Page 11

Chapter 11

Daff

I should be terrified.

I mean, my heart was pounding, my chest felt tight, my muscles randomly twitched with an insanely fierce need to move, all of them signs of a massive adrenaline dump.

But I’d felt more nervous last night, begging Prowl to hold his nose for a full ten minutes when my gut had finally revolted and I was forced to give in and do a gloriously satisfying crap.

That definitely stank.

Prowl’s hand had slid from mine as I followed Jean to the Dining table, but his eyes didn’t leave me.

He looked freakishly calm while Lara and Doc Paula took turns speaking and occasionally nodding as the requested vial of blood was drawn.

“Daff!” Jean snapped.

“Sorry.”

He shook his head like he was trying to shake off his frustration.

“This is too important to zone out on.”

I lifted the credit card sized device dangling from my hand.

“This goes around my neck. Three seconds of pressure and it’ll set off an alarm that will trigger the waiting guards, who will bypass the seven-second door delay and, depending on the level of risk to my safety, shoot to kill. I am never, ever, under any circumstances to remove it from my neck, not even while I’m showering.

“I will also, at all times that I’m wearing clothes, wear the second panic button which will be attached to my waistband and used as a backup device.

” I flashed him the hip it was already clipped to.

“Same deal with the three seconds, door bypass, and kill order.”

Doctor Helliot, who’d joined us during Jean’s panic button drill, spoke.

“It’s not too late to change your mind.”

I raised an eyebrow at him.

“I’m doing this.”

His mouth turned down, but Jean’s voice rose above the noise of the room before he could continue.

“Listen up, everyone. Daff’s ready, so the next few minutes will go as follows. The room will be evacuated by everyone except Daff, Daniel and Pete. Daniel will open Prowl’s door under Pete’s supervision.

“When both are satisfied Prowl is in full control of himself, they’ll see themselves out, and start the first rotation of random to them safety checks.

”

His eyes met and held mine, then Prowl’s.

“We’ll be watching,” he said, pointing to the dark window, “As soon as Prowl’s door opens, their shoot-to-kill order will be in effect. Understood?”

Prowl’s voice rang clear.

“Understood.”

The med team filed out, the dark window cleared, and the steel door slid closed.

Daniel. the guard moving to Prowl’s door, looked tense, but the one standing back watching, looked unruffled.

Lara’s face was pinched, but she shot me a thumbs-up.

Rattling keys broke the silence.

Daniel looked up at Prowl.

“You good?” He asked, hesitating with his key a hairsbreadth from the lock.

“I’m good,” Prowl answered, his eyes running over the guard before settling back on me, a soft purr filling the space between us.

The key turned, and his door swung wide, its bars no longer between us.

His purr swelled above the noise of my pounding heart.

I wanted this, I absolutely did, but a brief flash of panic, still hit me.

Which explained why it took me so so long to realise he hadn’t moved.

At all.

Was he worried about taking this step forward only to lose it again?

“Prowl?”

His purr knocked up a level, but he still hadn’t so much as blinked.

“I’m okay. You can come out.”

His shoulders dropped a fraction, but his rumble didn’t.

Slow, measured steps brought him to his open door where he paused, his eyes running over me, scanning for signs that I’d changed my mind or wasn’t okay.

His hesitancy was beginning to piss me off.

If he was going to do something, he would’ve done it the moment his door swung wide.

He could have been on me or the guards quicker than we could have blinked.

Not dragging this goddamn moment out, treating me like an explosive about to go off.

Which was ironic.

“I trust you.”

Those steady steps of his started again, and I could see it, the lion in him, muscle and power coiled within him, his movements, the intensity of his gaze as he came towards me, eyes burning molten gold.

He stopped a few inches from me, making me tilt my chin up to stay locked in his gaze as he towered above me.

The vibrations from his purr penetrated my chest, rolling through me like a physical touch.

“Are you alright, Daff? Prowl?”

“Yeah,” I croaked back to whichever guard had spoken.

“We’re good. You can go.”

There was a moment of quiet, followed by footsteps and the door thunking shut.

“You okay, big guy?”

He still looked like he was coiled tight, waiting.

My fingers ached to touch him, to make contact with the heat of his skin.

Was that what he was waiting for?

“Can I touch you?”

“Please,” his rough voice answered.

My fingertips grazed his stomach, making the ridges of hard muscle beneath them clench.

They slid along velvet covered skin until my arms wrapped around him, my cheek resting on the dusting of hair covering his chest.

But he still hadn’t reached for me.

“You can touch me,” I whispered

His chest jerked beneath me, making me smile as I was enveloped in his warmth.

He buried his nose in my hair, inhaling me deep into his lungs.

Which had me struggling to hold back tears.

Because it really, truly hit me that Prowl had never been hugged before.

Or held anyone.

Let alone a willing female.

And I was willing. For maybe too many things between us.

Nothing had ever felt this good, this safe, this comfortable before.

And if that’s how I felt, how much more must he be feeling right now?

Was he becoming as attached to me as I was to him?

His huge, rough palm found my cheek, his crooked finger slipping beneath my chin, gently guiding my face up to his.

His thick brows furrowed, mashing together as his fingers traced the dampness under my eyes.

“You’re sad. For me?”

“Just overwhelmed by the moment.”

He rested his forehead on mine, one arm still holding me close, the other stroking my cheek.

“What do you want to do now?”

“Stay like this,” his gruff voice answered.

I huffed a laugh, tilting my head just enough to meet his eyes without losing his touch.

“I think we’d both end up with sore necks pretty quick.”

“Worth it.”

“Totally,” I whispered back.

Which is how I saw him fully smile for the first time.

God, he was gorgeous.

Wild, and so utterly different, with his deep set eyes, broad nose and angled jawline, but still beautiful in his own way.

I nuzzled further into his touch.

“How about a nap? We can lay on an actual bed this time, and you can keep holding me without us both cramping up from the height difference.”

His hold on me tightened, then I was flung into the air and into his arms, Prowl eating up the space between us and my bed in three long strides.

He managed to get us both on it and comfortable without breaking contact between us.

And I was absolutely okay with that.