Twice Tempted: Between Two Alphas (Mia and Cameron) novel Chapter 96

Chapter Ninety-Six

I sway on my feet, but Eric’s grip keeps me from face-planting on the asphalt.

“It’s Cam’s, not mine,” he says.

That’s little comfort.

“Are you sure?”

He nods once.

“Didn’t you and Mia…”

I really don’t want to finish the sentence.

“We were intimate, yes. I’m not going to apologize for that.”

It’s more snarl than words. He’s guessed, correctly, that the news of Mia’s pregnancy upset me. But he’s wrong about the reason. I need Eric focused on my child, not his.

“I’m not asking for an apology. I’m asking if there’s a chance the baby is yours.”

“I only ever came inside her throat and her ass. Is that enough detail for you, or do you need a complete recap?”

My cheeks flame. It’s enough detail to inspire an image of Eric standing naked over me, muscles rippling, hard and ready for me. There’s a hungry look in his eyes that I recognize and when his nostrils flare I know my arousal hasn’t escaped his notice. It’s involuntary, the way our bodies react to each other. Involuntary, and unwanted.

I’m all too aware of how close we’re standing. Of his scent—dimmer now that I’ve lost my wolf, Isis, but still there. Of the heat of his body against mine. The intensity of those eyes on me.

It’s overwhelming.

“Cam could bring Merilee on his own if Mia can’t make the journey,” I say, redirecting the conversation to safer territory.

“They’ll only be a day or two behind, Ash. Cam just thought you ought to know.”

“Hey, are you two coming? I want to land before nightfall,” Bill calls from the plane.

I break out of Eric’s grasp and rush to the plane.

Keep moving forward. Don’t dwell on the past.

I repeat those two sentences to myself, like a mantra.

There’s no room for regret and guilt and what-ifs.

Thinking like that is a waste of time—time I don’t have to spare.

I got myself into this mess, then dragged my daughter in with me. It’s my responsibility to get her out. Once she’s safe, then I can deal with my own pain. Until then, it doesn’t matter how I feel.

Bill’s plane is barely big enough for Eric and I to squeeze into the passenger area. He straps us into seatbelts that are more like harnesses, and then gets into the cockpit.

I’m no stranger to bush planes or to this land, but without my wolf, I'm unsettled and weak.

“You two comfortable back there?” Bill calls over the rumble of the plane’s engine.