Chapter 468: Toe the line 1
HAZEL
The knocking started softly.
Then it got louder and even sharper. Each rap against the door felt like it was trying to drill through my skull.
I peeled my eyes open and imdiately regretted it. The ceiling swam above , unfocused and too bright, even with the curtains drawn. My sheets clung to my skin, soaked with sweat, and pooled in every crease and hollow.
Another knock ca, and it was even more insistent than the last.
"Miss Hazel?"
Laslo’s voice filtered through the wood. I tried to sit up, and the room tilted to the side. My nightgown stuck to my back and thighs, damp and uncomfortable in ways that made my skin crawl.
"Miss Hazel, I hope you can hear . Alpha Lysander requests your presence in thirty minutes."
I pushed myself upright. The movent sent a wave of heat rolling through my chest. It settled low in my stomach. No. That’s not right. Why did it feel so wrong? My skin prickled. I pressed my palm to my forehead and found it burning.
"He says to be ready for departure to Silvercreek."
The words ca through, but they sounded distant. Muffled. Like Laslo was speaking from underwater, not just outside my door. I forced my legs over the side of the bed and stood on shaking knees.
"Miss Hazel?"
"Coming."
My voice ca out rougher than intended. I crossed the room in unsteady steps and pulled the door open.
Laslo stood in the hallway with his hands clasped behind his back. He was in the standard sentinel uniform: pressed and perfect, as always. Yet the way the fabric pulled across his shoulders caught my attention. It held
there.
"Alpha Lysander wants you ready in thirty minutes for the trip to Silvercreek." His mouth kept moving, forming words I should have been listening to. "He’s asked that you bring minimal luggage if you want and be prompt. He doesn’t want to delay the—"
My gaze dropped to his hands. The way his fingers curled against his lower back. Veins ran along the backs of them, visible even from where I stood. They traced paths up toward his wrists and disappeared under his sleeves.
"—I suspect he has other dealings—"
His throat moved when he swallowed. The motion drew my eyes up to the column of his neck, where his pulse beat steadily beneath tan skin.
"Miss Hazel?"
I blinked. His face ca back into focus. He seed concerned and completely unaware of where my mind had just gone.
"Are you alright?"
The question landed wrong. Too intimate. Too close. I took a step back and gripped the doorfra for support.
"Yes." The word ca out too fast. "I am. Of course I am."
He waited, patient and still. Sentinels learned this when dealing with higher-ranking wolves who might snap at any mont. I was no high ranking wolf and Laslo was now nice but not this nice. So Wenzel had to have passed the ssage that they be nice and bend the knee to
at every turn until he got what he wanted.
"He wants
to dress." I nodded like I was confirming it to myself. "Yeah, no problem. I’ll get ready."
Laslo inclined his head and turned to leave. I shut the door before he could say anything else and pressed my back against it.
What the fuck was wrong with ?
My heart hamred against my ribs. The rhythm had nothing to do with being startled awake. It was everything to do with how my body reacted to the re sight of him.
I pushed off the door and headed for the bathroom. The tile felt cold under my bare feet. A small rcy against all the heat radiating from my skin.
The shower turned on with a hiss. I stripped off my nightgown and stepped under the spray before the water had a chance to warm up. Cold hit my overheated skin, and I gasped.
Better. That was better.
I reached for the soap and then stopped. Froze with my hand halfway to the shelf.
An image flashed through my mind. Uninvited and frighteningly vivid. It was Laslo’s hands on my hips. Those veined hands I had just stared at, pressing
against the tile while water stread over us.
I jerked back like the thought had physically burned .
The water kept falling. I stood there and stared at the wall while my breathing went shallow and my pulse kicked up another notch.
No. I had to stop it. I could not let myself go there.
I turned and caught my reflection in the mirror across from the shower. My face looked flushed. My cheeks were pink, and my eyes were too bright. Like I’d been running instead of just standing still under cold water.
What was happening to ? Why couldn’t I control this?
I forced myself to finish washing. It was as quick and chanical as I could manage. Soap, rinse, and done. No more wandering thoughts. No more images of hands that had no business being anywhere near .
The water shut off, and I stepped out onto the bath mat. Then I went for my towel and toothbrush. The familiar routine helped ground
back in reality as I brushed.
Shortly after that, I dressed in sothing simple. A loose blouse and fitted pants that wouldn’t wrinkle during the drive. My fingers fumbled with the buttons more than they should have.
Delta waited in the hallway when I erged. She straightened imdiately and fell into step behind
without being asked.
"We’re leaving for Silvercreek," I told her. "Be ready in five minutes."
"Yes, Miss Hazel."
I started toward the stairs. I made it three steps before Laslo appeared at the far end of the corridor.
"Let
lead you to the car, Miss Hazel."
He walked closer. Each step brought him nearer, until I could sll him. Pine and sothing earthier underneath. Masculine in the most damaging of ways. So overwhelming that my next breath caught in my throat.
Heat flooded between my legs. Sudden and unmistakable. The fabric of my underwear went damp, and I nearly stumbled.
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