Dark Wolf Rising (Bloodrunners) (27 page)

For a moment, Brian looked like he would argue. Then he shook his head and sighed. “Hell, it’s not like I can blame you. But there are a lot of us who think you’re the best one to take us into the future, Eric. So we won’t stop asking. We need a natural leader.”

“The Runners will be here to help, however we can. But this is where I belong.” The tight bond he shared with those who lived here in the Alley, as well as their friendship and loyalty, had proven that to him.

“Well, Meryl’s making her famous barbecue tomorrow,” Brian said, letting the matter go for the moment. “We’d like it if you and Chelsea could come up and have dinner with us. She wants to meet your little lady.”

Eric slid a questioning look at Chelsea, who smiled up at him with so much love shining in her eyes, he found it hard to believe he wasn’t dreaming. “I think we can manage that,” he replied in a low rumble, barely able to take his gaze off her so he could return his attention to Brian.

They settled on a time, and after they’d said goodbye and watched him drive away, Eric grabbed her hand and pulled her with him into the cabin.

“Are you really going to do it?” she asked while he locked the door behind them. “Become a Runner?”

Moving to stand in front of her, he said, “As long as you don’t have any objections.”

* * *

Chelsea couldn’t keep the smile off her face. “Are you kidding? I think it’s perfect. You’re needed here, Eric. And I hope that maybe I am, too.” It was hard to keep the worry out of her voice as she said, “So long as I can get the others to forgive me.”

Cupping her face in his hands, he said, “We need the hell out of you, sweetheart. And the others love you. They’ll forgive you for anything.”

For so many years she’d been locked down, her heart frozen into a hard, useless knot in her chest. But no more. Now she was burning with love for this outrageously wonderful man, undone by the breathtaking wealth of love she could feel burning in his own heart, and she knew what she needed to do. In a soft, emotional whisper, she said, “Then I have a question for you.”

“Okay,” he murmured, looking as if he was already thinking about kissing her again...and
more.

Gripping handfuls of his shirt to anchor herself, she stared up into his impossibly gorgeous face, and said, “Eric Drake, I love you more than I’ve ever even known was possible, and I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with you. Will you marry me?”

“Isn’t that
my
question?” His tone was wry, but there was an incandescent smile shining in his beautiful eyes.

“You’re too much action, too little words,” she teased with a soft laugh. “If I want it done, I’ve got to take matters into my own hands.”

With his own husky bark of laughter, he swept her up into his arms and carried her across the room, heading for the hallway. “How’s this for being a man of action?”

“It’s pretty smooth. I’ll give you that.”

He stopped just outside his bedroom door, his eyes blazing with molten hunger as he ran his tongue over the edge of his teeth, and it was so sexy she nearly died. Then he lowered his head, putting his face close to hers. “And what else will you give me?” he asked against her mouth.

“Everything,” she whispered, her heart so full she thought it might burst. “Anything you want.”

He pulled back a little, searching her eyes. “You mean it?”

Chelsea gave him a slow, wicked smile. “Baby, I’ve never meant anything more.”

* * *

Be sure to look for the next darkly sensual installment
in Rhyannon’s Bloodrunners series this fall,
when Elise Drake and Wyatt Pallaton’s
sizzling battle of wills comes to a head
in
Dark Wolf Running.

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ISBN: 9781460300909

Copyright © 2013 by Tabitha Bird

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