The Pretend Marriage: A Werewolf Romance by Dawn Steele

upon his crotch.
    “Oh dear, you poor thing. I have a first aid kit back at the house,” Martha says in that concerned way of hers that he has come to admire and respect. Gawd, she makes him miss his mother! “Come along, we’ll make sure you get that seen to.”
    She heads towards the house, turning around now and again to make sure they are following her.
    “You guys OK?” she calls. “Should I call for an ambulance?”
    “No, certainly not,” Jake says. “You go ahead. We’ll come along.”
    From the fringes of his sight, he can see and feel the hate radiating from Jeff, who is putting on his clothes with the help of his wife. Mariko has returned as well, and is eyeing him with caution.
    Screw both of them.
    “Lean on me,” Terry demands, putting her arm around his waist.
    He doesn’t really need any assistance , but it is so nice to feel her warm body against his naked one that he doesn’t protest. His exertions have zapped most of his energy, and he suddenly feels the adrenaline depleting from him in waves. Good thing too or he will get a full-on chubby again. He is also very pleased that she seems to be so worried about him.
    “Wait,” he says, “I need to get my clothes.”
    “I’ll get them for you,” Terry says. “You don’t want to put your pants on with that gash right there. The fabric might graze it even more.”
    “Yes, ma ’am.” He grins at her. “You wouldn’t happen to want to keep me naked for a while longer, would you?”
    The moment he said it, he regret s it, because her color suddenly turns red and she quickly takes her arm off his waist.
    Damn! Why do I do these things?
    “I didn’t mean that,” he quickly says. He pretends to stumble a bit, and she quickly supports his shoulder and arm again. She is still blushing.
    Uh, better get back to the house before the moment vanishes.

11
     
    Terry is still feeling the heat in her cheeks when she tends to Jake’s wound in the privacy of their bedroom. So far, this is the most intimate thing she has ever done with him so far other than that kiss, of course, which was in full view of everyone.
    He has put on a pair of shorts, but he still has his shirt off and is looking extremely hot – as in the weak knee-inducing , getting her all lusty kind of hot. She particularly likes the way his abdominal muscles flex as he breathes. She wonders how they would feel under her fingers.
    He doesn’t seem to be noticing what’s going on with her, however. He is seated upon their bed, looking on as she dabs his wound with iodine.
    “ Does it hurt?” she keeps asking him. The wound actually looks pretty deep, but she can see the granulation tissue starting to form already. Like most shifters, he heals fast.
    He g rins. “I’d like to say the pain is excruciating, but it’s an ant bite, really.”
    She glances at his face to see if he is kidding her, but he isn’t.
    “You should get a rabies shot,” she murmurs. “Wolf bites can carry all sorts of diseases.”
    “Only if you aren’t a wolf yourself, which I am. Don’t worry. My immune system is strong enough to withstand most viruses. Haven’t had a sick day since I was sixteen.”
    “It’s terrible what he did to you.” Her righteous sense of indignation rears again. “You should tell Peter Skaarsgard!”
    “I’m not a snitch. I don’t tell on my peers to the boss, and that includes my corporate rivals.”
    “But it isn’t fair.”
    “Office politics rarely are fair. If you don’t want to play them, then at least you can’t allow them to get to you.”
    “How can you stay so cool?” she storms.
    “Because it’s the wiser course of action in a situation like this.”
    She puts down the bottle of iodine and takes up a piece of gauze. She carefully puts this over his wound – now brown and filled with antiseptic – and tapes a wide piece of surgical plaster over it.
    “So what is Peter trying to do?” she says. “Set you three against each other?”
    “I think