When they’d climbed out of that tunnel into the light of day with Khaki carrying the little girl, he knew right then he couldn’t hide his feelings from her anymore. She might not feel the same way about him, but she was damn sure going to know how he felt about her.
Although the idea of telling Khaki how he felt had seemed simple and straightforward in the afterglow of their near-death experience, the reality of doing it turned out to be much more difficult than he’d anticipated.
He hadn’t been able to talk to her at all during dinner at the barbecue place, and the episode at the tattoo parlor had come closer to a brawl than a deep, meaningful conversation. It wasn’t until Khaki had sat down at the table that he’d had a chance to even say two words to her. And then he’d discovered he had no clue what to say. How did you tell a woman who worked for you, one who barely knew you and was trusting you to train her to be the best SWAT officer possible, that there was some cosmic force out there that meant you and she were destined to be together?
She’d probably call him a weirdo, slap him for getting fresh with her, then storm out of the club.
So instead, he’d gazed into her eyes. But he couldn’t stop. She was just so damn beautiful. The way her heart was beating so loud after all that dancing she’d done combined with the incredible scents rolling off her amazing body all came together to arouse him like nothing he’d ever felt with anyone else. It was tough as hell controlling the urge to take Khaki’s hand and drag her out of the club and straight back to his place.
Just thinking about it made him rock hard.
That was when a tantalizing new scent suddenly registered. It was so primal and powerful that he shifted involuntarily. It came so fast, he’d barely controlled his body’s urge to change.
It took him two seconds to figure out where the scent was coming from—Khaki. A moment later, he realized what the scent was—arousal. And now that he knew what the scent was, its effect on him was that much more devastating. His heart was racing, his body was doing everything it could to shift into its wolf form, and his cock was throbbing so bad, he was sure it was going to start thumping against the underside of the table any second.
There was no way he could ignore his desire for Khaki any longer. And considering how turned on she obviously was, maybe it was time he stopped trying.
He was just about to suggest they leave when Cooper and Becker came back from the dance floor with the rest of the guys in tow.Shit.
“This DJ sucks,” Becker said. “Too much slow stuff. Let’s go hit some other places.”
Xander bit back a growl. The six of them had been two-stepping with half the women in the bar for the past hour andnowthey decided to blow the joint?
“So, how about it?” Trevor asked when he and Khaki made no move to get up.
Xander glanced at Khaki. She looked as eager to go club hopping as he did. He turned back to the four other werewolves.
“Another time, guys,” he said. “Khaki’s pretty beat. I’m going to take her back to the compound so she can grab her car and head home.”
“You sure about that, Khaki?” Cooper asked. “This has the makings of a seriously epic night of drinking. And werewolves don’t get hungover, in case you didn’t know.”
She laughed. “No, I didn’t know that. Thanks for telling me.”
Becker looked at Khaki as if she were crazy, then shook his head with a laugh. “Damn, you really are new to this werewolf thing, aren’t you? But okay, go home and get some sleep. Next time, we’re partying until we close down the bars.”
Xander waited until the guys left before turning back to Khaki. She smiled.
“Thanks,” she said.
“No problem.” He cleared his throat. “So, you ready to get out of here?”
She hesitated. “We could do that. But it’d be a waste of a good song.”
It took a moment to process what she meant, but he had a good excuse. He was too turned on to think straight. When he finally focused, he realized she was talking about the slow country ballad the DJ was playing. Xander had never heard it before, but then again, he didn’t listen to a lot of music, country or otherwise.
On the other side of the small table, Khaki was looking at him expectantly. She wanted to dance. He wasn’t much of a dancer, but if it meant getting to hold her in his arms, he could fake it.
“You sure you’re not too tired?” he teased.
Her eyes sparkled, and for a moment he thought she was shifting. But no, that was just Khaki’s natural sexiness shining through.
“I think I can stay awake,” she said. “Though I might have to lean on you a little—just for support.”
Xander liked the sound of that. But then Khaki’s expression suddenly turned serious. “Are you sure it’s okay? What if the guys come back and catch us?”
The thought hadn’t even entered his mind, but it was a valid concern. Then he remembered what he’d promised himself earlier today, after they had clawed their way out of those tunnels—that he was done worrying about what other people thought was right and wrong. There was something going on between him and Khaki that was bigger than the rules. That wasn’t exactly something he was going to say out loud.
“Why should we be worried?” he asked instead. “We’re just going to dance, right?”
