War of Hearts(55)

These were her thoughts when they reached the international bus depot in Dresden. Conall thought they should get the bus to Düsseldorf where he would then acquire a new car.

“It’s better we travel alone by car. If someone else comes after us, I dinnae want any more innocent people caught in the crossfire.”

Because she agreed, Thea got on the bus with Conall, feeling his overwhelming presence at her back. It was around two thirty in the morning but the bus to Calais was busy. It would make several stops, including Düsseldorf. When Thea asked, “Why Düsseldorf?” Conall had merely shrugged and said he’d been there before. It would do better than most for somewhere to gather their wits.

Thea usually never made eye contact with anyone when she traveled, yet she couldn’t help but notice passengers were staring behind her as she walked down the aisle, their nervousness obvious.

Somewhere along the line she’d stopped seeing Conall as mean-looking, but she guessed he still scared the shit out of people. She spotted two empty seats near the rear and dropped into the window seat. Conall was so big his knees touched the back of the seat in front of him and his shoulders pushed into her space.

“Sorry,” he muttered, frowning in annoyance as he tried to hunch to make himself smaller.

Thea felt a smile prodding her lips and a feeling in her chest that was almost akin to affection. She shimmied over, pressing up against the window. “I don’t take up much room, you’re fine.”

He shot her a look. “Another reason we need to get a car.”

She nodded, grinning.

Conall’s eyes dropped to her mouth before he quickly looked away.

Thea leaned into him to speak but when he turned to her, she became aware of how close his mouth was to hers. And she knew the moment he did to.

A thick tension sprung between them as their eyes met, their attraction palpable.

Shit.

A complication she did not need.

Thea pulled back a little. “Do people always look at you like that?” she whispered, staring over the top of the bus seats. “Like they fear you?”

“Aye,” his answer was gruff. “It makes no matter.”

“It doesn’t matter?”

“No, it doesnae.”

Thea slumped against her chair, annoyed Conall accepted that people judged him before they got to know him. “They’re idiots.”

His lips twitched at the corner. “What’s new, lass?”

She chuckled, and they shared a look of affinity that made her breathless. Uneasy, she dropped her gaze and turned into the window. “I think I’ll catch some z’s.” The journey to Düsseldorf would take around six hours.

“You do that.”

What made Thea realize that she’d begun to trust Conall, just a little, was waking up almost six hours later to find herself snuggled against his hard chest. His scent wove its way into her consciousness first and not fully awake, she wanted to bury deeper into the smell. It was amber and cedar and the peppery aroma of ginger. Earth and spice and incredibly male. In the sleepy corners of her mind, it wrapped her in an embrace that offered comfort and sex at the same time.

Slowly cognizance returned, telling her the hard, warm cushion underneath her was rising and falling. That the gentle breathing she could hear wasn’t her own.

Thea’s eyes flew open.

Her head was definitely resting on Conall’s chest. One hand was beneath her cheek while the other laid on his flat, taut stomach. She could feel the ridge of abs between her hand and the fabric of his shirt.

Then the weight resting along her back became apparent.

He had his arm around her. His hand was cupping her hip.

What the hell?

Never could she have imagined trusting Conall enough, even in her unconscious state, to snuggle with him.

Snuggle.

She hadn’t snuggled with anyone in years. The last snuggle she’d had was with her mom.

Tears pricked Thea’s eyes as she realized how much she’d missed the basic human comfort of a hug.

You’re being ridiculous.

The werewolf was turning her into an emotional wreck, and she couldn’t be an emotional wreck. An emotional wreck would not win the war against Ashforth.

Thea pulled out of Conall’s embrace and he grunted. She looked up at him as she retreated and saw him blinking awake. Well, at least he’d been asleep too. He didn’t seem nearly so disconcerted that they’d been snuggling as she did. Conall rubbed a hand over his face, the bristles of his unshaven cheeks sounding rough against his palm.

“Are we there?”

Thea glanced at the digital board above the exit. It said Düsseldorf was the next stop in twenty minutes. “Almost.”

They both stretched their necks trying to work out the kinks, and Thea scowled at their synchronicity.

“You slept?”

She nodded, flicking him a wary look. “You did too.”

“Aye, a little.”

“I’m sorry if I …” She gestured uncertainly between them. “Forced you to …” Thea absolutely could not use the word “snuggle” in front of Conall.

The werewolf waved off her concerns. “It’s fine.”

An awkward silence fell between them, probably only made awkward by Thea. And then Conall surprised her. He turned to her, his voice low, and he said, “No nightmares this time.”