by Paige Tyler
“Nothing wrong with that. Few people could look at what we saw in there and not be affected.” He glanced at the house, and then back at her. “I hate to do this, but I’m going to have to hang around here for a while. Maybe you should get Andy to give you a ride back to the hotel, so you can get some sleep. You look exhausted.”
Eliza would much rather have gone back to his place and spent the rest of the night cuddled up to him, but she tried not to let her disappointment show. “Oh…okay.”
“How about I call you tomorrow?” he said.
“Um, yeah. Sure.”
She tried not to hold it against him—the cops needed him here, after all. And she knew he was just looking out for her when he suggested she go back to the hotel.
Mumbling a quick, “Good night,” Eliza turned to walk back toward the group of onlookers still gathered behind the police tape, only to stop when she felt Hunter’s hand on her arm.
“Tonight was amazing,” he whispered softly in her ear.
His breath was hot on her skin, and she shivered. “It was for me, too.”
He stared down at her for a moment longer, the heat in his eyes letting her know in no uncertain terms how much he still wanted her. With a smile, he gave her a wink, then turned and walked back to the house.
Eliza turned and made her way over to the crowd of people. Spotting Andy standing just on the other side of the police tape, she headed in his direction. Ducking beneath the yellow tape, she glanced back at the house to see Hunter talking to one of the uniformed police officers.
“So, did it look like it was another wolf attack?” Andy asked.
She turned her attention to her co-worker. “Yeah. And it’s one vicious wolf, too,” she said, her stomach suddenly churning again at the memory of what she’d seen in the house. “Look, there’s not really much more to do here, so we might as well go back to the hotel.” She didn’t want to admit to the photographer that she had gotten a bit queasy from being inside the house.
Andy was silent for a moment. “You go on. I think I might hang around. See if I can get any pictures. I’ll have Nate drive me back to the hotel.”
She blinked in surprise at the name. “Nate Corrigan’s here?”
The photographer nodded. “Apparently, he must have been listening to his police scanner, too. He got here a little while after you and the professor went inside. He’s over there trying to charm one of the female cops into telling him something.”
Eliza turned her gaze in the direction Andy pointed. Sure enough, Nate was there talking to one of the female police officers, who, surprisingly enough, was smiling at the man. Apparently, he could be charming, even if he was a paranormal nut. Shaking her head, Eliza turned back to Andy to find the photographer holding out the car keys.
“I had to park down the street a little, but you can’t miss it,” he told her.
Taking the keys from Andy, Eliza told him good night, and then started down the street in the direction of the car. As she did so, she couldn’t resist glancing over at the house to see if Hunter was still standing outside, but to her disappointment, the handsome professor was nowhere in sight. She continued down the street to the car.
Stifling a yawn, Eliza used the keyless entry to unlock the door, and then climbed in. Starting the engine, she immediately turned on the heater, sighing as the warm air enveloped her. How do people get used to living up here? She put the car in gear.
She was just about to pull out onto the road when she noticed a man walking away from the house. Her brow furrowed as she recognized Hunter. What is he doing?
As she watched, he crouched down and examined something on the ground, then got to his feet again. Rather than continue on his way, however, he stood where he was, looking first in one direction and then the other, as if trying to decide which way to go. After a moment, he started walking again, heading across the street toward the warehouses. A moment later, he disappeared around one of them.
Eliza’s frown deepened. What had Hunter been looking at on the ground? More importantly, where was he going? If she didn’t know better, she’d think he was trying to track the wolf. Which was ridiculous, of course. There was no way he could track a wolf. And even if he could, what the heck was he planning on doing if he found the beast? Ask him to come along peacefully?
Her curiosity getting the better of her, Eliza turned off the car and grabbed her shoulder bag from the seat. Opening the door, she got out and dashed across the street. She didn’t really want Hunter to see her following him, but she knew that if she didn’t stick close, she’d lose sight of him down one of the dark back streets.
