Free Desired by Wolves [Call of the Wolf 2] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) by Diane Leyne Page B

literal truth. He saw her give a quick smile before she turned to the counter and picked up some scissors. Alex inserted the ear plugs while he watched her fashion the blindfold.
    She moved to stand beside him again and carefully placed the strip of material in front of his eyes, fastening it snugly behind his head. He rolled his eyes to the left and right, up and down, and other than a small sliver of light below, he couldn’t see a thing.
    Almost immediately, the panic started to rise again. He could feel his heart starting to race as he found against the need to rip off the blindfold. It was a losing battle, but then something unexpected happened. Lena moved to stand between his knees, wrapped her arms around his head and pulled him close to her. She held him close and rubbed his shoulders, his face pressed against her breasts. He wrapped his arms around her and held on tight like she was his only anchor.
    He could take pain. In fact, he had learned that he could take a lot of pain. It was her gentleness that unnerved him. He found that once his tears started flowing, they didn’t want to stop. His shoulders shook as he sobbed out his fears.
    He couldn’t quite hear what she was saying, but he could feel the vibrations against his skin and the feel of her hands on his back, and he felt the panic subside as she rocked him gently and pressed her cheek against the top of his head. He held her tightly to him as the tears streamed down his face.
    Finally, they subsided, and she pressed a soft kiss to his forehead, before pulling away. He realized he desperately wanted to kiss her back, and was about to pull her back to him when he realized that he had become aroused. He placed his hands over the bulge in the throw. Could he embarrass himself any further in her presence?
     
    * * * *
     
    And then it was all over. Alex shifted back to human after going through two sets of X-rays, and then Lena had helped him wrap the throw back around his body and then guided him back to the bathroom where his clothes were. She removed the blindfold before she quickly left him alone to get dressed.
    He moved as fast as possible and was sitting in the waiting room pretending to thumb through a magazine when Lena returned. She wouldn’t say what she thought, but he knew she seemed somewhat hopeful but trying not to show anything to get his hopes up, or at least that was how he chose to interpret her expression.
    To keep his mind off what she was doing, he’d spent the whole time he was being poked and prodded trying to think of how to ask her to have breakfast with him at the cafe. He knew she was close with Penelope, and if they went there, it would be a clear signal to Lena that he was going to try to be more social and start getting out instead of spending all of his time home alone.
    Of course, the way the day had gone so far with him puking, crying and then getting a hard-on in front of her, even if she felt sorry enough to go to breakfast with him, he’d probably get food poisoning and maybe slice a finger or two cutting up his food. Then on the way back to his truck, he’d probably trip on the sidewalk and break his other leg while landing on her when he fell and break her leg, too, just as the icing on the cake.
    He was all the way to the door, holding a cane that Lena had pressed on him in one hand, the other on the handle of the door. You can do this. You can do this. You can do this.
    “Lena…” He couldn’t do it.
    “You still here? I’m starved, and you seem to have lost your breakfast. Want to come with me and grab a bite at Penelope’s?”

Chapter Eight
     
    It was a beautiful warm morning, so they sat at a table outside, ordering from a young waiter that Lena didn’t recognize. He brought them some coffee, and while waiting for their food, they made small talk so banal they could have been strangers sharing a table. Lena found herself telling him funny stories about her veterinary practice and generally catching him