She closed her eyes. “You did it.”
“You went out into the night, heedless of your own safety, putting his life ahead of yours—which, by the way, we’re going to circle back to later—and you saved him from being alone.
She gave a shuddery, exhausted sigh. “Wyatt?”
“Yeah?”
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about the intern switch. I should have. I . . .” She squeezed her eyes shut. “I’m going to miss you,” she whispered. “More than I know how to admit.”
He blew out a breath. “Same. You came out of nowhere, knocked me on my ass.”
She set her head on his shoulder and tried not to cry again. “Will I see you? After I’m gone?”
“You marrying anyone anytime soon?”
She let out a watery laugh. “No.”
“Then yeah. I’ll see you. It’ll be okay, Em.”
“I hate it when you do that.”
“Do what?” he asked, stroking a big hand up and down her back.
“Act like a grown-up.”
It was his turn to huff out a laugh. “Yeah, well, it happens sometimes. We’ve got to call this one in, sweetness.”
“The police?”
“Yeah. That wasn’t a hit-and-run. And that wasn’t a coyote attack.”
“What was it?”
“I think someone’s fighting dogs.” Still sitting on the floor holding her, he pulled out his cell, hit a number, and put the phone to his ear. “Kel? Yeah, sorry man, I know it’s late. But we’ve got something you need to see.” He shoved his phone back in his pocket.
“Who’s Kel?”
“Local sheriff. He’s on his way.”
* * *
Kel arrived ten minutes later. He was a tall, lean, good-looking guy Emily recognized as one of the cops Wyatt played football against. Given his bed-head hair and unhappy expression, he’d clearly just dragged himself out of bed. “What’s going on?” he asked.
“Remember what you were telling me the other night after the game?” Wyatt asked. “About the dogs? You said you suspected you had an illegal dog fighting ring in the county.”
“Yeah.”
“I’ve got something to show you. Wait here a sec,” he said to Emily, and then he and Kel vanished down the hall.
A few minutes later they were back, Kel looking royally pissed off. “I don’t know what kind of sick fuck could do that to a dog.”
A half an hour later, Emily parked her car in her driveway, got out, and nearly screamed when a tall shadow materialized in front of her.
Wyatt.
“Need to be more aware of your surroundings,” he said.
“Why are you following me?”
“Making sure you got home okay.” He took her key from her and started to unlock the front door, but Sara pulled it open and gaped in horror at Emily’s bloody sweatshirt. “What—”
“It’s not her blood,” Wyatt said, and shouldered his way in, hands on Emily, nudging her ahead of him. “She’s just exhausted. I’m putting her to bed.”
“Do you need a padlock to keep her there?” Sara asked his back as he strode down the hallway like he owned the place.
“I’ve got my ways,” Wyatt called back.
“I bet,” Sara murmured.
Wyatt took Emily into the bathroom and started her shower. “Need help?”
“No.” It was an automatic response. She was good at not needing help. “I’m fine.”
Wyatt let out a breath that was as close to a sigh as she’d ever heard from him. “Don’t do that,” he said.
“Don’t what?”
“Don’t try to be Super Woman, not with me.”
She tried to laugh that off, but the sound was weak and she closed her mouth, afraid she’d go from laughing to crying again.
Leaning past her, Wyatt tested the hot water, and then he shocked her as he stripped quickly and efficiently, each movement economical and so masculine that she just stared at him.
When he was standing there naked and perfect, he began to remove her clothes, softening enough to smile when he caught her expression. “Don’t look at me like that,” he warned.
“Like what?”
“Like you want to eat me up.”
But God help her, she did. He was all smooth, rippled sinew and male virility, and in any other circumstance, she would’ve taken at least a nibble. “I’m not.”
He snorted, pushed her into the shower, and then followed, completely unselfconscious, even though he was quite obviously aroused. Eyes hooded, he washed her hair with firm, strong fingers, and she let herself enjoy the feeling of being taken care of. When his hands ran the soap down her body, her head fell back onto his chest. She closed her eyes so she couldn’t see the dog’s blood running off her, down the drain.