However, when she got to the corner of the building around which he had disappeared, Hunter was nowhere in sight. Damn! Frowning, she rounded the corner of the building and cautiously made her way down the street as quickly as she could. It was much darker back here than up by the main road, and Eliza’s hand tightened on the shoulder strap of her purse. Maybe she should call out Hunter’s name, but then quickly decided against it. She didn’t want him to know she was following him.
She walked for a couple blocks in what she hoped was the right direction, making several turns along the way. After a few moments, however, she realized that she had not only lost Hunter’s trail, but she was also unsure exactly which way she had come. All of the warehouses seemed to look alike in the dark, and there were no streetlights back here.
Suddenly, there was a sound behind her, like gravel crunching underfoot. Her heart leaping into her throat, Eliza whirled around, but there was nothing there. She held her breath, listening, but didn’t hear anything. Even so, she quickened her step. She wasn’t sure where she was going, but she wanted to get there quickly. As she passed each building, she glanced down the street running between that one and the next, hoping to spot Hunter, but they were all deserted. Where the heck had he gone?
Stopping, Eliza lifted her cold hands to her mouth and blew warm air on them. This was a waste of time. For all she knew, Hunter had already gone back to his SUV and was on his way home. Shaking her head at her stupidity, she turned to go back in the direction she’d come, only to stumble to an abrupt halt. There, standing no more than ten feet in front of her was the biggest wolf she had ever seen.
Oh crap. The thing is absolutely huge! He had to be twice as big as a normal wolf, maybe larger, with thick black fur and eyes as dark as night. As she watched, his lips curled back to show long, white teeth, and he let out a low snarl.
Tightening her grip on her purse, Eliza slowly began to back away. The wolf followed, his movements slow and deliberate as if he were just waiting for the right moment to attack. Well, she wasn’t going to stand there until he did. She might not be able to outrun the animal, but she was damn well going to give it her best shot. Taking a deep breath, she turned and ran as fast as she could.
Eliza had no idea where she was going, and she didn’t care. All she knew was that she had to get away from the wolf. The terror that surged through her was so complete she could barely make her feet work, but somehow she forced them to obey.
Though she jogged regularly back home in San Francisco, she doubted she would be fast enough to outrun a wolf for long. It didn’t help that the cold night air made it feel like her lungs were on fire. She kept telling herself that if she could make it back to the main street, then she would be safe. She darted a quick glance over her shoulder at the wolf still pursuing her, only to let out a cry when she suddenly tripped and lost her footing.
Eliza went down hard, the gravel digging into her palms as she broke her fall with her hands, but she ignored the discomfort, instead glancing over her shoulder to look for the wolf. She expected to find him in midair and ready to pounce on her, but instead he approached her slowly, his teeth bared in a snarl, that same low growl coming from deep in his throat. Her heart was beating so fast, she thought it might explode in her chest. She was done for; there was no way she was going to escape.
Then suddenly, a huge shape came hurt
ling out of the darkness to slam into the big, black wolf. The impact from the collision sent the black wolf tumbling across the gravel, and for a moment, Eliza couldn’t understand what was happening. Then she realized that a second wolf had arrived upon the scene. This one was gray and just as large as the first.
The black beast was up in a flash, and then the two wolves threw themselves at each other almost faster than she could see. But even in the darkness, she could make out the flash of teeth as they snapped and ripped at each other. The growls were deep and ferocious as they fought, rolling and tumbling across the ground. She couldn’t believe how fast and vicious the wolves were as they tried to rip each other apart.
Every instinct in Eliza told her that she should run while she had the chance, but she couldn’t seem to force her body to obey. Instead, she stayed where she was, waiting to see what would happen.
