She was a tiny little thing, at least six inches shorter than him, and her breath was hot against his palm as she panted against his skin.
Her scent was even stronger now, and it took every ounce of discipline within him not to bury his face in her neck and breathe deep. He wanted tobiteher, which was just fucking crazy.
"Don't scream." His voice came out low, gruff. Almost inhuman. His wolf was riding high. "I won't hurt you."
She made a small sound in the back of her throat and stared at him like he'd grown a second head.
Were his eyes glowing?
When his wolf was this close to the surface, it happened. Humans tended to write it off. That was the real key to keeping supernatural society a secret. Humans didn'twantto believe.
Her skin was warm, and if he kept touching her, he wouldn't be able to control his wolf for much longer.
"I'm going to pull my hand away," he said. "As long as you don't scream. Okay?"
She nodded a bit frantically.
He couldn't blame her.
Was she a vet? She was wearing scrubs. He could smell the faint trace of some wild animal on her. A fox, maybe? It was very faint, and mostly on her clothes. If she'd been working with an animal, she might have been wearing gloves or washed her hands.
"Are you a vet?" he asked.
"I—" It was more squeak than syllable. "Please don't hurt me."
Never!
The wolf and man were in total agreement on that.
Nico didn't go around hurting innocents, anyway. But there was something aboutthishuman that made the very thought anathema.
"Do you work here?" he repeated.
The woman swallowed hard and nodded. He watched her throat work, the bottom of that loose strand of hair just grazing her chin and drawing his eye. He wanted to drag his tongue over her pulse point and find out if she tasted as good as she smelled.
The bag full of stolen supplies was heavy on his shoulders. Her eyes darted down and took it in, and she let out a shaky breath.
She was a witness.
He couldn't leave a witness.
It was a shitty excuse. What was she going to tell anyone? A tall white man with dark hair had broken in? That described half the men in the city, probably more.
But Cole needed medical attention, and a delicious smelling medical expert had just fallen into his grasp.
If fate existed, it had just put her in his hands.
He'd be a fool to ignore the gift.
"I'm really sorry about this," he said, "but I need you to come with me."
Chapter
Four
The vet took off running.
Nico didn't know why he was surprised. He would have run too if some stranger was trying to kidnap him from his place of work. That or shredded the guy to bits with sharp teeth and sharper claws.