But it was embedded in her brain, and the shock of it, and her anger, hit her again, and she began to shake. She reached out for the wall but Wyatt turned her to face him and anchored her close. She rested her head on his shoulder and leaned into him as the tremors took her.
Wyatt set the soap aside and wrapped his other arm around her, too, and rested his head on top of hers, holding her until she calmed.
“I’m better,” she said.
He didn’t respond, nor did he let go of her. Instead, his hands glided up and down her back in a gesture she was sure he meant to be soothing and comforting, and it was. At first.
But then she started to tremble for another reason altogether, and that reason was directly related to being pressed up against his wet, hot, hard body. “If you want me to stop looking at you like that,” she murmured. “You’re gonna have to stop touching me.”
“I can control myself if you can.”
She stilled, then sighed. “Well that’s just great.”
He let out a low, male sound that went right through her to all her good spots, and lifted her chin so he could look into her face. “You can’t control yourself?” he asked.
Of course she couldn’t control herself, not with him, a fact she’d proven over and over again.
“Emily,” he said, a bit strained now. “I shouldn’t know that.” He nudged her from him so she could rinse, during which time he soaped himself up as quickly and efficiently as he’d stripped them both, a fact that did nothing to lessen her sudden and desperate need for the oblivion he always brought her.
He turned off the water and wrapped her in a towel, and then grabbed one for around his hips, blocking her view. “Sleep,” he said firmly. “You’re going to sleep.”
And then he practically shoved her into her bed.
She squeezed her eyes shut, not wanting to see him leave.
“Shit,” she heard him say, and the sound of his towel hitting the floor spiked her pulse as he slid in next to her.
“Wyatt—”
“Shh.” He flipped her away from him and hauled her back to his front. “Close your eyes and go to sleep.”
“We’re not going to . . .”
“What?” he asked.
He wanted her to say it? “Have sex,” she whispered. “Like the last time you slept over.”
“Besides the fact that we’re not doing that anymore, we didn’t have sex that night. Or any night here in this house.”
“Then what were we doing?” she asked.
It took him a moment to answer. “I’m going to let you wrestle with that one,” he finally said. “You let me know when you get it figured out.” He had a sinew-lined forearm snug against her belly, one of her bare breasts cupped in the palm of his big hand. His mouth was resting at the nape of her neck to subdue her. When she tried to move, he gently sank his teeth into the crook of her neck. The move was incredibly intimate, a little protective, and a whole lot possessive.
And she wouldn’t have admitted it out loud, but also arousing as hell.
Which wasn’t helping her cause. “If we’re not going there tonight,” she said, “you need to stop touching and biting my good parts.”
“C
an’t help it that you’re one all-over sweet-as-hell good part. Go to sleep, Emily.”
“There’s something poking me in my butt.”
“It’s just the blankets,” he said. “Ignore it.”
She squirmed a little, trying to get comfortable, and from behind her came a rough groan as his hands tightened on her. “Stop wriggling,” he commanded.
She couldn’t help it. The “thing” poking her had gotten bigger. “That’s not the blanket, is it?”
“No, it’s not the blanket.” He ran his hand softly down her arm and took her hand in his. “Now stop talking.”
Wrestling with the fact that she’d done this, she’d put the whole leaving Sunshine in motion, she’d ended whatever it was they’d had, she tried to remember why.
Los Angeles was her home.
Her dad was there, and he needed her.
The life she’d always wanted was there.
None of that helped. Wyatt was right here with her and she already missed him like hell. “Wyatt?” she whispered.
He let out a long breath. The alpha male version of What the hell now?
“I’m sorry,” she said.
His arm tightened on her but he didn’t speak.
She closed her eyes and tried to go to sleep. But it took a long time.
Twenty-eight
Emily woke up in the predawn to a grumpy Q-Tip on her chest and her phone buzzing. Since she’d fallen asleep what felt like only a few minutes ago, she was groggy as hell, but one thing was obvious.
Wyatt was gone . . .
Her heart clenched painfully as she reached for her phone. “’Lo,” she answered without looking at the screen. “Who died?”
“Don’t get mad,” Sara said. “But I let Woodrow out the back door and he took off on me.”
