With that, Yager got back on his haunches and proceeded to rinse the conditioner out of Neecy’s hair. How she kept forgetting this man was a Viking, she’d never know.
“That’s a…lovely plan, Yager. And I’m all for it to a degree. But the wiping from the face of the earth thing…that’s down to the Crows. And we don’t need the Ravens for that.”
“Not every crow is a raven. But every raven is a crow.”
Neecy stared at Yager. “What does that mean?”
“It means, we’re all part of the…same…uh…”
“Bird family?”
“Exactly. All we’re missing are the magpies, the blue jays, and the…” He shrugged. “Something else. Besides us, I really don’t know birds.”
“You know, Yager. You’re a…unique man.”
He leaned back. “Is this your way of saying I’m weird?”
“No. You’re not weird. You’re unique. There’s a difference.”
“Do you think I’m boring?”
She snorted. “No. Why?”
“Cause I’m nice.”
“You ain’t that nice.”
“I’m not?”
“Yager, if you were nice…really nice, I would have scared you off by now. And the whole ‘wiping from the face of the earth’ thing…really nice people don’t say that and mean it.”
“Oh. Okay.” He stood up and grabbed an enormous towel.
“You are nice to me, though.”
“I like being nice to you.”
“Yeah.” She looked down at her knees. “I’m not really used to that.”
“So I noticed.” He leaned down and lifted her out of the bath. “I’m hoping you get used to it.” Once he had her standing, he began drying her off with the towel.
“It’s only…”
“I’m not going to stop being nice to you, Neecy. That’s not even an option.”
She stared at him as he dried her off. She didn’t get him. Didn’t understand him.
But she really liked the way he treated her. She thought enjoying it would make her weak. Instead she felt stronger every day under his care.
Yager finished drying her off and wrapped the towel around her. He kissed her forehead, then her nose.
He hadn’t kissed her properly since the time after Morgan left. She missed him.
More than she’d missed anything before in either of her lives.
“Can I ask you a question?”
Neecy nodded. “Sure.”
“I know you don’t remember much of what happened that night…the night you were attacked, but…” He took a deep breath. “I still haven’t figured out why your birds brought you here. It would have been quicker to take you to the Bird House. Or the Elders who lived downtown. But they brought you here.”
Crap. She’d hoped he wouldn’t ask her this question, because she wasn’t sure she wanted to admit the truth. Then again, Neecy didn’t lie.
“I remember being worried you’d think I stood you up. I guess since you were the last thing I thought about before I passed out—they brought me here.”
Yager leaned down a bit and placed his forehead against Neecy’s. “I like that answer, Lawrence.”
Closing her eyes, her cheeks reddening in embarrassment, “Figured you would.”
He slid his hand behind the back of her neck, afraid she’d run. “You don’t have to be afraid, Neecy. Not of me.”
“I’m not.”
“Not of us either.”
“I’m…” The bedroom door slammed open, cutting Neecy’s words off. He’d been so absorbed in Neecy he never heard the arguing right outside his door.
Janelle stormed in, Mike right behind her. They shoved each other as they made their way to the bathroom. They were like really annoying siblings.
“He…” Janelle began.
“She started it,” Mike barked over her.
Yager calmly pulled the towel tighter around Neecy, making sure she was covered. From there, he calmly walked over to Mike and Janelle. He calmly grabbed Mike by the hair. And he calmly slammed him into the doorway.
“Ow!”
Still gripping Mike’s hair with one hand, he picked Janelle up with the other. He dragged them both back to the bedroom door and tossed them out into the hallway.
“I swear by all that’s holy, if I have to come downstairs tonight, you’ll be washing your own blood off the walls come morning.”
Yager slammed the door closed and went back to the bathroom. He scooped Neecy up in his arms and took her to the bed, carefully laying her down. She smiled up at him.
“What?”
She shrugged as he pulled the wet towel off her body and tossed it aside. “Still laughing at the ‘am I too nice’ fear you seem to have.”
Tying her arm back against her body, “I don’t want anyone upsetting you. You need to relax until you’re better.”
Yager worked really hard not to notice her breasts, her nipples hard and begging. “I need you to get better, Lawrence.”
He pulled his MIT sweatshirt over her head. “I feel better now, Yager.”
Her hand slid down his chest, but he caught it before it could go any lower. He closed his eyes, the fight for control getting harder and harder everyday.
“Not until Morgan tells me you’re okay.”
“But…”
“No.” Releasing her hand, Yager pulled the comforter up and over Neecy’s body.
“I’m not going to risk hurting you.”
“Yeah, but…”
“No.”
“But Yager…”
“No.”
Yager headed toward the bathroom.
“Where are you going?”
“Cold shower. A very cold shower.”
“Just so we’re clear, I’m gettin’ kind of cranky here.”
Yager glanced back at the woman of his dreams lying in his bed, wearing his clothes, and growled, “That makes two of us, baby.”
Then he closed the door and headed to his very cold and very lonely shower.
Chapter Seventeen
Katie flew up higher into the old oak and perched herself on the sturdiest barren branch she could find. She looked again. Yup. Wolves. Thirty of them, by her estimate. She motioned to the Raven in the tree beside her and he dived back to the ground to warn the others.
She had no idea why Shifters were here, but she bet it wasn’t to play Parcheesi.
Wilhelm Yager was in a bad mood. A really, really bad mood. A bad enough mood to start playing fetch with the innards of a bunch of dogs. To be honest, the Viking in him was really hoping for a good fight. He was ready to start hurting people.
He really wished he had a good reason to feel this way, but he didn’t. No, the only reason he had an overwhelming urge to shove Molinski’s head in the toilet or to set fire to Tye’s Benz or to chop up another Raven’s Playboy collection was because he wanted to fuck Neecy Lawrence so bad he couldn’t see straight.
All day he’d been waiting for Morgan to get her ass to his house, so she could tell him Neecy was as good as she was going to get so that he could have his dirty way with her. But Morgan had to take care of some other business in the city first. That meant all day he’d avoided Neecy. He had to. He was starting not to care about her goddamn sling or her wounded wings or the stitches in her back.
Which meant he really had to stay away from her. The bottom line was, he couldn’t promise he’d be gentle with her. In fact, he could actually promise he definitely wouldn’t be.
Now he had those freak Shifters on his property. They didn’t even come to him as human, but as wolves. Like that was normal behavior.
They’d walked slowly toward his house while it was still light out, ensuring they’d all see them. They didn’t make any sudden moves or do anything that the Crows or Ravens would consider threatening.