As fast as the attack had started, it was over. With a loud yelp, the black wolf turned tail and took off running down one of the alleys. The gray wolf made as if to follow, but then stopped. Eliza tensed as the animal slowly turned toward her. Just because he had chased the black wolf off didn’t mean he wasn’t planning on making a late night snack of her himself. But as he turned to look at her, she didn’t see ferocity in his gleaming, yellow eyes. Instead, he seemed to be regarding her with what could only be called interest. She had no idea how, but she knew that the gray wolf would not harm her.
As the wolf stood staring at her, his breath coming out frosty in the cold, night air, she realized that he hadn’t come out of the encounter unscathed. Blood ran down his shoulder and matted his thick fur. The wound looked deep, and she had to fight the urge to see for herself how badly he was injured. What was she thinking? It wasn’t too bright to go poking and prodding a wounded animal, especially a wild one, even if he had just saved her bacon.
The wolf stood and stared at her for several long moments more before abruptly turning and loping off in the direction the other wolf had gone.
Still too stunned to move, Eliza stayed where she was for a few moments. Then her adrenaline kicked in again and she scrambled to her feet to run through the maze of streets back to the car. Luckily, she found her way there without getting herself too turned around in the warren of warehouses. Once at the car, she wasted no time getting inside, but rather than starting it right away, she just sat there, tightly gripping the steering wheel in her trembling hands. My God. She’d almost been killed back there. If that gray wolf hadn’t come along when he did…
Abruptly, a thought struck her. Hunter! He could still be out there with those wolves. Fighting the urge to get out and search for him on foot, Eliza started the car and slowly drove around the streets between the warehouses looking for him. To her dismay, however, there was no sign of him. Maybe he had already gone back to the crime scene. She hoped.
But when she drove by the place where he’d parked the SUV earlier, it wasn’t there. He must have gone home. She let out a sigh of relief. She wondered for a moment if she should stop and tell the police at the house about the wolves she’d seen. While that may have been the logical thing to do, though, she wasn’t feeling very logical right then. All she really wanted was to be with Hunter.
When Eliza got to Hunter’s house and saw that the driveway was empty, her first thought was that he wasn’t there, but then realized that he’d probably parked in the garage like he had when she’d been with him. Grabbing her purse from the seat, she got out of the car and hurried up to the front door to ring the doorbell. As she waited for him to answer, she nervously glanced over her shoulder into the darkness. She felt her heart race as panic started to set in again. She was just about to press the little glowing orange button again when light suddenly bathed the front porch. A moment later, the door opened and she was gazing up into Hunter’s golden brown eyes.
Letting out a sigh of relief, Eliza threw herself into his arms. Thank God, he really is okay. All her fears and anxiety melted away as she felt his strong arms wrap around her. She’d never felt so safe before.
“Eliza! Are you okay? What’s wrong?”
Still holding onto his shoulders, she reluctantly took a little step back so that she could answer. But the sight of him made the words catch in her throat. His hair was slightly damp as if he’d just taken a shower, she noticed, and his clothes looked like he’d just been in the act of throwing them on when she’d rung the doorbell. He hadn’t even bothered to button up his shirt, and his broad, muscular chest was exposed to her view. Damn, there should be a law against him coming to the door dressed like that.
“Eliza, what happened?” he prompted when she didn’t say anything. “I thought you were going back to the hotel.”
“I-I was going to,” she stammered, dragging her gaze away from his bare chest to look up into his gold eyes. They were equally as mesmerizing as his chest, however, and it took her a moment to collect her thoughts. “But… Well…I saw you walking off toward the warehouses near the house where that poor man was attacked. I didn’t know what you were doing, so I followed you…”
His brow furrowed. “You followed me? Why?”
She shook her head. “I don’t know. I thought you were tracking the wolf or something, and I got a little worried.”
He gave her an incredulous look. “Tracking the wolf? How would I do that? Just because I study them for a living doesn’t mean I can track them, Eliza.”
Eliza felt her face color. “I know. It seems silly now. I mean, of course there’s no way you could track a wolf.” She swallowed hard. “Anyway, I lost sight of you back in those warehouses, and then, out of nowhere, a huge wolf jumped out at me!”
