Khaki felt a silly sense of pride at the words. “You really think my sense of smell is that special?”
“Hell yeah.” He shook his head. “I’m not sure exactly how to capitalize on it yet, but I have no doubt it will be a benefit to the team.”
She had visions of the guys running her around like a bloodhound. “I’m okay with that, as long as you teach me how to shift like the rest of the squad.”
He flashed her a grin that made her pulse trip over itself. “Deal. You want to start now, or would you rather wait until tomorrow at the compound?”
“I kind of hoped we could start now,” she said, then added, “And that we could do the lessons in private. I don’t want the guys knowing how inept I am.”
He nodded. “That’s fine with me, but you really don’t have to hide this stuff from the Pack. We’ve all been through it to one degree or another.”
She wholeheartedly doubted Xander or any of the other guys had a problem like hers, but didn’t say so. “I’d rather keep this between us.”
“Okay,” he said. “Then the first thing you need to do is relax and get comfortable.”
Khaki was almost afraid to ask what his definition of “relax and get comfortable” was. From what she’d seen at the SWAT compound, the guys didn’t seem to ever relax and get comfortable.
Xander grabbed the remote for the television and turned it off. “Let’s sit on the floor.”
Khaki sat cross-legged between the coffee table and the television. Considering Xander had kept his distance until now, she was a little surprised when he sat down facing her barely a foot away. This close, it would be so easy to get lost in those beautiful brown eyes of his.
“Ready?” he asked.
She nodded.
“Close your eyes.”
She obeyed.
“I want you to picture yourself running barefoot through the forest.”
Xander’s deep voice was soft in the silence of the apartment. His low, rumbling tones caressed her skin, making her feel more relaxed than she’d felt in a long time.
“Imagine the wind in your hair. The soft ground under your feet. The sun on your skin,” he said. “It’s just you and the trees. There’s no one around for miles.”
Sitting here in his living room, Khaki could almost imagine her feet slapping against a trail, the dappled sunlight touching her face as she ran in and out of the shadows created by the trees.
“Now feel yourself fall forward onto all fours,” Xander told her. “You’re running crouched over, speeding along the path as your fingers dig into the earth.”
Khaki’s mind instinctively rebelled. Running on all fours didn’t feel natural. “I can’t.”
“Yes, you can,” Xander said, his calm voice soothing away the resistance.
She tried again, and this time she rejoiced in the bizarrely strange sensation of running on four feet.
“The sun is going down now,” Xander whispered, his mouth only inches from her ear, and she didn’t know if the shiver that ran through her was from the sudden lack of imagined sunlight or his warm breath caressing the sensitive skin of her shoulder and neck.
“The shadows are growing longer, the darkness under the branches deeper,” he continued. “Imagine yourself opening your eyes wider, letting every flicker of light in to fill the darkness.”
Khaki never would have dreamed that the brusque, demanding squad leader she knew could make her feel so relaxed. But the more he whispered in her ear, the less he resembled her preconceived image of him.
“It’s dark now, but you can see as clearly as if it’s bright daylight. You’re running through the dark, able to see every tree and rock and leaf around you, and it’s amazing.”
She smiled a little, unable to help it. In her vision, she was sleek and fast, running tirelessly through a pitch-black forest, leaping over downed trees, big rocks, and small streams. Xander was right. Itwasamazing.
“Open your eyes, Khaki,” he entreated in that same soft voice.
She obeyed.
