I was afraid he might get the drop on you again.
“There was little chance of that happening,” he replied with a chuckle. “I showed him just a bit of my wolf and the idiot pissed his pants.”
Kendra gave a mental giggle. That’s awesome. I wish I could have been there to see it.
“No you don’t. I wasn’t nice and I don’t want to scare you any more than you have already been scared.”
Galen held the driver’s door open as she climbed into the truck. He climbed in after her when she settled herself on the front seat. “Do you want to try changing back into a human now, or when we find a room?” He clenched his teeth together. He didn’t want to encourage her in either way. If she did it here, she would undoubtedly be naked in front of him. If she waited until they got to a hotel, there was the chance that someone would see him enter the room with what they would perceive as a dog. Both options had their drawbacks. Not that seeing a beautiful woman naked would be a drawback for him.
I think I’ll try it now. I don’t want to stay this way for any longer. Besides, the longer I stay this way, the more likely it will be that I’ll change back because it’s time, not because I’m trying to force it.
She had a point. “Okay. I’ll keep my eyes on the road, but I’ll try to talk you through it.” He tightened his hands on the steering wheel and told himself he wouldn’t look at her naked. Yeah, right. Who are you kidding?
“Think about what it feels like to be human and reach for that part of you. Concentrate on what it feels like to have arms and legs, fingers and toes. Think about how it feels to have smooth skin, your small, pert nose and straight even teeth.”
You think I have a small, pert nose? She giggled again. I’ve always thought my nose was big.
“Not to me. To me, you’re perfect in every way.”
Right.
“I’m serious.” He turned and gave her a stern glance. “Are you concentrating? It won’t work if you’re not concentrating.”
Yes. I’m concentrating. She closed her eyes. Now what?
“Keep imagining what it’s like to be human. It’ll come.” Galen started the truck and put it in gear. He made a U-turn and hit the gas. They needed to get out of here before that idiot gathered the courage to come after them.
Chapter Thirteen
Kendra did as Galen instructed. She imagined what it was like to look like a human, feel like a human. She imagined eating dinner with a fork and knife, drinking from a glass. She thought about her legs being smooth and hairless, the pain of her Brazilian wax—all of it.
Soon, she felt her body changing, her legs grew longer, her snout shortened, shrinking into her human face. Her sense of smell grew less pronounced as her olfactory glands changed from that of her wolf to human. She felt the change, knowing that if she needed, or wanted to, she could reach for the wolf and bring it on at will. She didn’t know how she knew it, she just did.
What startled Kendra the most was the fact that this shift didn’t hurt as acutely as she the first time around. She’d been concentrating on feeling the human side of her, instead of concentrating on the pain.
Thinking of her human side gave her something to focus on that wasn’t destructive and painful. Kendra smiled. “I did it!”
She didn’t think about being naked until Galen turned her way, his eyes going wide as he ran off onto the side of the road. He turned his attention back to the road, jerking the wheel to get them back in the center of the lane.
“Yes, you did,” he said with a smile. “Though you might want to climb into the back and put your clothes on before someone passes us and gets a free show.”
“Like you did?” she asked dryly as she moved to climb between the seats. She wasn’t sure, but she thought she heard Galen groan. He probably did. After all, she was totally naked and he was a man—a man who, if she believed what he said about her nose, was at least slightly attracted to her.
“Yeah.” He chuckled. “Though, I can’t be angry at myself for looking. I would get angry at anyone else for doing the same.”
“Why?” She glanced back at him in the mirror. “Why would you get mad at someone else for looking? We have no connection other than you rescued me from a lunatic and his minions.”
“We do have a connection.” He sighed. “I just don’t know how to tell you about it so that you won’t think I’m just as nuts as that crazy doctor.”
“I don’t know what you mean.” She frowned as she struggled into her clothes. “What kind of connection could we possibly have?”
“I’ll tell you tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow? Why tomorrow?” She pulled her socks over her feet and slipped her shoes on. “You’re a strange one. Has anyone ever told you that?”
Kendra climbed back into the front seat and stared through the windshield. She didn’t look at Galen. She wasn’t sure she could face him now that he’d seen her naked yet again. He hadn’t seen much of anything at the lab, she’d kept the sheet wrapped around her for the most part and he’d been a gentleman and looked away. This time, though, he had gotten an eyeful.
Her cheeks started to burn as she stared straight ahead. Here she was, in a vehicle with a man she barely knew and he’d already seen her naked.
“Would it help to see me naked?” Galen asked as he stared straight ahead, his attention solely on the road in front of them.
“Uh…” Speechless for a minute, Kendra shook her head. “No. I don’t see how my seeing you naked is going to help matters. No matter how tempting it might be.”
“Tempting? You find me tempting?”
“No. I find your offer of letting me see you naked tempting,” she lied. “As much as I might want to turn the tables, I don’t see how it’s going to make me feel any better.” It might give her a nice show, but Kendra was sure it would embarrass her more than anything else.
She’d never been able to watch a male strip show without getting embarrassed. She didn’t know why men dancing for her entertainment should embarrass the crap out of her, but it did.
