“What do you and Kellum do for a living?” Given their expensive home, they might be executives. Perhaps this was a weekend house and their other home was near their office.
“We’re sentries of a sort. We’re kind of like your Homeland Security.”
My Homeland Security?
“Is that what you were doing when you found me?”
“Yes.”
Aha.
“Then where were your weapons?” They couldn’t have hidden any of them under the loincloth. Their cocks took up too much room.
“We are hand-to-hand combat experts.”
He said it with such confidence that she saw no reason to argue with him. She finished washing him and stood. “All done.”
His eyelids half lowered and his jaw softened. When his hands gently clasped her waist, her mind dissolved into mush. It was as if she really had been transported into another reality. Her headache had miraculously disappeared in the steamy shower and her stomach no longer bothered her. When he lowered his lips, all she could do was sigh. The concept of the soon-to-be kiss being wrong in any way never entered her mind.
Taryn pulled her close and pressed his soft, full lips to hers. Her hips seemed to move forward on their own, yearning for some contact. Being so close to him must have altered her from the inside. Her body exploded with surprising need as his hard cock dug against her belly. The urge to touch him prompted her to grab hold of his massive arms, and she inhaled his delicious aroma. His erotic scent teased her nostrils, but she was unable to identify the origin other than to say it was exciting and powerful. She opened her mouth, wanting to taste his magnificence. Never before had she acted so wantonly, but she rationalized that this man had saved her. The truth was that she wanted him.
His tongue darted around hers, almost as if he were an explorer who understood he needed to tread lightly. Her pussy went crazy, creaming and pulsating with each thrust of his tongue.
This man had too large of a hold on her. She shouldn’t be attracted to him, but she was. He claimed to be a shape-shifter for heaven’s sake.
He leaned back. “You did believe me when I said I could change into a lion, right?”
She stared him. “Maybe?”
“Maybe yes or maybe no?”
Should she lie? “Maybe no.”
He exhaled. “Then we have a problem that I need to address.”
She didn’t know what he meant, but the magical moment between them disappeared. He let go of her and stepped back. Water continued to cascade down both of them.
“Maybe you should turn off the water if we’re finished.” She would have done it herself, but since she detected no dials, so she didn’t know how.
He passed his hand over some invisible sensor and the water stopped. Holding open the door, he nodded for her to go first. She stepped onto the soft, lush mat and wiped her feet. A lot of good that did since her wet clothes still dripped. “I’ll help patch you up first, but then I need to leave.”
“You’re all wet.”
Being wet would be the least of her worries, though if the concierge were able to get her a cab, she wouldn’t want to mess up the seats. “So are you.” That was a stupid comment, but her brain had jumbled.
“That’s because I’m naked.”
He wasn’t making any sense either. “So?”
“You need to get out of your clothes. Otherwise, they’ll never dry.”
He did have a point. “Okay. You can dry off and then I’ll change.” Into what she didn’t know, as she had no other clothes. In fact, she didn’t detect any towels she could wrap around herself.
While his kiss might have excited parts of her body that had been dormant for too long, she didn’t need to get naked in front of him. That would be tantamount to announcing she was willing to have sex with him. She had a date with Amy and Krista for dinner and didn’t have time for something so frivolous. Krista was probably already frantic about not finding her.
“Are you ashamed of your body?”
His words finally sunk in. “Ashamed? No. Why?”
When she did the love scenes with Brad, she’d almost be naked with a ton of cameras inches from her body. All sense of modesty would have to vanish. Until then, she’d hang on to her old-fashioned ways.
He slowly unbuttoned her drenched, see-through shirt. Her sports bra covered her nicely, so she didn’t mind. When his fingers brushed her skin, every cell reignited. Her gaze focused not on what he was doing, but on his eyes and his sensuous mouth that twisted with each turn of the button. He lowered the shirt down her arms and let the material drop onto the bathroom floor. Forcing herself to breathe, she bent over to retrieve her top.
He stopped her. “Just so you know, the women around here go topless.”
She’d heard a lot of come-on lines, but none that good. “I doubt that.”
He shrugged. “Suit yourself.”
This time he let her pick up her shirt.
“Where are the towels?” There were none on any racks.
“We don’t need them.”
He moved her a few feet in front of the shower and a huge blast of air from the right and left blew out of the walls. It was like standing in a wind tunnel. All she could do was hold out her arms and laugh. She closed her eyes while she slowly rotated and let the warm currents blow over her. The water evaporated from her skin in no time, but her clothes remained damp and rather uncomfortable.
As quickly as the air started, it ceased. Taryn appeared quite dry. He reached under the sink and pulled out another loincloth. Apparently, that was his only attire. In one quick move, he covered himself.
“I’ll be right back for something for you to wear. With just Kellum and me living here, I’m afraid I don’t have a lot of choices for you. My sister left something here one time. She’s about your size.”
“Great.”
Part of her was thrilled there wasn’t a wife around. If he had been married, his mate undoubtedly would have been furious to know they’d brought some stranger home and gotten naked in front of her. Taryn walked out. From the back, his wounds didn’t look as bad as they appeared in the shower. When he did return, she’d offer to put some ointment and bandages on the worst of the cuts. How all the bleeding had stopped in such a short period of time, she didn’t know.
To help dry her shirt, she hung it over the shower door. Two minutes later he came back with what looked like a long skirt. “The women wear the cloth around their waist, but I imagine you’d like to wear it a bit differently.” He held out the piece of clothing.
Since the fabric was lightweight and thankfully opaque, she wouldn’t turn it down. “Thanks.” He waited, almost as if he expected her to undress in front of him. “Could I have some privacy?”
