I curled my fingers around the back of his neck, pulled him down, and kissed him. I tasted myself on his lips and didn’t care. I wanted more. I wanted him inside me like I’d never wanted anything else before.
His cock was thick and hard, and looking utterly delicious. I reached for him, but before I could wrap my fingers around his thick girth, he moved, turning me on the bed so he could nestle me against his body.
“Good morning, sunshine,” he said in a satisfied drawl. “Feeling better?”
I blinked. “Yes. Very much so. But what about you?”
“There will be plenty of time later for me.”
Then he was rolling out of bed, his gait awkward as he headed toward the bathroom.
I sighed, not knowing what to make of everything. He was trying to hide something, that was for sure. And it wasn’t that he was embarrassed about the size or shape of his cock, because both were quite impressive, though I had to admit that I was surprised by the slightly bluish hue to it. What else could it be?
Could it be that he couldn’t control his shift in the spur of the moment, and he was afraid of me finding out what he was?
That might be it. Because I could swear that there was a moment when he was licking me to oblivion that his shoulder had gotten a bit furry-feeling under my thigh, like he couldn’t stay human all the way.
That must be it.
Now I was even more curious what type of shifter he was. What if it was something really scary, like an alligator or a snake? Didn’t snakes have two penises? I only saw one. What if the second popped up only when we were doing it? But Axel had been perfectly at home out in the snow, so it must be something else that could handle the cold.
Maybe it was an endangered, often poached species, and he was protecting himself. Snow leopard? The flashes of fur I kept seeing were white. But he didn’t move the way I imagined a snow leopard would move, whatever that was.
Gah! My imagination was going to get the best of me.
I was really tempted to just straight-up ask, but I was pretty sure I’d read that doing so was considered the height of rudeness. Maybe if I still hadn’t figured it out by the time they got my car fixed, I’d actually ask. Because I didn’t want to leave, never knowing.
Reluctantly, I climbed out of bed to start the day.
Itwasjustaswe were cleaning up the plates after a hearty breakfast of eggs, a whole pile of bacon, and pancakes, that my phone rang from my purse on the couch. I’d completely forgotten it existed.
I guess the line was up again. I glanced over at the router on the desk across the room, and sure enough, the little green light was holding steady.
I dried my hands on a dish towel and jogged over, digging it out just as the screen lit up with a photo of Mom in a reindeer hat.
“Hey, Mom,” I answered, already bracing for the worry. “I’m okay.”
“Oh, thank God,” she breathed. “We figured you were, but still. A nice young shifter came by last night to check on us. He said you made it to one of the rangers’ cabins before the worst of the storm hit.”
I frowned. Ranger? I hadn’t even known Axel’s job before now, but it made so much sense. A big, rugged mountain of a man, living alone in the woods. The old-school radio on his desk. Of course he was a forest ranger.
And Mom must mean the shifter from last night. I’d already forgotten his name. I hadn’t known my childhood home bordered on a wolf pack’s territory. No wonder Blake had always been in a rush to get home after every Christmas. He’d also refused to “go out in the cold.” Now I saw that it was because he’d been hiding from the pack.
The guy from yesterday had said I looked familiar. But I’d been so worried about Blake finding me that I hadn’t even considered that it was because he knew my family. I was an exact cookie-cutter copy of my mom, just younger and with a few extra freckles.
“I’m glad you were able to get somewhere safe on time,” Mom continued. “You know how we worry about you now that you’re on your own. And that car! That thing needs to be replaced. You know your brothers had a bet going on whether it would make the trip. I’m glad Pete’s not winning.”
“Pete bet my lemon wouldn’t make it?”
“Yes, dear. But you made it to safety.”
I sighed. “Actually, Mom. Pete won. My car gave out on the road. I got rescued by a Good Samaritan.”
“Ha!” shouted Pete from the background. “In your face! You owe me ten bucks, Kyle!”
I rolled my eyes. Those two would never grow up if Mom and Dad made it so easy for them to stay acting like teenagers forever.
“I’m going to be a little late getting back. As soon as we hang up, I’ll call the garage in Darlington and see if they can tow it.”