“Can we stop there?” Kendra asked, pointing to the sign they approached. It advertised food and lodging fifty miles to the north.
“I don’t see why not.” Galen set the cruise control and glanced over at her. “You realize we’ll have to share a room.”
“Yeah, I figured as much.” She sighed. “Still, sharing a room is better than spending the night trying to sleep in the SUV.” She stared out through the window into the growing darkness. “How will your friends find us?”
“That’s easy.” He reached over and turned the radio on low. “They have GPS on my truck and on my phone. They’ll find us with no problem. I want them to find us. There really is safety in numbers, especially when we’re dealing with that lunatic Thornton.”
“I can see why you’d say that.” Kendra sat on her hands so she wouldn’t keep twisting her fingers together. “Why does he do it?” She frowned. “I mean, doesn’t he worry about the authorities finding him and putting him in jail?”
“I doubt it. He was working for some part of the government, as near as we can figure. Someone in the Defense Department was paying his bills.” Galen shrugged. “Hell, they might still be paying his bills.”
“Oh. I guess that would explain his ego and the lack of fear at being caught. He acted as though he thought to breed an army.”
“Breeding an army is exactly what he has in mind.” Galen looked at her from the corner of his eye. “Which brings me to a question that I should have asked you already.” He cleared his throat, looking uncomfortable. “Did they hurt you? I mean did they…” Galen couldn’t seem to voice the question Kendra suspected he wanted to ask.
It didn’t escape her attention that he gripped the steering wheel tighter, his knuckles growing white. A muscle twitched in his jaw and his expression grew fierce. It was almost as though just the thought of someone forcing themselves on her made him angry.
“No.” Kendra didn’t know why she wanted him
to know that. She just did. Something inside her needed to make him feel better and she knew her answer would calm him, though she had no idea why it should. “No one touched me while I was there. Though the doctor kept alluding to someone they had in custody somewhere with whom they would try to pair me.” She bowed her head and stared at her lap. “I can’t thank you enough for saving me before they took me to him. I don’t know why, but something tells me that this person would have done whatever the doctor told him to do.”
“Then he would have died.”
“Why would you say that? Is there something inside me that will kill people now?”
“No.” Galen shook his head. “That’s not something you could have done.”
“Then why would you say something like that?”
“Because, Kendra, understand this, there is nothing in you that would harm him. It is I who will kill anyone who attempts to harm you.”
Chapter Fourteen
Galen almost cringed at his declaration. Kendra grew very quiet. He resisted the urge to glance her way. He couldn’t afford to let her distract him from watching the road. It was full dark now and any number of animals could dart out in front of him. That, and he needed to keep his wits about him, at least until they made it safely inside a hotel room.
Once inside and away from prying eyes, he would have an even more difficult time keeping his wolf at bay. His wolf wanted its mate and he wanted it now. Galen knew that the beast didn’t understand why he hadn’t mated her already. His beast urged him to cover her over and over. He needed the connection and he needed it yesterday. The wolf knew better than the man how rare and precious a mate was and he refused to let her get away.
The wolf rode him hard to mate her as soon as possible. He couldn’t think straight when he looked at her. Hell, he couldn’t think straight with her scent permeating everything in sight. His cock had been hard since they climbed into the vehicle together. His wolf wanted nothing more than to sink his cock deep into her tight cunt and ride her until she screamed.
“Talk to me. Say something, anything, to keep me distracted.”
“Are you getting tired?” Kendra asked, resting her hand on his arm. “I can drive if you’re tired.”
Galen groaned. “That’s not it at all. Keep me distracted. Keep me thinking.” He sighed, wishing he could stand the touch of her hand on his skin, but the longer she kept the connection, the more he wanted to stop the truck and claim her as his mate. “You might want to take your hand off my arm. I can’t think straight with your skin against mine. Like I said, keep talking. Keep me thinking.”
“Keep you thinking about what?”
“About anything but how much I want to bury my face between your thighs and lick your pretty little cunt until you come. Damn it, woman, talk to me about anything but how it would feel to bury my cock so deep inside you that it will change us both forever.”
“I...uh…um…Oh, my!” Kendra’s eyes widened.
Galen would wager that no one had ever told her he wanted her so much he could only think of how making love to her would feel.
“I—I don’t know what to say to that.” Her voice cracked and she let her hand slip free of his forearm.
Galen wanted to howl at the loss, but kept his gaze on the road. “Of course you don’t know what to say. I have no business talking to you like that.” He hit the steering wheel with the heel of his hand so hard it was a wonder he didn’t bend it. “I can’t apologize enough for the X-rated thoughts I have about you.” He glanced her way for a moment before turning his attention back to the road. “The only excuse I have is that you’re the first woman I’ve been attracted to in over twenty years.”
Good God, why did he tell her that? Sighing, he kept his attention on his driving and tried desperately to ignore the fact she sat right next to him, the scent of her body ripe and sweet.
“You haven’t had sex in twenty years?” She shook her head. “What a line. Like I’d believe that. You aren’t a day over thirty–five. Are you trying to tell me you haven’t had sex since you were fifteen? I find that very difficult to believe.”
