Chapter 3 #2
Was she? She hadn’t peed herself, so that was a win, and she was not inside the stomach of that cougar. So, yeah. She figured she was. Because of the wolf in front of her. “You...” She swallowed, still finding it a little hard to do. “That was very cool.”
Brilliant, Zoe.
He didn’t seem to notice, though, and came close enough for her to lift a hand that trembled despite her best efforts.
Her fingers brushed the thick fur of his neck.
She didn’t expect it to be soft, but it was.
She gently closed a fist in it. “You scared the crap out of the lion. And maybe a little out of me.”
He didn’t pull away, and neither did she.
They remained there, looking into each other’s eyes, surrounded by the darkening forest, the world slowly breathing again around them.
Her chest lifted for the first time in minutes, a shaky inhale that filled her lungs with relief.
And for the first time since the lion stepped into view, she didn’t think of it.
Or about being an elk and almost becoming dinner.
She thought about how, when danger came, he put himself between her and it. “Thank you,” she murmured.
He nodded. Or she thought he did.
Then he trotted into the closest bushes. A few seconds later, his voice came, and maybe her brain was still short-circuiting, but it sounded gentler than usual. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah?”
“That sounds more like a question.”
Right. She cleared her throat. “Yes. Yes, thank you.”
There was more rustling, then his head popped out from said bushes, and he kept getting up until his torso was out, and green leaves covered him from the waist down.
Oh.
Naked.
He was, um, naked.
And big. Beautiful.
Talking about a glorious, unapologetic hairy chest situation, where dark hair trailed down the best display of pecs and abs she’d ever seen in her life.
Her mouth went dry again, for very different reasons this time.
Reasons she liked very much. The fading light traced the lines of him in bronze and shadow, as if the forest itself were taking a moment to admire his body. She sure was.
He didn’t comment on her obvious ogling, but cleared his voice. “Ah, do you think you can chuck what’s left of my clothes my way?”
She looked at his face—equally breath-takingly handsome—seriously, it was almost too much—but managed to get a hold of the non-slutty side of her brain. “Sure, sure.”
She bent to pick up the remains. His t-shirt was more of a suggestion than a garment at this point. His jeans were ripped everywhere. His underwear—also gone. He was a brief guy. Who knew?
She walked closer, making sure she kept her eyes on his face.
On his face.
FACE.
Not on that chest. That wonderful chest. How would it feel to—
Face, Zoe.
She handed him the shredded clothes, temptation for a peek down roaring through her like thunder. Just one little peek—
No, Zoe. The guy just saved your life, respect his awesome nudity.
Heroically, she stepped back.
He looked at what was left in his hands—very little—and sighed. “There’s nothing I can do with this,” he murmured.
You can just step out, and we can keep strolling home, no problem.
She did not say that.
She said nothing.
“I don’t always have a change of clothes with me,” he apologized. “I’m usually by myself or with other shifters so...”
“No, no, it’s all good. Actually, it’s a very healthy body consciousness.” What in heaven was she saying?!?! Jesus.
He chuckled, warm, and that helped. A little. “I’ll have to shift back, and we’ll just hike down that way.”
“It’s totally fine, really.”
And that’s what they did.
He shifted back to his magnificent wolf, picked up his backpack in his jaws, and led the way.
It had strong twisted-Red-Riding-Hood vibes, strolling in a forest following a wolf.
The light thinned further as they walked. The trees turned into silhouettes, their tops laced against a sky that was now lavender, while crickets began their evening chorus. The forest felt different now, more intimate.
It gave her a lot of time to think. And thinking she needed to do, because she’d never wanted a man’s hands, and mouth, and whatever else he could manage, on her like this. She’d read about insta-lust, had always filed it under fiction-only phenomena. Cute and dramatic, but not real life.
But the almost visceral way she’d reacted to his presence since the moment he’d stepped into her shop was insane.
It was as if something in her had recognized something in him and gone, Yes.
That. That one’s yours, go ahead and hit it.
Which was ridiculous, she’d literally just met him today. Hello?
And yet here she was, struggling not to throw herself at him in the middle of a forest that had just tried to kill her.
Thinking that if she did, he would not send her away.
He’d really looked like he was riding the same wave once or twice.
The glances. The almost-smiles. The way he’d grabbed her waist.
People hooked up on less than surviving a mountain lion encounter on a hike—but that was neither here nor there because there would be no hookup. Sadly.
By the time they reached the parking lot, dusk had settled fully. The air was cool, the asphalt holding the last of the day’s warmth.
He walked with her to her car. Cute.
He sat on the ground, backpack dangling from his jaws, looking at her.
She didn’t know what to say.
So she said it all.
“Thank you. For helping me, and for saving my sweet butt. I will start analyzing the samples tomorrow. I can let you know the data I get from it. If you want. Somehow. Not sure how, actually. But you can come by the shop if you want, I’m always there.
Well, often, not always.” Sweet lord, stop talking.
“Anyway. Thank you. And I will see you... around.”
She turned to open the car door, then turned back when a thought occurred in her already scrambled brain. “Do you need help with anything? Like, opening the car or something? ‘Cause, paws?”
Silence.
She distinctly felt her soul try to leave her body. “Never mind. Just realized you’re waiting for me to leave so you can shift back and... open the car door. With your hands. So. I’ll go. And thank you again.”
And she drove home with the knowledge of how deeply, sadly, disturbingly dumb she could be.