Wolves at the Door (41 page)

“Sorry. I distracted you.” He moved to the end of the bed. “You need to eat. I’m staying over here until you finish.”

I wanted to wolf it down so I’d have Zack sooner, but my body needed all the nutrients the food had to offer, so I took my time chewing.

“I hope Maya and Trevor weren’t too disappointed that we flaked on them today,” I said between forkfuls. “What excuse did you give them?”

“I said you weren’t feeling well. Cramps. It was all I could think of that wouldn’t make them worry you were coming down with something.”

“Good thinking.”

When I’d scarfed the last bite, Zack took the bowl and set it on the nightstand. “How are you feeling?”

“Pretty damn good. My throat doesn’t hurt anymore and I’m tingling all over. It’s like my nerve endings and everything are coming to life.” But I had a feeling the tingling might be because of the way he was looking at me.

“Well, you should get some rest.” Zack moved off the bed.

“What? I thought you were going to give me a hicky.” Wow, did I really just say that?

Zack chuckled softly. “I said I
wanted
to, not that I
would
. You can’t spend your energy on me when you need to heal. And I don’t want to accidentally hurt you.”

A part of me knew he was right. “I’ll probably be almost like new in a few minutes.”

“It might
seem
that way to you. Renzo said the major stuff heals quickly, but sometimes the smaller things, like tiny blood vessels, take longer so you shouldn’t do anything strenuous and risk re-injuring yourself.”

“Speaking of Renzo, he knows I’m a shape-shifter now and that we’re dating. Since we’re both still alive and he didn’t report us to the king, he couldn’t be all that bad,” I said.

“Charles got William and Daniel out of the way for us and he was more dangerous than them. For some reason, Renzo is protecting us and I’m grateful for that. But he still has secrets and until he opens up, I can’t trust him completely.”

“I suppose you’re right.” But I wanted Zack to be wrong. “You’re staying the night, right?”

He shook his head. “I’m afraid you’ll tempt me into doing something I shouldn’t, and you’ll end up straining yourself.”

“I promise
to be a perfect angel.” I grinned.

Instead of coming to bed, Zack
came around to my side and gently lifted my covers. He moved my shirt and lowered his mouth to my exposed stomach, his lips landing just above my belly button.

One Mississippi… two Mississippi… three Mississippi…

“Mmm.” I touched the nape of his neck with my fingertips, prickles of heat spreading toward my toes. One thing was certain — Zack was good for my circulation.

He abandoned my stomach and gave me a searing kiss. I wound my fingers through his hair and pulled him closer.

He straightened suddenly. “This couldn’t be conducive to healing. I’ll be over there.” He pointed to a chair. “You go to sleep.”

Despite the disappointment weighing in my gut, my eyelids drooped. He tucked the comforter under my chin and an instant later, I succumbed to the will of my lids.

† † †

“Good morning.” Zack rested on his side, his free hand removing a wayward tress from my forehead.

“Morning,” I returned.

“Stay here and I’ll get breakfast ready.”

Zack cooking breakfast? I grimaced.

“Relax.” He grinned. “We can do cereal.”

“I’m fine to cook.” I tested my legs by swinging them off the bed and onto the floor, then rose to my full height. “I feel…”

He rushed to my side, his hands shooting to my hips to steady me. “Are you okay?”

“I feel… exactly like a normal shape-shifter. Good as new.”

“Okay, you
feel
that way but it doesn’t mean you are. I want you to take it easy today.”

I touched his face. “Thank you for worrying about me, but I don’t think making an omelet will be too strenuous.”

He helped me cook breakfast, even though I didn’t need it. I’d never liked my parents’ hovering, but from Zack, it was nice.

† † †

Zack parked and walked around the car to my side, but instead of walking me to class, he hesitated. “Autumn.”

“Yes?” My fingers automatically reached for my scarf to make sure it lay securely around my neck to conceal my scar.

“It’s been stressful, worrying about Charles and Renzo. Between them and dealing with the fake breakup and guys trying to hook up with you, I’ve been going crazy. But that’s over now and the urge to pulverize Cameron has passed.” He took a deep breath. “My head is clear again. I’m ready to talk about it.”

“Right here? Now?”

“Yeah. We’re a little early.” He glanced around the school lot before focusing on me again. “The reason I got so upset was because we were supposed to be broken up. See, in the eyes of everyone else, you were no longer my girlfriend. So that left you open to creeps like Greg and also decent guys like Cameron. A guy who’d be better for you than a werewolf.”

“Cameron is
not
better for me. How can you say that?” I cupped his face and waited for him to meet my gaze. “I don’t feel the same way about him. It’s
you
I want.”

“But that’s not what I was thinking at the time. The only thing going through my head was that you were on the market and a big free-for-all for every guy looking for action. I’d watch these guys leer like you had a big bull’s-eye painted on you. And the whole time, I wanted to tell them you belonged to me.
Me.
Instead, I had to watch them slobber over you. And when you told me Cameron kissed you, I almost lost my mind. Because there wasn’t a damn thing I could do about it.”

“I’m sorry.” I brushed my lips against his, secretly taking pleasure in knowing that he’d been just as miserable as me during our pretend break-up.

“After you told me that he’d kissed you, I kept wondering if you liked it. I obsessed on it.”

