The car swerved and hurtled out of sight. Barlow struggled to contain his agitated beast. His wolf was beating at his hold to be free, snarling and clawing at Barlow’s control.
“Susie!” he howled.
He had been happily enjoying Candace’s cheesecake – which he was sure she would not miss – when a stab of pain hit his heart. For a second he thought he had heartburn, but no, that would never happen – he could eat enough to feed a small village for a week and still have room for seconds.
No, it was something else.
Susie. His wolf whined, and he set off to find her. He followed her scent outside the restaurant. At first, his mind leaped to the possibility that she was ditching him, but her scent was tinged with something – not fear, but definitely distress.
It was lucky he found her when he did. Some bozo was driving on the sidewalk and coming right for her, and she wasn’t paying any attention. He had tried to get a look at the driver, but the windows were blacked out, and the plates had been removed. Hmmm.
His wolf would have sorely liked to teach the driver a lesson about road safety – with his claws of course, but Susie was his main concern.
He turned her around and was about to yell at her to be more careful, but he stalled. Tears were streaming down her face, and her body was shaking – and not from her near miss with the car. His nostrils flared, as he smelled the vomit.
“What happened?” he asked gruffly.
Susie shook her head. Her pretty face was a picture of misery.
“Please,” she whispered hoarsely, “I just want to go back to the hotel.”
Her eyes met his, and she looked like she was in agony. He was going to slaughter whoever had done this to her.
Barlow nodded and pressed a soft kiss to her forehead. She was hot and clammy, but he didn’t care. She looked like her heart was breaking, and a part of him felt broken too.
“What’s going on?”
His wolf let out a blood-curdling snarl, and he clutched Susie to him. His fangs lengthened, and he glanced over his shoulder to find Allen looking startled.
“Fuck off.”
Allen’s eyes bulged, but he quickly turned to anger. “What have you done to Susie?”
“Nothing.”
“Let me see her,” demanded Allen.
Susie whimpered and buried herself further into Barlow’s chest. Allen took a step towards them, intending to pry them apart so he could see Susie - so that he could have and comfort Susie. Never! He will never have her snarled his beast.
Barlow’s hand shot out to Allen’s neck. The male made the most satisfying little whines of pain.
Other people started filtering out of the restaurant. Jules, followed by Roxanne and Helen came out. Helen bared her fangs while Jules gaped at him.
“Barlow, what’s…”
“Jules, get Susie’s coat and purse. We’re leaving,” said Barlow, surprising himself at his calm tone.
She nodded and ran back into the restaurant.
His eyes slid back to the wolf choking at his hand. “Stay away from Susie,” he growled, and his wolf howled in agreement.
His wolf also didn’t want to relinquish his hold on Allen’s neck, but when Jules returned, he dropped the male and grasped Susie’s coat and purse.
He was a little surprised that Susie didn’t even want to talk to Jules; she wouldn’t remove her face from his chest to look at her best friend.
Without a word to anyone, he scooped up Susie and left. If she didn’t want to talk to anyone, that was fine with him. He wasn’t in the mood either.
Susie wasn’t the only one trembling. She had nearly been seriously hurt – again. He almost failed to protect her. She was almost gone, completely extinguished from his life.
As he raced back to the hotel, he tried to drown out his beast and ignored the swelling feeling that if something did happen to Susie, a part of him would go with her.
*
“I feel so embarrassed by what happened,” said Susie sheepishly.
She tucked a towel around her head and pulled her robe around her a little tighter. When they got back to the hotel, she spent an hour in the bath, scrubbing every part of her and washing her hair. Not to mention she had now washed her teeth three times and gargled mouthwash five times.
Barlow turned the TV off and watched her carefully. He was probably worried she was going to turn into a sobbing mess again.
She should have spoken to Jules, but she had been too upset and too much of a coward. So she hid and acted like a child. Everyone must have thought she was acting like an idiot. The thought bothered her for a second before another one hit her – who cares? Why would she care what Allen or Helen thought of her? What did either of them matter to her? And as for Roxanne, she could care less if Roxanne thought she was a total nut case. As for Jules… well, if Jules were her friend, she would understand. Though, she was a little shaky about that.
She would have to face Jules again – and soon. She was supposed to be her maid of freaking honor in the morning!
Barlow scooted to the edge of the bed and held out his hand to her. She shuffled over to him, and placed her tiny hand in his, allowing it to swallow hers. She smiled as warmth spread through her. Just his touch was comforting and reassuring.
Gently, he pulled her onto his lap, and he pressed his head into her neck. Gratefully, she curled up in his arms.
“What happened?”
“It’s nothing,” she murmured.
Barlow growled, vibrating against her neck. “Clearly, it wasn’t nothing.”
“I just overheard something I shouldn’t have, and I…” Susie winced. “I didn’t take it very well.”
“What was it?”
He rubbed his hand up and down her thigh.
“I just heard two of Helen’s friends talking. They said that before Allen cheated on me with Helen, he was cheating with my friend, Lila.” Barlow stiffened, and Susie took a deep breath before finishing – she had to force the words out. “And that Jules knew about it and she broke them up.”
Barlow grunted.
“Maybe I overreacted…” But thinking about it again hurt so very much.
“No, little darling, you’re entitled to your reaction.”
Susie was relieved to hear it. Everyone thought she was overreacting after what happened with Allen. They thought moving to a new town was ridiculous, but she just couldn’t stand by and be slapped in the face day after day. She didn’t have much pride, but she wanted to cling to it.
“You don’t still…” Barlow hesitated, and his chest heaved beneath her. “You don’t still care about him?”
“No – absolutely not. No motherfudging way!” she exclaimed vehemently. “I don’t think it’s that part that bothered me – I’ve come to terms with the fact that he’s a complete cheating asshat, but knowing that Lila did that and Jules…”
Fresh tears prickled.
“Hey, now, come on – they’re not worth your tears.”
Barlow’s hand cupped her cheek, his thumb rubbing away the tears that fell.
“Little darling, you’re worth a thousand of them.”
“No, I’m not.”
“Yes,” he growled, his face turning grim. “You deserve so much more. You deserve people who are loyal and kind like you.”
Susie gave him a watery smile. “You obviously think more of me than anyone else does.”
“Everyone else is stupid.”
“Right now, I agree.”
Susie inhaled a shuddering breath. She wondered what she had done to deserve being treated so crappily by Allen, but now she was wondering what she had done to deserve this treatment from a guy like Barlow. He was scarily close to perfect. Yes, he could be a little coarse and smug – but dang it if she didn’t love those things about him. He was so far removed from prim and proper, and she adored him for it. Adored him from his determination to wear torn, ragged jeans in the freezing cold to his tenacity in stealing everyone’s dessert.
Impulsively, she pressed her lips to his. He stilled slightly before drawing back, and Susie looked away. She must look a real sight – her skin still red from the sauna and now her face was puffy from crying.
“Sorry,” she muttered.
“Oh no, little darling, I don’t have a problem taking advantage of you when you’re upset if that’s what you were thinking. I just need to do this.”
He put her on the bed and ran to the hotel door, opened it and slipped a ‘do not disturb’ sign on the door.
He shut the door and started pulling his clothes off. “I ordered a few sandwiches from room service, but I think there’s something else I’d rather eat.” He waggled his eyebrows.
“Oh!” she gasped excitedly.
Susie crawled up the bed and only just had time to untie her robe before the wolf shifter was climbing up her body, kissing, suckling and devouring every inch of her.
Right or wrong, at that moment, this is just what she wanted.