Amber Silverblood: Rogue Wolf

Chapter Thirty Two

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Chapter Thirty Two

I leaned on Dex's arm as we rode the hotel elevator, half because I couldn't walk on my injured leg, and half because...well, you know.

My heart was pounding in my chest so hard I thought it would break my ribcage. What did this mean? All this time, I'd assumed Dex was helping me for his own benefit. He'd said as much over and over again. But the more I thought about it, the less benefit I saw for him in all of this. I was the one who'd lost the stupid glove. I was the one Hendricks was going to skin if I didn't bring it back. Maybe he had seen me as a friend, someone to bounce his lame jokes off of, but this? This felt impossible. I was reading too much into things, and...

No. That wasn't true, and I knew it. How did you read too much into a kiss on the lips? A kiss that he had instigated, at that. But that still left me confused. Did he love me? Did I love him? Did I even want to love him? If you had told me this morning that, just a few hours after getting the beating of my life, I'd be thinking about love and boyfriends and warm fuzzy feelings, I wouldn't have believed you. But now that was all I could think about. Dex was the only friend I'd had over these past couple years. But could he be something more?

I almost asked him, but I stopped myself. If he did want that...and if I decided I wanted it too...then bringing it up out of the blue like that felt tacky, somehow. Besides, I wasn't sure how I would feel if he said no. For now, I was happy to just lean against him, feeling him against me, smelling that Dexter-ish scent that he had, and try to figure my own feelings out.

I glanced at the floor counter. Fourth Floor. Fifth. Sixth. We reached the seventh, where our room was, and the elevator...didn't stop? I blinked in surprise when it kept rising, and for the first time I looked at which button Dex had pushed. The top floor, even above the penthouse.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"Like I said, we need to get you back in fighting shape," he answered. "And there's only one way to do that."

I shivered. "We're going to the roof?"

He nodded. "We'll let you soak up the moonlight for a few hours. By morning, you'll be as fit as a pair of yoga pants."

"I'm going to ignore that terrible analogy," I said, "and just tell you that the moon isn't nearly big enough tonight for that."

The smirk he gave made me nervous. "Sugarsnout, trust me. I've still got a couple tricks up my sleeve."

The elevator stopped, the door opened with a ding, and I decided to trust him. Dex hadn't done me wrong so far, and I didn't get the feeling he was going to start now. He stepped out, going slow so I could hobble alongside him. The only thing outside was a room a little bit bigger than a broom closet, and a second door that said ROOF, EMPLOYEES ONLY in bright red letters. Dex tested the handle, found it locked, and pulled out his scepter. A quick tap, a flash from the yellow gem, and I heard the lock undo itself.

The moonlight hit me as soon as the door swung open. Immediately, I felt refreshed, like I'd been splashed in the face with ice cold water after spending all day hiking in the desert. I relaxed a little while Dex held me up, rolling my neck a little to let the light touch more of me.

"You're not about to start purring, are you?" Dex asked with an amused smile.

I gave him a sharp look. "Don't forget, we're on the top floor of a twenty story building. Make fun of me, and I might just throw you over the side."