Page 23 of Hellhounds Never Lie

When that was done, a smidgeon of my anxiety eased.

Dillon took the side of the bed closest to the door again. We silently crawled under the covers. When his arms wrapped around me, I trembled. He squeezed me tight, and I closed my eyes. He had saved me tonight. Saved us both, really.

I was safe with him.

But I needed to keep him safe too and I’d failed. Dillon had come to my home and been attacked. I hadn’t been able to protect him. If my magic wasn’t damaged, maybe things would have been different. But as it was, I was useless.

That hole in the mattress had almost been a hole in his chest.

And I couldn’t quit thinking about that.

ChapterNine

DILLON

Morning came too soon.

I doubted either Ash or I slept more than a few minutes at a time after Van left. Maybe it was even less than that. I consciously listened to everything, making sure nothing was out of place. Then I’d sniff, checking that all the right scents were in the air.

And then I’d get irritated.

There were too many scents in Ash’s bedroom—all those strangers trampling through his inner sanctum as they dealt with that stupid wolf—but at least I understood why they were there. Still, that didn’t mean I wouldn’t be setting aside some time later today to rub my scent all over his stuff. I might get him to do the same, so our scents were mingled together in his bedroom.

Hopefully that would help calm my beast, because right now the only thing keeping me from shifting and hunting down the wolf who got away was knowing how much Ash needed me.

He'd clung to me the whole night.

Well, it was probably more accurate to say we’d clung to one another.

It wasn’t sexual. We hadn’t even kissed after we crawled into bed and held each other tight.

Rest hadn’t come easily. We’d each flipped and flopped through the night, always moving slowly as we tried not to disturb the other. And then, when we settled, we cuddled up again. That happened over and over and over.

As dawn approached, my hellhound’s anxiety eased. I doubted the wolves would attack in daylight. Their magical amulet might let them move without being scented or heard, but it hadn’t stopped me from seeing them. That lessening sense of worry was the only reason we were cuddling as we were now, with Ash’s body blanketing mine and his head resting on my chest. I liked having him draped over me like I was his favorite pillow, but I would never have been okay with it during the night. When the shadows had cloaked the room, I’d needed to know I was between him and any possible threat.

What a long fucking night.

I stifled a yawn as I brushed a kiss against his hair. I resisted the urge to squeeze him tight in case he’d finally managed to fall into a restful sleep.

As I breathed in his scent, a little more of my anxiety uncoiled. His body fit so perfectly with mine. Actually, everything about him fit with me. That had to mean something, right? Like he was destined to be mine.

And I’d nearly lost him.

As much as I hadn’t been willing to admit it last night, I could now. Ash was special. He could be my one and only, because that was the only explanation for my overwhelming and immediate reaction to him. I was becoming more convinced of that by the moment. And I’d be damned if some fuckhole was going to take him from me.

“You okay?” Ash whispered.

I grunted and squeezed him.

“You went all tense,” he said.

“I’m fine. Just getting angry about what happened.”

He nodded against my chest. “We should check in and get an update from Van.”

Yeah. We probably should. I didn’t like the odds of hearing what I wanted to hear, but I needed to know. And we also needed to buy more locks for Ash’s door. This was a supernatural town so hopefully the local store carried more than generic human security hardware.

But, as Ash wiggled against me in the quiet of the morning, my mind strayed from thoughts of security and would-be wolf assassins. The clothes caught between our bodies were hot and sweaty, but I didn’t mind that. I was a hellhound. I loved heat. But I would have loved it even more if nothing separated us at all. I wanted his heated and sweaty skin rubbing against mine. I wanted to lick the perspiration from his body. I wanted to make him even hotter.