“What? Oh my God! Were you attacked? Are you okay?” Taking a little step back, he immediately started to check her over.
“I’m okay,” she said, hastening to reassure him. “The wolf didn’t actually attack me. But only because he didn’t get the chance. Believe it or not, another wolf showed up and chased the first one off. I was afraid that he was going to finish what the other one started, but he just stood there staring at me for a couple of seconds, then walked away. That’s strange, isn’t it?”
“Yeah, it is,” Hunter agreed. “But thank God you weren’t hurt.”
Pulling her close, he wrapped his arms around her again. Despite how good it felt, she couldn’t stop the little shiver that ran through her when she thought about just how badly she could have been injured.
“You’re trembling,” Hunter said softly. “Why don’t we get you upstairs? A hot shower will make you feel a lot better.”
That sounded heavenly. As he took her hand and led her up the stairs to his bedroom, she tried to push the whole episode with the wolves to the back of her mind. That was a lot easier said than done.
Once in the adjoining master bathroom, she gave him a shy smile. “I’d feel a lot better if you’d join me,” she said softly.
He gently ran the back of his hand over her cheek. “I could definitely do that,” he said. “Let’s get you of these clothes and into the shower.”
As Hunter turned on the water, Eliza began to take off her clothes. After getting the temperature set right, he moved to help her. She waited patiently while he lifted her shirt over her head and undid the clasp of her bra. Hunter would have turned his attention to her jeans next, but she slipped her hands inside his shirt to push it off his shoulders and down his well-muscled arms.
She let her hungry gaze run over his smooth, muscular chest and rock-hard abs. But as her gaze came to rest on the deep, jagged scars on his right shoulder, a frown creased her brow. She didn’t remember those being there when they’d made love earlier. Then again, the bedroom had been kind of dark. But surely she would have remembered feeling them, wouldn’t she?
She opened her mouth to ask Hunter about them, but he chose that moment to kiss her again, and as his tongue teased hers in the most delicious way imaginable, she forgot all about the scars on his shoulder. She could ask him about them later. He unb
uttoned her jeans and pushed them down over her hips. Much later.
When they were both naked, Hunter took her hand and led her into the step-in shower. Grabbing the bar of soap, he lathered it slowly between his hands before placing it back on the shelf. A moment later, he was running his soapy hands all over her body. Eliza doubted that the places he seemed the most interested in were all that dirty, but she certainly wasn’t going to complain. On the contrary, she sighed with pleasure as he slid his hands up to cup her soap-covered breasts. He seemed quite fascinated with the way her nipples slipped through his fingers as he played with them, and she gasped as he tweaked the hard tips. He only smiled at her wickedly and gave them another playful squeeze before moving on to other parts of her body. The man was so unbelievably good at getting her hot and bothered.
Hunter lavished just as much attention on her bottom as he had given her breasts, turning her away from him and lathering her ass until it was completely covered in soap suds. While it was incredibly enjoyable, the soap bubbles tickled as they ran down her ass cheeks, and she couldn’t help but wiggle a little. That earned her a quick swat on the bottom, and she jumped in surprise. Not only did the smack send soap bubbles flying everywhere and make a very loud sound in the enclosed shower, but it also sent a surprisingly delicious shiver through her body.
At her startled expression, Hunter gave her a sexy grin. “I had to get the bubbles off somehow, didn’t I?”
“Most people would just have used the hand shower,” she teased.
He flashed her a grin. “True. But that wouldn’t nearly be as much fun,” he added, running his hand over her bottom. “Besides, you have a very spankable ass.”
She blinked at him over her shoulder, surprised by the words. “I do?”
Hunter chuckled. “You do. Didn’t anyone ever tell you that?”
She shook her head. “No,” she said. “But then again, no one’s ever spanked me before, either.”
“Should I stop?”
Eliza was silent for a moment as she considered his words. “Actually,” she said, “I think I kind of like it.”
