Her eyes fell closed and she looked pained. But she gave him a hasty nod.
He'd take it.
He grabbed her hand and led her back to where he'd dropped the duffel. Hopefully she'd be thankful for his purloined supplies when she saw Cole. If the alpha's state didn't freak her out too bad.
Only as he led her to his car did he remember that Cole was partially transformed still, his hands and face still reaching for his other form. Damn it.
He had the duration of the car ride to figure out a story forthat. Besides, Elise was a vet, not a doctor. Maybe she didn't know how humans were supposed to look.
Yeah, right.
Nico opened the passenger door to the truck and guided Elise in. Then, feeling like a complete asshole, he flipped the latch for the child-lock on the door frame and closed her in.
When he took his own seat and closed the door behind him, he realized just how much of a torture the ride was going to be. Her scent was overwhelming. It filled the whole space and washed over him like she was trailing her fingers over his nose, down his mouth, tracing over his neck and farther and farther down until she found his cock, and it jerked to life.
He wanted to jump out of his seat and crawl on top of her, wanted to nip her and lick her and mark her. Wanted to touch her until she was writhing and moaning beneath him.
He was hard, and his wolf was demanding he throw caution to the wind and take hernow.
Then he wanted to take her back to his place and cook her a meal, wanted her sleeping in his bed, wearing his clothes, just bathing in her scent until he was the only one who could pick out those sweet lilacs and anyone who smelled her would know that she washis.
Nico gripped the steering wheel hard enough he feared he might leave an imprint.
Fuck.
What was wrong with him? He was a hard man, aviolentman. Women in the pack knew what they were getting when they spent a night with him: a bit of satisfaction and a farewell when the sun came up. He didn't fantasize about keeping them, and he certainly didn't fantasize abouthumanscovered in cartoon characters.
"How long have you worked at the zoo?" he forced himself to ask. He didn't like how ragged his voice sounded, but he had to focus on something other than the way her smell was begging him to throw out all his responsibilities.
Elise's hands were clutching her seatbelt, and they curled tighter when he spoke. "About a year." It was barely more than a whisper.
"Do you like being a vet?" The questions were asinine, but he had to say something. He pulled onto the highway and sped up. He should probably be strictly adhering to the speed limit after the robbery and kidnapping, but he needed to get them homefast.
He could have cracked the windows and let her scent fade a bit, but the selfish wolf within him refused.
"Um … I like working with the animals," Elise said. "Do you have an injured animal? What's going on, Nico?"
Her name was a punch to his gut, and he almost groaned. He didn't want her speaking it with fear on her tongue. No, he wanted something else.
Something he absolutely would never have after doing this.
"Not an injured animal, no," he said. "My friend needs help. Medical help."
"Then you should get a doctor! I'm not qualified to heal—to work on humans. On people." She was stumbling over her words, and he hated that he did that to her.
Nico had done shitty things in his life, but he had a feeling this was the first thing he wouldn't be able to forgive himself for.
"Cole said no doctors."
"And do you always do what Cole says?" she demanded.
"Yes."
That shut up whatever she was about to say. A moment later she spoke. "Are you … is this like a mob thing? Oh god, pretend I didn't ask that."
Of course a human would think that. And she wasn't wrong—not exactly. A lot of shifter packs were deeply tied to organized crime. His own pack flirted with it from time to time. Anything to keep the authorities out of their business.
"I'm not in the mob," he said.
