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A second hand gripped my arm, hard, unyielding. I was silenced and I was caught.
But I wasn’t vanquished. Adrenaline pushed away pain and exhaustion. Raising my good foot, I prepared to slam the heel into my attacker’s kneecap. Then I crumpled as my weak ankle rejected being asked to hold my weight.
I was falling...then I wasn’t. The hand that had covered my mouth gripped my waist instead. I found myself tucked against Tank’s torso while he breathed into my ear.
“What exactly have you been up to?”
Relief made me snarky. “I don’t think that’s any of your business.”
But Tank wasn’t listening. Instead, he maneuvered me into the convertible so skillfully my ankle didn’t twinge once. Slipping the keys out of my hand and into the ignition, he lowered the top then tilted back my seat so he could elevate my foot.
Fingers skimmed across my ankle bone, their gentle touch devoid of any annoyance. So maybe I’d misunderstood his question? The hand over my mouth, I now realized, was intended to silence any startled emoting. Tank had prevented me from blowing my cover to the nearby werewolves.
“Relax,” he murmured, his massaging fingers backing up the suggestion. And I did. Sinking back into the seat leather, I gazed up into the sky.
The expanse was full of stars I couldn’t name, just like my body was full of equally unfamiliar sensations. Like Van Gogh’s Starry Night. All swirls of color and utter confusion, yet so engrossing I never wanted this moment to stop.
But it did. Tank’s fingers released me at the same moment his words brought me back to reality. “Your ankle isn’t worse, but it will be if you keep overdoing things.” His tone was gruff, growly. “I bought you a brace,” he continued. “Boots with ankle support. I’ll go get them. Wait here.”
I pushed my torso upright. “I have to bring Butch back his keys....”
“You’ll only confuse him.” Tank was a dark shape above me, one that should have been menacing but wasn’t. He was just far enough away that I could have rolled sideways and evaded his offensive if he lunged for my throat.
Not that Tank had given me any reason to be afraid of him. But that was the whole point. The distance between us now was an entirely unwerewolf-like promise of personal space. So sweet I found myself leaning toward him instead of away.
I barely managed a hum of question, but that was enough to spur Tank to elaborate. “When I saw you and the convertible were both missing, I asked Butch if I could borrow his car. Take you for a ride.”
A ride. His words raised goosebumps on my arms, even though I was pretty sure he hadn’t intended the double meaning.
Then I remembered tomorrow. Breakfast with shifters who would sneer at me behind their hands. Tank’s quick thinking solved one problem, but opened up a whole ‘nother can of worms.
“Thanks,” I said, not really meaning it.
And Tank must have understood my tone because he shook his head, something I felt more than saw as a breeze caressed my cheekbone. “Butch keeps his own confidence.” A pause, then: “Will you wait here? Three minutes.”
What could I do but say yes?
***
I WAS LOST IN THE STARS by the time Tank returned. Was imagining pulling out the markers I rarely had time to play with and creating a night landscape from thousands of colored dots. Like Seurat if he’d discovered astronomy, pointillism turned to feeling instead of science....
I should have jumped when the door squeaked open and a werewolf slid into the seat beside me. Instead, I turned to face Tank, breathing in his proximity like a hit of pure oxygen.
“Do you want to tell me where you went tonight?” he asked.
Ah, there went all the oxygen. My lungs seized up. I shook my head rather than reply.
“Hey.” His finger skimmed across my cheek, disappearing as quickly as it had made contact. “It was only a question. No wrong answers.”
That wasn’t how male werewolves acted. But Tank was more than a male werewolf. He was so close now that his heat lit me on fire, strumming my nerve endings into a sensitized alert.
As of that moment, I could have given Clara a definitive answer to her question about my sexuality. Men. I was definitely attracted to men...or at least, to this specific man.
“I’m going to kiss you now.”
Tank’s words were a deep breath, almost inaudible. But I felt them all the way down to my toes.
After that, he waited. One, two, three seconds. Giving me time to say no or just to wriggle sideways. When I didn’t, his hands thudded down on the seat back on either side of me. His broad chest blocked every one of the stars.
I should have felt caged. Instead, I arched up to meet him.
And, for half a second, I fell into paradise. Lost in the cascade of sensation as if I’d caught a ride on a falling star and plummeted through the atmosphere....
Searing heat. Overwhelming desire. I couldn’t quite manage to breathe.
Then I remembered where I was. Who I was with. A werewolf. Someone who would be in my life for five days only.
The deadline struck me like a bucket of ice water. So much like my father, the man I’d seen once. I couldn’t even remember the deadbeat’s voice.
Tank must have been less lost in the moment than I was, because he responded the instant my brain started churning. Pulling back, he took the starbursts with him as he retreated.
“What went wrong?”
“Nothing. You did nothing wrong.”
Tank’s head, I noted, was twisted away from me for the first time since I’d asked him to cut out that behavior. It felt like pushing through molasses, but I reached out to bring his chin back front and center. “This has nothing to do with your face.”
“What then? Talk to me.”
A faintly stubbled cheek sank into my palm, as if I wasn’t the only one finding space between us inconceivable. Maybe that’s why I said it. “I know nothing about you.”
“I’ll text over my CV.”
His phone was in his hand, and I couldn’t help myself. I laughed at him. “You’re a geek.”
“Geek. Lawyer. Medic. What else do you want to know?”
Each syllable raised a rumble of desire. But there were so many questions in my stomach, most of which couldn’t be summed up with words.
Instead, I started with something easy. “Why did you join the Samhain Shifters?”
“Do you want the reason I gave on my application or the real reason?”
“Real reason.”
“Part of it’s simple. You’ve met Kira. There are dozens in our pack just like her—smart, kind, strong. I can’t risk losing them to the fae.”
I nodded. “But that’s not your only purpose.” After all, he’d said there was a reason that wouldn’t have fit on his application. I was sure Lupe would love the idea of hiring someone as loyal to his pack as Tank was.
In response, he inhaled deeply. Jaw muscles bunched beneath my fingers. Then he told me:
“I’ve lived in the same pack all of my life. I’m related to most of them. Anyone I’m not related to, I’ve considered already.”
The word pack made me twitch. But that was Tank’s life, not mine. I focused instead on what he was saying. “Considered for what?”
I only realized my hand was still on Tank’s cheek when the words vibrated through my fingers. “Considered for the role of mate.”