Uh-oh. Zack wasn’t actually asking me to respond, but I could tell he expected me to. I didn’t want to tell him that it wasn’t awful. But I needed to tell the truth. I didn’t want any more lies mucking up my life. I licked my lips, nervous at the myriad of possible reactions Zack might have. “Well, kissing Cameron…could never compare to kissing you.”

Zack’s scowl softened.

“How was it making out with Gina?” I asked.

He grimaced. “Weird. The whole time, all I could think about was you. I didn’t throw her out, because I didn’t want to let you down and I’d gone too far to give up. It never occurred to me you’d be upset since you knew it was fake. Autumn, you need to believe me that I didn’t want to be with her — for the same reason I stopped seeing her before you and I ever double-dated with Trevor and Maya.”

“And what reason was that?”

“I didn’t feel right about being with one girl when I was thinking of another,” Zack said.

I assumed that
I
was the girl
now
, but who was it before he really knew me? “Thinking of who?”

He gave me a lopsided smile, a dimple appearing on his left cheek. “Since that first day you bumped into me, you’re the only girl spending time in my head.”

I felt my eyebrows scrunch together. “But you couldn’t stand me.”

“True. So imagine how frustrating that was for me when you were the only thing on my mind.”

I blinked. What a confession.

He frowned. “Should I not have shared that?”

In answer, I flung my arms around his neck, pushing him against the car. He bounced off the fender laughing.

“I wish I’d known all that,” I said. “It would have saved me so much angst. And I’m sorry about letting Cameron kiss me. I wasn’t thinking. I should’ve expected it. Yet when it happened I was so completely stunned, I couldn’t react properly during or after.”

“Which is why from now on, you’ll never speak to another guy ever again.” A corner of his mouth twitched. He grabbed me by my hips and lifted me to the hood of the car.

“Just like you’ll never speak to any other girl ever again.” I raised one brow.

“None that count anyway.” He grinned, tucked my calves behind his thighs and brought his palms down so they lay against the hood on either side of me. “I have to make sure you can’t get away.”

“Hmm. This from the guy who can’t even say out loud how he feels about me.”

“Actions speak louder than words.” He dropped a kiss on my shoulder. “Besides, saying that would be like lying.”

“What?” I tried to squirm away.

“If I put my feelings for you into words.” His lips curved up as he held my hips, which kept my butt firmly planted on the hood. “It’s just… it’d be an understatement.”

I stopped struggling. “Because you
more
than like me?”

“Maybe.” Zack’s mouth curved up on one side.

Oh, why wouldn’t he just say it? But did it really matter? I knew how he felt. And he knew I knew. Verbalizing it was just a formality.

Finally, we were free to be together, at least for now, and I wanted to enjoy it — out in the open, for all the world to see.

“Shut up and kiss me,” I said.

“I can do that.” Gripping my hips, he scooted me closer and wedged himself between my thighs. His lips touched mine and heat pooled in my belly. Then he whispered against my lips, “This is where I want to be. Right here. With you.”

He closed the distance again and kissed me long and slow, as though I belonged to him.

And I did.

The End

~~~

If you enjoyed this book, please recommend it to friends, reader’s groups and discussion boards or tell others how much you enjoyed it by reviewing it on Amazon, GoodReads or your own site. Thank you and happy reading!

Other books in the Shapes of Autumn series:

Thrown to the Wolves: The Legend of Hannah & Eli
(Shapes of Autumn, book 0.2) — Coming March 2014.

Beauty and the Wolf
, (Shapes of Autumn, 0.5) Lucio and Favianne’s story — coming soon!

My Wolf’s Bane
(Shapes of Autumn, book one)

Wolves at the Door
(Shapes of Autumn, book two)

Look for more of Zack and Autumn in book three of the Shapes of Autumn series coming in late 2014.

In the meantime, turn the page for peeks of other books by Veronica Blade.

~~~

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I always say it takes a village to write a book. When telling a story, I visualize everything so clearly and the story unfolds beautifully in my head. But getting it down on paper? That’s another matter entirely. So I depend heavily on feedback from multiple readers, which is pivotal to making my story the best it can be. I’m forever grateful to my virtual team, whether they are trudging through the worst of the mistakes or cheering me on at the end because it’s all coming together.

I don’t know what I’d do without my very talented writer pals PR Mason, Laura Sheehan and Felice Fox. And of course, there is the awesome Susan Hatler — not putting my work through her before publishing it would be unthinkable. Susan, I love you more than ever! I’m grateful to those who beta read Wolves at the Door, like Megan Durrance, Shelby Ray, Kimmie Easley, April Schiff Pohren, Emily Mansfield McNew — and the list goes on. You know who you are — thank you all so much!!

I’d like to thank my sister-in-law Allie who inspired me to write the Shapes of Autumn series; a warm and fuzzy thank you to Sara E who is ALWAYS there for me; my earlier beta readers Sausha, Jen B, Karie, Hayly, Athena, Lee, and many others whose enthusiasm for my stories keeps me believing in my writing. And a very special hell-yeah to Rose Nomura for her gorgeous cover design!

Last, but not least, big kisses to my amazing husband who tolerates gross acts of negligence on my part when I get sucked into a story and who never stops believing in me. Baby, you’re the best husband in all the land!