His brows pinched as if he didn’t understand the word. His head bobbed once and then he disappeared. Talk about being awkward. She wasn’t sure what was going on with these men, but perhaps they’d lived in the forest too long. It might do them good to spend a few days in Spirit to remember what life was like.
To prevent Kellum or Taryn from walking in while she changed, she leaned against the door. Since all of her undergarments were wet, she removed them and hung them over the shower door next to her shirt. If she could figure out how to create the wind tunnel again, she would.
She slipped on the skirt. Since it had an elastic waistband, she pulled it up over her chest and then stepped in front of the mirror. She looked like a drowned rat since the wind cyclone had blown her long hair every which way. Perhaps she could borrow a comb from Kellum. His hair was longer than Taryn’s.
When she was satisfied she’d done the best she could with her appearance, she headed back into the living room. Only Taryn was there standing by the window looking out.
“Hi.”
He turned around and smiled. “Not the usual way to wear the skirt, but the color suits you.”
She had to admit the light blue was one of her favorite shades. “Where’s Kellum?”
“He hasn’t come out of the bathroom.”
Her stomach churned. That wasn’t good. While she wasn’t attached to these two men, she hated seeing anyone harmed. “Should we check on him?” He could have passed out from the wounds.
Taryn’s smile disappeared. “You’re right. It’s not like him to stay in there so long.”
The water wasn’t running as they approached the bathroom. Taryn didn’t knock. He just opened the door.
A huge mountain lion lay sprawled on the ground licking himself. A scream lodged in her throat and blocked the air. Lightheadedness claimed her, and her legs gave way.
When Lara came to, she was sitting on the living room sofa with Taryn next to her. Kellum stood in front. He handed her a glass of water and she greedily drank it down. Her brain was going a million miles an hour.
Stay calm
. She hadn’t really seen a mountain lion in Kellum’s bathroom.
“Please, tell me what’s going on. Tell me I didn’t see what I thought I saw.”
“I’m afraid you did.”
She glanced between the two men. “Where is the lion now?”
Kellum blew out a breath. “I’m right here. We are what you call shape-shifters.”
That’s what Taryn had told her. Amy’s stories about shifters came to mind. There was no way she was going to believe they could shift. “Show me. Change into a lion right now.” Only by witnessing it firsthand would she be convinced.
Kellum shook his head. “Every time we do, it takes energy. We’re both wounded and need all of our cells to heal us.”
When she studied his body, many of the wounds had closed up. “It’s a miracle.”
Taryn let out a breath. “So you believe us?”
“No. I mean I can’t get over how fast your wounds are healing.”
Kellum’s shoulders tensed. “I shifted into my animal form because when I lick my wounds, I help sterilize them. I heal faster that way and would have stayed in that form had you not freaked.” His jaw tightened, and then he nodded to his brother. “I’m going outside to rest.”
She lifted her head. “As a man or as a lion?” She probably should have let it be, but her heart was pounding and a strange taste had entered her mouth. Her whole world was giving her wrong signals.
“As a man. As I said, it takes energy to change.”
She watched his tall form leave. His strong stride implied the wounds hadn’t gravely affected him. When he opened the front door there was nothing but air. Yikes. She’d expected at least a hallway. Perhaps he was going down the fire escape. It made sense now. They had some sort of emergency electronic ladder that led up to their home. The real front door was someplace else.
As she’d remembered, a few seconds later, a pole appeared. He grabbed hold and descended from view.
She inhaled and faced Taryn. “Suppose I say I believe that you two were the mountain lions who attacked the wolves and saved my life.” They had been injured. That much she couldn’t deny. “How do you shift?”
He studied her for a moment, probably debating how much of the lie he wanted to perpetuate. “You press in the clutch, and then move the gear shift into first.”
It took a second for his answer to register. “Funny.” He was playing with her, but she needed some answers. “Seriously, how do you turn from being in human form into being a lion?” She couldn’t get any more explicit than that. Certain he couldn’t explain it, she leaned back to watch him squirm.
“Carefully.”
Her fists clenched. “Stop teasing me.” He was like a magician who refused to reveal his parlor tricks.
He latched onto her gaze, and for a second, she swore he could see through her. “Fine. I use psychic energy.”
She’d never heard of that before. “How exactly does that work?” There was no way she was going to let this go.
He smiled. “What’s that saying you have? Curiosity kills the cat?”
Her shoulders relaxed. “I think you have that backward.
You’re
the cat, not me.”
“So you admit that I’m part lion?”
Whoops.
She hadn’t meant to say that. “Maybe.” That was all she was willing to admit. She wanted to believe him, as she’d seen the lion in his house. She stood. “I’m going to check Kellum’s bathroom.”
“You want to make sure we don’t have a pet lion and are pulling your leg.”
“Can you read minds?”
“Yes.”
Oh, shit.
Her heart dropped to her stomach. “Really?”
“It’s how Kellum and I communicate when we are in our animal form, though we often use telepathy when it’s just the two of us as men.”
That she did believe. “So I don’t have to talk to you? I can think something and you’ll know what I want?”
A smile slid up his face. “I don’t have to have telepathic abilities to know what
you
want.”
Two could play at this game. “What do I want?” She tried to make her mind go blank so he couldn’t invade her thoughts.
“You want to leave here and go back to your safe little life, but you’re staying because your curiosity has gotten the better of you.”
Her mind raced trying to decide if there was a shred of truth in the second half of what he said. “It wouldn’t take a mind reader to know that I want to go since I’ve mentioned it several times.” As for staying, there was a moral obligation to make sure they were all right.