Leaning against the back of the seat, she crossed her arms and thinned her lips. “You must really think I’m stupid, or something.”
“No, Kendra. I don’t think you’re stupid. There’s one thing you aren’t taking into consideration. I’m a were-being, as are you now. We age differently than others. We live longer lives. When that crazy asshole injected you with that serum he may well have extended your life by hundreds of years.”
“I don’t believe you.” Her eyes widened, telling him that she at least considered believing him.
“Believe it, sweetheart. I’m ninety-six years old.” My brother Kalen is nearly as old as I am and our sister, is forty-five, though she doesn’t look a day over twenty. She is going through shifter adolescence, for lack of a better term. She’s obviously an adult physically, but as far as her shifter genes are concerned, she’s barely a teenager.”
“Are you saying that I’m barely a teenager?”
“I don’t know how old you are, it’s difficult to say. Once the doctor injected you, you would have reverse aged to look like a were-being of the same chronological age.”
“I’m thirty-five.” Her eyes grew round and she immediately, grabbed the visor over her head and pulled it down. Biting her lip, she lifted the plastic cover and the light blinked on, illuminating her face. “Oh. My. God.” Kendra turned to him, her eyes wide as saucers. “I look younger.” Turning back to the mirror, she lifted her hand to her face and touched her cheek. “I look easily ten, maybe fifteen years younger. How is this possible?”
“I told you. You’ll age slower now. It would only make sense that you would look like your thirty-five year-old werewolf counterpart.” Galen didn’t know if he should smile or stay stoic. Most human women he’d known would have been ecstatic to find out she looked younger and, in fact, wouldn’t age as quickly as other women.
“Look at it this way, Kendra. You just got a free face lift. Whether you think so now or not, you’ve been given a gift—a rare and precious gift and you should embrace it.”
“A gift, huh?” She kept staring at herself in the mirror. “So you think that having my life stolen is a rare and precious gift? I liked my life. I loved my students and now I have nothing.”
Perhaps now was the time to tell her the way he felt. As much as he wanted to wait, maybe he needed to tell her how much he wanted her. How much he needed her. At least she wasn’t left with the nothing she feared. However, the thought that she might fear him more didn’t escape his thoughts.
Galen wanted to tell her she was his mate. He ached to tell her, yet he was unsure of his welcome into her arms, her life. What if he told her they were soul mates and she rejected him? Could he live with knowing he had a mate and she didn’t want him? Did he really have a choice?
Taking a deep breath, Galen gathered his courage to tell her the truth. “Kendra, I need to—”
“Look!” She pointed to a sign in the distance. “A motel. And it has a twenty-four hour diner. We can finally stop and get something to eat and get some sleep.”
“Yes.” Galen sighed, unsure as to whether he was saved by the sign or cursed to wait to tell her. Either way, it seemed as though he’d gotten a reprieve.
Chapter Fifteen
Kendra couldn’t wait until Galen stopped the truck. She needed to get away from him as quickly as possible before she did something stupid and jumped him. It took every ounce of willpower she had to keep from climbing into his lap and planting a kiss dead on his lips when he told her how much he wanted her.
She wanted him, too. Never in her life had she felt this way about a man she’d just met. She wanted him more than she ever wanted anyone before. She didn’t know why. She couldn’t stop thinking about what it would feel like to have him make love with her.
The minute he told her about how he couldn’t think of anything but how she would feel wrapped around h
is cock, she found it difficult to think of anything but that as well.
Why? Why did she want this man so much? Hell, he wasn’t really even a man, not in the sense that he was one-hundred percent human, but she guessed that didn’t matter now because she wasn’t human anymore either. Not in the truest sense of the word anyway.
Her stomach flip-flopped when she thought about how alone they were. She had been tempted to make him pull off on the side of the road so they could consummate their strange relationship in the back of the truck.
Thank God she’d seen the sign for the hotel. It had stopped him from saying whatever it was he’d been about to say. Something like Don’t worry about it, sweetheart, I won’t touch you. She was sure that’s what he’d been about to say. She didn’t want to hear that. She wanted to hear about how much he wanted her. Hell, she wanted him.
“I’m sorry I just blurted that out the way I did,” Galen said as he turned into the motel parking lot. He pulled into a spot and put the SUV in park, shut off the engine and turned to her. “I’ll get us separate, but adjoining rooms so you won’t have to worry about me bothering you.”
“God, Galen, is that what you think? You think that you’re wanting me bothers me?” She shook her head, leaned across the seat and rested her hand on his arm. “I want you to want me.” She smiled, her gaze meeting his. “I need you to want me.” She took a deep breath. “I don’t know why. I don’t know what’s the matter with me because I certainly don’t come onto men I’ve just met like this, but I want you more than I can say. You’re confession to wanting me didn’t scare me away. If anything, it only made me want you more.”
Galen met her gaze, his expression one she thought to never see in a man’s eyes and directed at her. “It’s not just a want, Kendra. I don’t just want you. I need you. I need you with every cell, every molecule of my being. My wolf needs you.” He took a deep breath, his hand covering hers on his arm.
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