Emily tossed off her covers and sat up. “Took off? He never takes off.”
“Exactly, but he did, and I didn’t have my shoes on so I couldn’t run after him. I thought he’d just go out and do his business and come back. Should have known better, men never do what they’re supposed to. It’s why I’m gay.”
“Where’s Woodrow now?”
“No friggin’ clue. By the time I got my shoes on and made it outside, he was gone. I’ve got to get to work. Can you send Wyatt out to help me?”
“Wyatt’s gone,” Emily said, reaching out with a hand to touch the indentation on the pillow where his head had been.
“Why?” Sara asked.
“Because we’re not a thing. He was here last night just to make sure I was okay.”
“Bullshit. You messed this up by running chicken.”
Emily sighed. “I simply moved up a situation that was going to happen anyway.”
“If this is the part where you tell me how many days are left, I’m never going to cook for you again.”
Emily stared up at the ceiling. “Go to work, Sara, I’ll get Woodrow.” She disconnected and pulled on the first item of clothing she came to, which was a pair of sweats she’d stolen from Wyatt. They dwarfed her, but they’d keep her warm in the morning chill. She shoved her feet into sneakers, grabbed a jacket, and took off out the back door. “Woodrow!” she yelled.
Nothing.
She followed the route they always walked in the mornings, calling his name as she went, getting more concerned when she got no response.
Woodrow wasn’t a lone alpha type, he didn’t like to be alone.
A minute later she heard a bark coming from the one direction she really didn’t want to go—Big, Scary Neighbor Guy’s house.
Once again the ranch-style house was dark. And thankfully, there was no truck in the driveway. Emily pulled out her phone and called Sara. “I think he’s at Big, Scary Neighbor Guy’s house.”
“Don’t go in!”
“No kidding! I don’t think anyone’s home—”
Another bark. Definitely Woodrow.
“I heard that!” Sara said. “Sounds like him.”
“I’m calling Wyatt for backup.” Emily ended Sam’s call and tried Wyatt’s cell. When he answered, she told him what was going on.
“Go home,” he immediately said. “I’ll be right there.”
“But—”
But nothing, he’d ended the call. She shoved the phone in her pocket and turned to go home—and then heard a fierce bark.
Woodrow.
Heart in her throat, she eyed the house. Still dark. Still no sign of life. She walked around the back, where she found three pens, no animals in any of them. There was also a barn and a shed, both open. From the barn came noises that were all too familiar—the yipping and barking and howling she’d sometimes heard late at night.
“Hello?” she called out. She wasn’t anxious to run into anyone, nor did she want to be caught trespassing. With no one in sight, she poked her head in the barn and froze.
It wasn’t filled with what she’d expected, which would have been horses and the equipment that went along with said horses. Pens lined both long walls. Dog pens filled with dogs of all shapes and sizes. In the center of the barn was an arena, like a fighting pen. “Oh, God,” she said and quickly searched the locked pens for Woodrow.
He wasn’t here.
She stepped back into the sunlight and heard his bark coming from behind her. His bark was immediately followed by a growl.
And then another.
She ran over to the shed and peeked in to find Woodrow huddled, cornered by two dogs, who were showing their teeth. “Hey,” she yelled. “Back off!”
They turned to her, and when they did, Woodrow scurried around them, getting right in front of Emily. After that first night when he’d growled at Wyatt, she’d never seen him show an ounce of aggression, but he showed it now. His fur stood up along the length of his neck and back, and he was in a fighting stance.
Her heart went to her throat. He was healing, but there was no way he’d win a fight with these two. “Okay,” she said softly. “Let’s everyone just take a nice, deep breath and—”
“What the fuck.”
She craned her neck, and oh shit, felt a new wave of panic. Mr. Big, Scary Neighbor Guy was back, a big shadow standing in the doorway blocking her exit.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “My dog trespassed, but your dogs cornered him—” She broke off when he didn’t move, didn’t do anything but just stare at her.
She bent and scooped up Woodrow. “We’ll just go now.”
Not even an eye flicker.
“I don’t care what you’re doing out here,” she said. A big fat