?” The thread between us was already taut, and I was losing my vision to the frosted glass forming around us.

“It makes me furious, Elise. I have never felt like this, and I don’t know what I’m doing.” His confession made me smile. How could an alpha wolf not know what they were doing? Something must’ve been wrong with him if he felt that way around me. I was nothing special. “Kleio told me this would happen.”

The mention of Kleio and the thought that they were talking about me privately both warmed my heart and made me curious. “Kleio said what?”

“Nothing, Lyka. Nothing. You smell so good.” His nose trailed up my neck and behind my ear, inhaling in my hair.

“Wonders, what a shower will do,” I said.

“Oh, you’re snippy, aren’t you, Elise?”

“Only when I’m irritated.”

“You don’t smell irritated to me.”

I gasped and pushed back from his hold. I suddenly felt cold and exposed. Crossing my arms across my chest again, I stared Everett down. He was dangerous, and his presence was addictive.

“Oh, you forgot I was a wolf, didn’t you?” he said. “I can smell your need for me from a mile away.”

“I don’t need you, Everett. There are other things I need to do.”

“Your mouth tells lies, but your scent tells the truth.” Everett was practically steaming with sexual energy. It was hard not to be pulled into the current.

“What do you think all of this stuff is?” Gesturing to the plants that lined my desk next to the window and all the papers that littered my desk, I looked at him unamused. “I’m here to research. I don’t need you. My thesis needs to be my priority. I’m far enough behind as it is.”

Everett stopped his brooding and turned to look at my desk. He lifted one of the potted plants on the desk. “So not only do you save trees, but you also grow them?”

“Yeah.” I laughed under my breath. “I do it all.”

Everett took his time lifting the little pots and examining each closely. The number of plants that littered my room could intrigue some people. I had collected quite a few more to add to my collection, putting them in little pots of dirt.

“All of your plants are doing so well. They’re so healthy.” Everett seemed surprised. I guess when your forest was turning brown and dying, seeing healthy plants was unexpected.

“I’ve always had a green thumb,” I said. “I had a large garden growing up.”

Everett continued to examine the plants, lifting each pot and delicately touching the leaves.

I talked to fill the silence. “I’m most interested in medicinal plants, plants that can heal.” He picked up a pot that held a flourishing plant of green leaves and white flowers. “That one’s yarrow. That’s what I used to stop the bleeding and heal your arm.” I reached out to touch the leaves and found my fingers touching Everett’s as he did the same. The sexual electricity in Everett was still flowing, and my finger became a conduit, channeling the raw energy. I gasped at the shock and pulled my hand away.

Everett carefully set down the plant and stalked me as I backed up. The back of my knees hit the bed, and I fell onto my butt, sitting on the bed, looking up at him. His golden eyes were swirling. He placed one knee next to me and climbed fully onto the bed, placing his other leg on my other side. My face was against his abdomen, and I could smell the outdoors on his skin.

Placing his hands under my arms, he lifted me further onto the bed, dragging my legs through the bridge of his own, gently laying me down. Leaning over, Everett lowered a hand on either side of my head and dropped toward me, staring at my lips. My hands found his chest as I tried to keep a distance between our bodies. My legs wriggled, and my center burned with anticipation. Everett was right—my body didn’t lie.

He easily broke through my hand barrier and planted a small kiss on my lips. This took me back. He usually filled my mouth with needy, rough kisses. What game was he playing? I’d gotten used to the uninhabited kisses. It needed the rush that came with Everett fully claiming my lips. My body came alive. I bucked my hips up to meet Everett’s, and a low growl greeted me from deep within his chest.

“Is your body telling me the truth, Elise?” His voice was gravelly and strained. He needed the roughness too.

I didn’t have words to answer him. I grabbed the bottom of his skull and pulled his face to mine. Our lips met softly until I traced my tongue along his closed lips. It was all the invitation Everett needed to proceed. The kiss was electric. Our lips and tongues were at war with each other, searching for some semblance of relief. Kissing did nothing but fuel the fire growing deep between my legs. I hadn’t found release since I had gotten here. Wilder surely had done nothing to help me, and Everett left me feeling desperate every time we touched.

I wrapped my legs around his hips and lifted my center to his. I groaned at the feeling of his hardness, ready for me. The pressure against the nub between my legs was too much. Everett chuckled between my lips. He broke the kiss, getting into a kneeling position, and grabbed my hips. Lifting me up by my pelvic bone, he pulled my open center against his hard shaft, and I gasped at the sensation.

“I haven’t been able to get rid of this since I kissed you at the bar last week.” My eyes widened. “It’s fucking miserable. Do you feel what you do to me?” He thrusted his clothed erection against my opening and started moving my hips up and down its length. My head fell back as I moaned at the sensation.

“Why don’t you do something about it?” I was more than willing and wanting. Everett was being nothing more than a tease. He set my hips down and draped his body over mine. His nose trailed from between my breasts, up my neck and to my ear. I could feel the line he’d made even after his lips brushed my ear.

“Knowing you, Lyka, you would be anything but quiet,” he said. “I won’t share the noises that will come out of your mouth when I make you come with anyone. Those noises are for my ears only.”

Luckily it was dark because I could feel my face turn a deep red. I wondered if he could smell that my roommates were home. Oh god, I hoped I hadn’t woken them up. Jenny would have so many questions in the morning.

Everett stuck his nose in the spot between my neck and shoulder that had become one of my favorite parts of my body. Whispering quietly enough for only my ears, he spoke to me. “I’ll do something about it soon.” He nuzzled the spot, inhaling deeply before he lifted himself off me.

I sat up on my elbows and gazed at his shadowy figure. Deep, rapid breaths filled the dark room.

He made his way to the window and started to climb out. “I need to get back to the pack. You’re too tempting. You smell too good.” In the shadow of his body, I could see him adjusting himself in his pants, trying to find a comfortable position. “Make sure you close your window after I leave. I don’t want any other wolves to smell your desire.”

I scoffed as he fully exited my window. “You’re such a tease, Everett!”

What was he doing coming to see me, visiting me like that and then leaving me in a haze of need? I could hear him chuckling to himself as he walked away, back into the woods.

I closed my window loudly so he could hear the slam and flung myself back on my bed. Yet again, left unfulfilled.