Chapter 30 This One’s Mine
POV: Eric
I’m back in the city and my hands are still shaking from the drive. Drove like an idiot. Didn’t help.
The meeting tonight feels stupid. Pointless.
Can’t stop thinking about her.
Catherine walks in and the whole room goes cold.
She’s biting her lip. Fuck. That thing she does when she’s about to fall apart but won’t let herself.
Not the same girl from last week. Last week she couldn’t keep her eyes off me. Couldn’t sit still.
Tonight? Walls up. Arms crossed. Face blank.
She’s here because she thinks she owes it to someone. Not me. Not us.
Great. We’re just another chore now, my wolf mutters. Right after answering emails and calling her sister.
Shut the fuck up.
My fingers dig into the bar. Hard enough that it hurts.
“Drink?”
She blinks at me slow. Annoyed. “I shouldn’t.”
“Why the hell not?”
“Tomorrow’s a workday.”
Oh no. Monday. The horror, the wolf drawls.
I pour the whiskey anyway and shove it toward her. “Your boss can wait. He’s probably snoring anyway.”
Petty. Yeah. I’m pissed. Sue me.
She takes the glass. Takes one sip. One.
Then she drifts to the windows like the city pissed her off personally. Shoulders up, back straight, breathing like she’s trying not to cry.
She’s terrified, the wolf says, and for once he’s not being an asshole. Terrified we’ll catch her if she falls.
Maybe. But I’m not watching her walk out that door like this.
A better man would call her a cab. Tell her to sleep it off.
I’m not a better man. Never have been.
“It’s quiet up here,” she says. Barely a whisper.
“Too quiet,” I mutter.
I take her glass, set it down. The glass clinks too loud.
“It won’t stay that way.”
She flushes. Just for a second. But I see it.
There you are, the wolf breathes. Knew you weren’t gone.
I remember the first night. How she wouldn’t look at me. How her hands shook when I got too close.
This isn’t that. This is worse.
This is her scared of wanting this. Scared of what happens if she gives in.
And I’ve been such a fucking idiot, keeping my distance, thinking I was doing her a favor.
Tonight I want her to drop it. All of it.
The job. The guilt. The weight she carries for everyone else.
Just for a few hours, I want her to breathe. Without thinking about her sister. Without thinking about me.
“Come here.”
She hesitates. Moves half a step. Stops.
“Come here, Catherine.” My voice is rougher now. Lower.
Tell her, the wolf growls. She needs us to decide for her tonight.
So I do.
I lift her chin with my fingers. Make her look at me. Her eyes are glassy, pissed, but I see it.
The crack.
My other hand goes to her blouse. One button. Then another. Slow. On purpose.
She breathes in sharp when the silk opens. Her skin’s warm. Warmer than the room.
I pull her against me. No space left.
“You don’t have to do this alone tonight,” I say into her hair.
She doesn’t answer. She doesn’t need to. Her body says it for her. She leans in.
We move to the couch. Get the hell away from the desk. Away from everything that smells like work and bad decisions.
I kiss her like I’m trying to erase every fucking doubt in her head.
She kisses back slow at first. Cautious.
Then she gives in. Really gives in. Like she’s been holding it in all week and I’m the one who gets to break it.
There she is, the wolf says, finally calm. That’s our girl.
No games. No bullshit. Just her breathing against me, her fingers clutching my shirt like she’s scared I’ll disappear, the way she melts when I say her name.
The city outside goes quiet. It’s just us.
Every time she leans in instead of pulling away, I know.
She’s here. She’s choosing this. She’s choosing me.
When it’s over, she collapses against me. Shaking. Hair a mess. Face flushed.
And she looks real. More real than she has in weeks.
I hold her tight. One arm under her, the other rubbing slow circles on her back.
“Eric…” Her voice is rough. Wrecked.
“I can’t move.”
“Good,” I say. Can’t help the smirk. “Don’t.”
Damn right, the wolf agrees. She’s not going anywhere tonight. Not like this.
I carry her to bed. She’s out before I even lay her down, face soft for the first time in days.
I sit by the window and watch her sleep. City lights cutting across her skin.
Mine, the wolf says. No growl. No fight. Just fact. Keep her safe. Don’t fuck this up, Eric.
Like I need to be told.
I thought tonight was about making her let go.
Making her forget everything for a few hours.
Turns out, I’m the one who can’t let go.
I don’t want her to put those walls back up tomorrow.
I don’t want her to leave.
Not tonight. Not ever.