Page 48 of Redemption in the Dark (The Righteous 5)
“Can I ask you something?” Maeve turned her head to look at him, and her caramel eyes shone like a cat’s eye stone in the sun.
“Of course.” Wolf reached into his pack, took out a couple of waters, and handed one to Maeve. He cracked the lid on his and pulled out a small dish for Duke, and emptied his bottle for their companion before grabbing another for himself.
She looked off into the distance for a long time, not saying anything. When Maeve finally found his eyes again, she smiled a little.
“How do you do it? How do you stop being the person you hate? I’ve tried so hard to eradicate the person I was, but it doesn’t seem to matter what I do. It always comes back. I always turn into the worst version of myself.”
He smirked as he thought about the look his Dad would have on his face if he were standing here. Wolf took a moment to think and let his Dad’s teachings guide him.
“I’m going to tell you a story that my Dad told me when I needed to hear it the most.”Maeve turned on the log, so she was straddling it, and stared at him like he was going to unveil all the secrets of the world.
“A long time ago, an old Cherokee Eduda, which means grandfather, told his grandson that was restless about the tale of two wolves. They sat much like this one evening when Eduda saw the struggle in his grandson’s eyes and said. ‘My son, the battle between two wolves is inside us all. One is Good. This wolf is love, hope, peace, humility, serenity, kindness, generosity, truth, joy, benevolence, compassion, and faith.’ He held out his hands and handed his grandson a small wooden carving of a wolf. ‘The other is Evil. This wolf is greed, self-pity, lies, false pride, ego, envy, resentment, superiority, inferiority, sorrow, and anger.’ He held out another small carving. The grandson looked at the two wolves in his hands as he thought about his grandfather’s words. He looked to his grandfather and asked. ‘Which wolf wins?’
“The old Cherokee grandfather laid a hand on his grandson’s shoulder and looked him in the eyes as he simply replied, ‘the one you feed.’ I didn’t understand the significance of this story at the time, but the thought has always stayed with me,” Wolf said and tapped his fingers on his heart. “I choose which wolf to feed, and so do you.”
Maeve reached out and took his hand into hers. She turned it over and stared at his palm before linking their fingers together. She didn’t say anything but swung her leg over the log once more and shifted closer, laying her head on his shoulder.
His heart pounded in his chest with a throbbing warmth that he didn’t dare analyze too closely. He already knew what he’d find, and the fear of falling for a mark was almost as terrifying as the prospect of love itself. They’d never be at peace as long as she was hunted, and he didn’t know how to fix that or if there was even a fix at all.
They sat there until the sun started to set, neither saying a word before he gave her hand a gentle squeeze.
“We better get going,” he said and stood, helping Maeve to her feet.
“Thank you, I needed this.”
Reaching out, he cupped her cheek, his thumb grazing over the softness of her skin. He wanted to kiss her again, but he let his hand fall and gave a little nod. “You’re welcome.”
Wolf was warm and comfortable. The hazy heaviness from sleep was wonderful as it floated around in his mind. He had no idea when he’d finally fallen asleep. It seemed like he’d stared at the ceiling for hours playing over the day’s events. His worry about whether Unole would call the police about him being punched weighed on his mind. However, since no one knocked at his door, he figured that Unole was too scared about his own actions or the fact that he would end up buried in the hot Texas desert somewhere.
Wolf had to admit that he felt useless without his tech and cut off from those who would normally be his go-to for information about this kind of situation. He hated not knowing who he could trust. He should’ve checked in with Marcus again, and the fact that he hadn’t would be cause for concern, so he decided last night to call in this morning. What he was going to say, he didn’t know yet.
As his senses woke up, he realized he wasn’t alone. His eyes snapped open, and he looked down at the top of Maeve’s head. She was curled up on top of the blankets. Her body pressed tightly into his, but her leg flung over his body and pressing into his cock was the cause for concern. Maeve’s arm was wrapped around his waist and her head on his chest. Her hair was fanned out over his shoulder, and his traitorous arm held her close. The reaction to their position was instant.
His morning semi-hard cock was suddenly at full mast and pressing into the sweatpants he was wearing, and he loved the feel of the weight of her leg a little too much.
She was like an adrenaline shot to his system, and he sucked in a shuddering breath as he forced himself not to rub his hard cock against her leg like a perv.
Duke had also decided to join the party and was draped across the bottom of the bed, holding his legs in place. Maeve wiggled a little tighter to him and, in doing so, pushed her leg down onto his cock harder, making him shudder. All he could picture was rolling her over. It was like a gif on a continuous loop in his brain.
He so badly wanted to give into the desire that was like a train building speed in his system. As she moved slightly again, he realized he had to put space between them, or he was going to do exactly what he fantasized. Wolf tried to jump from the bed, but in his haste, he got caught in the blankets with the weight of Duke holding the quilt down and ended up in an unceremonious heap on the floor.
“What? What’s wrong,” Maeve asked, sitting up straight and then looking down at him.
This was certainly not his finest moment. “What the hell are you doing in my bed?”
“I wasn’t trying anything.” Maeve held up her hands to show her innocence, which he was tempted not to believe.
He untangled his left leg, and the panicked sensation morphed and swiftly slid into anger. At least anger was a more controllable emotion, but why the fuck was she so damn tantalizing?
“Like I believe that.”
He stood and spun, so his back was to Maeve as he fixed his sweatpants. He didn’t dare show off what she’d done to him. Although he was pretty sure she saw the large tent before he could turn around.
“Wolf, be rational for a moment.” She cocked a brow at him as he glared over his shoulder at her. “First of all, you held me naked in a blanket on the way here, this….” She grabbed the front of the hoodie she was wearing and held up the blankets in the other. “Has a lot more layers involved. Second, if I wanted to try and seduce you, I would’ve gotten naked, slipped under the blankets, and had your cock in my mouth before you knew what was happening. Not that I don’t blame you for thinking that I was up to something, but I’m not into tricking people or forcing them to have sex.”
Her voice trailed off softer as she looked down, and he bit the inside of his cheek. The image of her sneaking under the covers and doing exactly what she’d just said played out in his mind.
“Okay fine, I’ll give you that, but what the hell were you doing in my bed?”
