Read Online Wolf at the Door by Sadie Hart - Free Book Online

every
emotion in her eyes... Brandt sucked in a hard breath.
    Yeah. He needed something to do with his
hands that didn’t involve touching Timber Kearney.
    The woman had been through enough. She didn’t
need him pawing at her.
    And she sure as hell didn’t need him kissing
her.
    But of course the moment that thought flitted
through his head, kissing her was all he could think about.
    “Shit,” Brandt muttered as he slammed the
ladder against the solid tree trunk.
    “You all right?” she asked from beside him
and he jumped. He hadn’t realized she’d followed him. A major,
major flaw in this whole him-protecting-her deal.
    A harsh laugh burst from him, sharp and
blunt. “Yeah.”
    She lifted an eyebrow but braced her hands on
the ladder. “I’ll keep it steady.”
    He almost wished she’d let him fall. Maybe
that would knock some sense into him.
     

 
    Chapter Seven
    Brandt
stretched out on Timber’s couch, listening to the occasional murmur
of nighttime birdsong outside her window. Darkness cloaked the
windows, and the low glow of a lamp on the table beside him cast
the room in shadows. Dinner had been an awkward affair, consisting
of frozen meals and stilted conversation.
    He knew she was a private person, and here he
was, all up in her space. But she was doing the best she could.
That much he could see. She hadn’t wanted him here, but she was
trying to make him feel at home anyway. Brandt leaned his head
against the armrest.
    Tate had called shortly after dinner, nothing
new, and he’d sent the pack home in time for the evening shift.
Brandt didn’t know how long he’d been lying there, drifting in and
out of sleep, the facts playing over and over again in his
head.
    Timber’s scream cut through the silence,
jarring him wide awake and to his feet, his hand instantly going
for his gun. He tripped and almost fell over the blanket curled
around his ankles, and kicked his way loose. Another scream
ricocheted through the house, so full of terror it hollowed him
out, left him frozen to the core. This was the kind of sound that
gave meaning to words like blood-curdling.
    Jesus. Brandt bolted up the stairs,
his every sense on high alert. Another scream ripped through the
shattered remnants of the silence, then another, and another.
“Timber!”
    He flung open her door to see her thrashing
in her bed. Her covers were wrapped tight around her, tangling her
like a noose, and she fought. Wildly, violently, and each thrash
was punctuated by another scream.
    Brandt scanned the dark room. Nothing.
Setting his gun on her bedside table, Brandt reached for her, his
hands gripping her upper arms as he hauled her up to a sitting
position.
    “Timber. Wake up, Timber.” Her eyes flew
open, frantic and desperate with terror. She lashed out at him but
he held her still. “Easy there, girl. Easy.”
    Brandt made sure to keep his voice calm,
soothing. Her screams faded into breathless, ragged gasps. She was
trembling, hard enough that he thought she might shatter if he let
go.
    Damn that bastard and what he’d done to
her.
    “Easy, Timber,” Brandt whispered, but her
breathing didn’t slow. It kept picking up pace. “You’re
hyperventilating. I need you to breathe with me.”
    Her hands gripped his wrists like steel,
holding onto him as if she’d float away if she let go.
    “You’re safe,” Brandt said. “He’s not here.
He can’t get to you here.”
    “I need—” The words were cut off with another
panicked gasp. “Let go.”
    Shit. Brandt let go and stepped back. The
last thing he’d wanted was to make it worse. But she didn’t pull
away. Timber used her grip on his arms to pull herself to her feet.
She staggered, and he realized she was shaking so hard she could
barely walk. He started to reach for her again, but she slapped a
hand out at the wall and stumbled down the hall, leaving him to
stare after her from her bedroom door.
    Something about the way she made that walk
down the hall told him it was